#power tools in canada

[crossbackpoke-check]

what are ur thoughts on the winners room trope?

ooooo okay surface level analysis: i like winner’s room fics :)

etwas tieferes: i think it’s cool that it’s (afaik) unique to hockey fandom and i enjoy the way it integrates a lot of unspoken rules in hockey with desire/makes them a physical/tangible reality… also the narrative potentials/world-building it opens up can be fun because there’s not really a set of rules for the “winner’s room” trope. are there in-universe rules? who gets chosen? who’s exempt? who gets to pick? where’s it going down? is it the entire room or one guy? what if your (ex)boyfriend is on another team? does somebody need to be taught a lesson or do you need to remind someone who got traded you still love them? also, most important, winner’s room gives you the chance to put two random-ass guys you saw interact for 0.002 seconds and went “hmmm. interesting” about into a Situation and i love that

[amethystsoda]

“We have to show the smoke air that it’s not gonna win!!!”

*inhales deeply from wildfire cloud air, letting it infiltrate their lungs and putting them further at risk for illness

instead of wearing a filtering mask that would show the power of scientific innovation and control over nature to filter out many of the dangerous particulates and lessen risk*

[jcmarchi]

Preparing today for tomorrow's AI regulations - AI News

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/preparing-today-for-tomorrows-ai-regulations-ai-news/

Preparing today for tomorrow's AI regulations - AI News

.pp-multiple-authors-boxes-wrapper display:none; img width:100%;

AI is rapidly becoming ubiquitous across business systems and IT ecosystems, with adoption and development racing faster than anyone could have expected. Today it seems that everywhere we turn, software engineers are building custom models and integrating AI into their products, as business leaders incorporate AI-powered solutions in their working environments.

However, uncertainty about the best way to implement AI is stopping some companies from taking action. Boston Consulting Group’s latest Digital Acceleration Index (DAI), a global survey of 2,700 executives, revealed that only 28% say their organisation is fully prepared for new AI regulation.

Their uncertainty is exacerbated by AI regulations arriving thick and fast: the EU AI act is on the way; Argentina released a draft AI plan; Canada has the AI and Data Act; China has enacted a slew of AI regulations; and the G7 nations launched the “Hiroshima AI process.” Guidelines abound, with the OECD developing AI principles, the UN proposing a new UN AI advisory body, and the Biden administration releasing a blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights (although that could quickly change with the second Trump administration).

Legislation is also coming in individual US states, and is appearing in many industry frameworks. To date, 21 states have enacted laws to regulate AI use in some manner, including the Colourado AI Act, and clauses in California’s CCPA, plus a further 14 states have legislation awaiting approval.

Meanwhile, there are loud voices on both sides of the AI regulation debate. A new survey from SolarWinds shows 88% of IT professionals advocate for stronger regulation, and separate research reveals that 91% of British people want the government to do more to hold businesses accountable for their AI systems. On the other hand, the leaders of over 50 tech companies recently wrote an open letter calling for urgent reform of the EU’s heavy AI regulations, arguing that they stifle innovation.

It’s certainly a tricky period for business leaders and software developers, as regulators scramble to catch up with tech. Of course you want to take advantage of the benefits AI can provide, you can do so in a way that sets you up for compliance with whatever regulatory requirements are coming, and don’t handicap your AI use unnecessarily while your rivals speed ahead.

We don’t have a crystal ball, so we can’t predict the future. But we can share some best practices for setting up systems and procedures that will prepare the ground for AI regulatory compliance.

Map out AI usage in your wider ecosystem

You can’t manage your team’s AI use unless you know about it, but that alone can be a significant challenge. Shadow IT is already the scourge of cybersecurity teams: Employees sign up for SaaS tools without the knowledge of IT departments, leaving an unknown number of solutions and platforms with access to business data and/or systems.

Now security teams also have to grapple with shadow AI. Many apps, chatbots, and other tools incorporate AI, machine learning (ML), or natural language programming (NLP), without such solutions necessarily being obvious AI solutions. When employees log into these solutions without official approval, they bring AI into your systems without your knowledge.

As Opice Blum’s data privacy expert Henrique Fabretti Moraes explained, “Mapping the tools in use – or those intended for use – is crucial for understanding and fine-tuning acceptable use policies and potential mitigation measures to decrease the risks involved in their utilisation.”

Some regulations hold you responsible for AI use by vendors. To take full control of the situation, you need to map all the AI in your, and your partner organisations’ environments. In this regard, using a tool like Harmonic can be instrumental in detecting AI use across the supply chain.

Verify data governance

Data privacy and security are core concerns for all AI regulations, both those already in place and those on the brink of approval.

Your AI use already needs to comply with existing privacy laws like GDPR and CCPR, which require you to know what data your AI can access and what it does with the data, and for you to demonstrate guardrails to protect the data AI uses.

To ensure compliance, you need to put robust data governance rules into place in your organisation, managed by a defined team, and backed up by regular audits. Your policies should include due diligence to evaluate data security and sources of all your tools, including those that use AI, to identify areas of potential bias and privacy risk.

“It is incumbent on organisations to take proactive measures by enhancing data hygiene, enforcing robust AI ethics and assembling the right teams to lead these efforts,” said Rob Johnson, VP and Global Head of Solutions Engineering at SolarWinds. “This proactive stance not only helps with compliance with evolving regulations but also maximises the potential of AI.”

Establish continuous monitoring for your AI systems

Effective monitoring is crucial for managing any area of your business. When it comes to AI, as with other areas of cybersecurity, you need continuous monitoring to ensure that you know what your AI tools are doing, how they are behaving, and what data they are accessing. You also need to audit them regularly to keep on top of AI use in your organisation.

“The idea of using AI to monitor and regulate other AI systems is a crucial development in ensuring these systems are both effective and ethical,” said Cache Merrill, founder of software development company Zibtek. “Currently, techniques like machine learning models that predict other models’ behaviours (meta-models) are employed to monitor AI. The systems analyse patterns and outputs of operational AI to detect anomalies, biases or potential failures before they become critical.”

Cyber GRC automation platform Cypago allows you to run continuous monitoring and regulatory audit evidence collection in the background. The no-code automation allows you to set custom workflow capabilities without technical expertise, so alerts and mitigation actions are triggered instantly according to the controls and thresholds you set up.

Cypago can connect with your various digital platforms, synchronise with virtually any regulatory framework, and turn all relevant controls into automated workflows. Once your integrations and regulatory frameworks are set up, creating custom workflows on the platform is as simple as uploading a spreadsheet.

Use risk assessments as your guidelines

It’s vital to know which of your AI tools are high risk, medium risk, and low risk – for compliance with external regulations, for internal business risk management, and for improving software development workflows. High risk use cases will need more safeguards and evaluation before deployment.

“While AI risk management can be started at any point in the project development,” Ayesha Gulley, an AI policy expert from Holistic AI, said. “Implementing a risk management framework sooner than later can help enterprises increase trust and scale with confidence.”

When you know the risks posed by different AI solutions, you can choose the level of access you’ll grant them to data and critical business systems.

In terms of regulations, the EU AI Act already distinguishes between AI systems with different risk levels, and NIST recommends assessing AI tools based on trustworthiness, social impact, and how humans interact with the system.

Proactively set AI ethics governance

You don’t need to wait for AI regulations to set up ethical AI policies. Allocate responsibility for ethical AI considerations, put together teams, and draw up policies for ethical AI use that include cybersecurity, model validation, transparency, data privacy, and incident reporting.

Plenty of existing frameworks like NIST’s AI RMF and ISO/IEC 42001 recommend AI best practices that you can incorporate into your policies.

“Regulating AI is both necessary and inevitable to ensure ethical and responsible use. While this may introduce complexities, it need not hinder innovation,” said Arik Solomon, CEO and co-founder of Cypago. “By integrating compliance into their internal frameworks and developing policies and processes aligned with regulatory principles, companies in regulated industries can continue to grow and innovate effectively.”

Companies that can demonstrate a proactive approach to ethical AI will be better positioned for compliance. AI regulations aim to ensure transparency and data privacy, so if your goals align with these principles, you’ll be more likely to have policies in place that comply with future regulation. The FairNow platform can help with this process, with tools for managing AI governance, bias checks, and risk assessments in a single location.

Don’t let fear of AI regulation hold you back

AI regulations are still evolving and emerging, creating uncertainty for businesses and developers. But don’t let the fluid situation stop you from benefiting from AI. By proactively implementing policies, workflows, and tools that align with the principles of data privacy, transparency, and ethical use, you can prepare for AI regulations and take advantage of AI-powered possibilities.

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

"BOARDED-UP STUDIO ROBBED AFTER FIRE," Toronto Star. February 3, 1943. Page 3. --- Carpenter's Tools Stolen by Thieves During Night ---- A studio in the rear of the building on Richmond St. that was gutted in a three-alarm fire early Sunday morning was entered by thieves during the night. The place had been boarded up. Vincent De Vita. tenant of the studio, reported an electric saw, two carpenter's planes and a hammer were stolen. Constable Hugh Warmington found the place entered.

Thieves entered a drug store on Sherbourne St. through an unfastened side window and stole $40 worth of cigarettes, $2 in cash and a small quantity of stamps, police report. The break-in was found by Constable Douglas Grierson.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Canada’s ground-breaking, hamstrung repair and interop laws

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/11/15/radical-extremists/#sex-pest

When the GOP trifecta assumes power in just a few months, they will pass laws, and those laws will be terrible, and they will cast long, long shadows.

This is the story of how another far-right conservative government used its bulletproof majority to pass a wildly unpopular law that continues to stymie progress to this day. It's the story of Canada's Harper Conservative government, and two of its key ministers: Tony Clement and James Moore.

Starting in 1998, the US Trade Rep embarked on a long campaign to force every country in the world to enact a new kind of IP law: an "anticircumvention" law that would criminalize the production and use of tools that allowed people to use their own property in ways that the manufacturer disliked.

This first entered the US statute books with the 1998 passage of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), whose Section 1201 established a new felony for circumventing an "access control." Crucially, DMCA 1201's prohibition on circumvention did not confine itself to protecting copyright.

Circumventing an access control is a felony, even if you never violate copyright law. For example, if you circumvent the access control on your own printer to disable the processes that check to make sure you're using an official HP cartridge, HP can come after you.

You haven't violated any copyright, but the ink-checking code is a copyrighted work, and you had to circumvent a block in order to reach it. Thus, if I provide you a tool to escape HP's ink racket, I commit a felony with penalties of five years in prison and a $500k fine, for a first offense. So it is that HP ink costs more per ounce than the semen of a Kentucky Derby-winning stallion.

This was clearly a bad idea in 1998, though it wasn't clear how bad an idea it was at the time. In 1998, chips were expensive and underpowered. By 2010, a chip that cost less than a dollar could easily implement a DMCA-triggering access control, and manufacturers of all kinds were adding superfluous chips to everything from engine parts to smart lightbulbs whose sole purpose was to transform modification into felonies. This is what Jay Freeman calls "felony contempt of business-model."

So when the Harper government set out to import US-style anticircumvention law to Canada, Canadians were furious. A consultation on the proposal received 6,138 responses opposing the law, and 54 in support:

https://www.michaelgeist.ca/2010/04/copycon-final-numbers/

And yet, James Moore and Tony Clement pressed on. When asked how they could advance such an unpopular bill, opposed by experts and the general public alike, Moore told the International Chamber of Commerce that every objector who responded to his consultation was a "radical extremist" with a "babyish" approach to copyright:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/copyright-debate-turns-ugly-1.898216

As is so often the case, history vindicated the babyish radical extremists. The DMCA actually has an official way to keep score on this one. Every three years, the US Copyright Office invites public submissions for exemptions to DMCA 1201, creating a detailed, evidence-backed record of all the legitimate activities that anticircumvention law interferes with.

Unfortunately, "a record" is all we get out of this proceeding. Even though the Copyright Office is allowed to grant "exemptions," these don't mean what you think they mean. The statute is very clear on this: the US Copyright Office is required to grant exemptions for the act of circumvention, but is forbidden from granting exemptions for tools needed to carry out these acts.

This is headspinningly and deliberately obscure, but there's one anecdote from my long crusade against this stupid law that lays it bare. As I mentioned, the US Trade Rep has made the passage of DMCA-like laws in other countries a top priority since the Clinton years. In 2001, the EU adopted the EU Copyright Directive, whose Article 6 copy-pastes the provisions of DMCA 1201.

In 2003, I found myself in Oslo, debating the minister who'd just completed Norway's EUCD implementation. The minister was very proud of his law, boasting that he'd researched the flaws in other countries' anticircumvention laws and addressed them in Norway's law. For example, Norway's law explicitly allowed blind people to bypass access controls on ebooks in order to feed them into text-to-speech engines, Braille printers and other accessibility tools.

I knew where this was going. I asked the minister how this would work in practice. Could someone sell a blind person a tool to break the DRM on their ebooks? Of course not, that's totally illegal. Could a nonprofit blind rights group make such a tool and give it away to blind people? No, that's illegal too. What about hobbyists, could they make the tool for their blind friends? No, not that either.

OK, so how do blind people exercise their right to bypass access controls on ebooks they own so they can actually read them?

Here's how. Each blind person, all by themself, is expected to decompile and reverse-engineer Adobe Reader, locate a vulnerability in the code and write a new program that exploits that vulnerability to extract their ebooks. While blind people are individually empowered to undertake this otherwise prohibited activity, they must do so on their own: they can't share notes with one another on the process. They certainly can't give each other the circumvention program they write in this way:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/10/28/mcbroken/#my-milkshake-brings-all-the-lawyers-to-the-yard

That's what a use-only exemption is: the right to individually put a locked down device up on your own workbench, and, laboring in perfect secrecy, figure out how it works and then defeat the locks that stop you from changing those workings so they benefit you instead of the manufacturer. Without a "tools" exemption, a use exemption is basically a decorative ornament.

So the many use exemptions that the US Copyright Office has granted since 1998 really amount to nothing more than a list of defects in the DMCA that the Copyright Office has painstaking verified but is powerless to fix. We could probably save everyone a lot of time by scrapping the triennial exemptions process and replacing it with an permanent sign over the doors of the Library of Congress reading "Abandon hope, all ye who enter here."

All of this was well understood by 2010, when Moore and Clement were working on the Canadian version of the DMCA. All of this was explained in eye-watering detail to Moore and Clement, but was roundly ignored. I even had a go at it, publicly picking a fight with Moore on Twitter:

https://web.archive.org/web/20130407101911if_/http://eaves.ca/wp-content/uploads/2010/Conversations%20between%20@doctorow%20and%20@mpjamesmoore.jpg

Moore and Clement rammed their proposal through in the next session of Parliament, passing it as Bill C-11 in 2012:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_Modernization_Act

This was something of a grand finale for the pair. Today, Moore is a faceless corporate lawyer, while Clement was last seen grifting covid PPE (Clement's political career ended abruptly when he sent dick pics to a young woman who turned out to be a pair of sextortionists from Cote D'Ivoire, and was revealed as a serial sex-pest in the ensuing scandal:)

https://globalnews.ca/news/4646287/tony-clement-instagram-women/

Even though Moore and Clement are long gone from public life, their signature achievement remains a Canadian disgrace, an anchor chain tied around the Canadian economy's throat, and an impediment to Canadian progress.

This week, two excellent new Canadian laws received royal assent: Bill C-244 is a broad, national Right to Repair law; and Bill C-294 is a broad, national interoperability law. Both laws establish the right to circumvent access controls for the purpose of fixing and improving things, something Canadians deserve and need.

But neither law contains a tools exemption. Like the blind people of Norway, a Canadian farmer who wants to attach a made-in-Canada Honeybee tool to their John Deere tractor is required to personally, individually reverse-engineer the John Deere tractor and modify it to talk to the Honeybee accessory, laboring in total secrecy:

https://www.theregister.com/2024/11/12/canada_right_to_repair/

Likewise the Canadian repair tech who fixes a smart speaker or a busted smartphone – they are legally permitted to circumvent in order to torture the device's repair codes out of it or force it to recognize a replacement part, but each technician must personally figure out how to get the device firmware to do this, without discussing it with anyone else.

Thus do Moore and Clement stand athwart Canadian self-reliance and economic development, shouting "STOP!" though both men have been out of politics for years.

There has never been a better time to hit Clement and Moore's political legacy over the head with a shovel and bury it in a shallow grave. Canadian technologists could be making a fortune creating circumvention devices that repair and improve devices marketed by foreign companies.

They could make circumvention tools to allow owners of consoles to play games by Canadian studios that are directly sold to Canadian gamers, bypassing the stores operated by Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo and the 30% commissions they charge. Canadian technologists could be making diagnostic tools that allow every auto-mechanic in Canada to fix any car manufactured anywhere in the world.

Canadian cloud servers could power devices long after their US-based manufacturers discontinue support for them, providing income to Canadian cloud companies and continued enjoyment for Canadian owners of these otherwise bricked gadgets.

Canada's gigantic auto-parts sector could clone the security chips that foreign auto manufacturers use to block the use of third party parts, and every Canadian could enjoy a steep discount every time they fix their cars. Every farmer could avail themselves of third party parts for their tractors, which they could install themselves, bypassing the $200 service call from a John Deere technician who does nothing more than look over the farmer's own repair and then types an unlock code into the tractor's console.

Every Canadian who prints out a shopping list or their kid's homework could use third party ink that sells for pennies per liter, rather than HP's official colored water that cost more than vintage Veuve Cliquot.

A Canadian e-waste dump generates five low-paid jobs per ton of waste, and that waste itself will poison the land and water for centuries to come. A circumvention-enabled Canadian repair sector could generate 150 skilled, high-paid community jobs that saves gadgets and the Earth, all while saving Canadians millions.

Canadians could enjoy the resliency that comes of having a domestic tech and repair sector, and could count on it through pandemics and Trumpian trade-war.

All of that and more could be ours, except for the cowardice and greed of Tony Clement and James Moore and the Harper Tories who voted C-11 into law in 2012.

Everything the "radical extremists" warned them of has come true. It's long past time Canadians tore up anticircumvention law and put the interests of the Canadian public and Canadian tech businesses ahead of the rent-seeking enshittification of American Big Tech.

Until we do that, we can keep on passing all the repair and interop laws we want, but each one will be hamstrung by Moore and Clement's "felony contempt of business model" law, and the contempt it showed for the Canadian people.

Image: JeffJ (modified) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Tony_Clement_-_2007-06-30_in_Kearney,_Ontario.JPG

CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

--

Jorge Franganillo (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Duga_radar_system-_wreckage_of_electronic_devices_(37885984654).jpg

CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en

[allthecanadianpolitics]

Some police services in Canada are using facial recognition technology to help solve crimes, while other police forces say human rights and privacy concerns are holding them back from employing the powerful digital tools. It’s this uneven application of the technology — and the loose rules governing its use — that has legal and AI experts calling on the federal government to set national standards. “Until there’s a better handle on the risks involved with the use of this technology, there ought to be a moratorium or a range of prohibitions on how and where it can be used,” says Kristen Thomasen, law professor at the University of British Columbia. As well, the patchwork of regulations on emerging biometric technologies has created situations in which some citizens’ privacy rights are more protected than others. “I think the fact that we have different police forces taking different steps raises concerns (about) inequities and how people are treated across the country, but (it) also highlights the continuing importance of some kind of federal action to be taken,” she said.

Continue Reading

Tagging: @newsfromstolenland

[pintadorartist]

Bill H.R. 9495, the Non-Profit Killer, is heading to the Senate

Bill H.R. 9495, aka the "Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act" was meant to protect US Hostages from tax penalties; the bill received an add-on that would give the Treasury Secretary the power to strip any non-profit of their tax-exempt status based on the idea that the nonprofit is a "terrorist supporting" organization, all without due process or a justification.

This would give the upcoming Trump administration the power to kill any non-profit org, from AO3 to the ACLU. Even local nonprofits and independent news sources could be stripped of their status and be unable to receive funding to stay open, all because they had different views than the government.

Unfortunately, the bill passed the House and is headed towards the Senate. So I ask you all to find your Senator and then call, email, fax them a lot of times, and make as much noise as possible to tell them to vote no. I also ask you to do the same to these Democrat Senate leaders as well:

Chuck Schumer:

Phone: (202) 224-6542

Fax: (202) 228-3027

Dick Durbin:

Phone: 202-224-2152

Debbie Stabenow:

Phone:(202) 224-4822

Elizabeth Warren:

Phone: (202) 224-4543

Mark R. Warner:

Phone: 202-224-2023

Amy Klobuchar:

Phone: 202-224-3244

Fax: 202-228-2186

Bernie Sanders:

Phone: 202-224-5141 Fax: 202-228-0776

Catherine Cortez Masto:

Phone: (202) 224-3542

Joe Manchin:

Phone: 202-224-3954 Fax: 202-228-0002

Cory A. Booker:

Phone: (202) 224-3224

Fax: (202) 224-8378

Tammy Baldwin:

Phone: (202) 224-5653

Brian Schatz:

Phone: (202) 224-3934

Here are some tools:

Find your Senator:

Or you can call the Congressional switchboard today and ask to be connected with each of your Senators’ offices. Demand they vote against this bill: (202) 224-3121

Fax tool:

Here are some call scripts that you can use as fax and email as well:

If you have a Democrat Senator, you can use this script:

"I am calling Senator [THEIR LAST NAME] as a constituent to urge them to vote against the Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act, when it comes to the Senate floor. This bill would give the Treasury the power to kill non-profit organizations without evidence, and will be used as a sledge hammer to destroy any organization that speaks out against the incoming President’s agenda. No matter who was in power, this bill would be authoritarian and ripe for abuse. Handing this power to a President known to be vindictive, and who has promised to be a “day one” dictator, would be a failure of congressional leadership. Please share my thoughts with the Senator, urging them to vote against this dangerous legislation. Thank you"

If you have a Republican Senator, you can use this script:

"I am calling Senator [THEIR LAST NAME] as a constituent to urge them to vote against the Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act, when it comes to the Senate floor. This bill would give the Treasury the power to kill non-profit organizations without evidence, and will be used as a sledge hammer to destroy any organization that speaks out against the incoming President’s agenda. No matter who was in power, this bill would violate our First Amendment Rights. Handing this power to the Government would be a failure of congressional leadership. Please share my thoughts with the Senator, urging them to vote against this dangerous legislation. Thank you"

And I also urge you to sign these petitions/letters as well:

And again, please keep up the pressure, make your voices heard, continue to leave messages to your representatives and make sure they hear you either through voicemail, call, etc.

[afeelgoodblog]

Best News of Last Week - July 3, 2023

🐕 - This dog is 'disc'-overing hidden treasures! Get ready for the 'paws'-itively successful fundraiser, Daisy's Discs!

1. Most unionized US rail workers now have new sick leave

More than 60% of U.S. unionized railroad workers at major railroads are now covered by new sick leave agreements, a trade group said Monday.

Last year railroads came under fire for not agreeing to paid sick leave during labor negotiations.

2. Missing teen found after being lost in the wilderness for 50 hours

Esther Wang, 16, had been hiking with three other people through the Maple Ridge park on Tuesday.

The group made it to Steve’s lookout around 2:45 p.m. that day.However, when they headed back down to the campsite, after about 15 minutes of hiking, the group leader realized Wang was missing. They returned to the lookout to look for Wang but couldn’t find her. The leader headed to the trail entrance to notify a park ranger and police.

“Esther Wang has been located. She’s healthy, she is happy and she’s with family.”

3. A dog has retrieved 155 discs from woods. They’ll be on sale soon, with proceeds going to the park in West Virginia where they were found

Meet Daisy, the yellow Labrador retriever with a unique talent for finding lost Frisbee golf discs at Grand Vue Park in West Virginia. Four years ago, while on a walk with her owner Kelly Mason, Daisy discovered a disc in the woods and proudly brought it back. Since then, Daisy's obsession with finding stray discs has grown, and she has collected an impressive cache of 155 discs.

Mason and park officials have now come up with a plan to return the discs to their owners if they are labeled, and any unclaimed discs will be sold as a fundraiser to support the park's disc golf courses. Daisy's Discs is expected to be a success, with many excited about the possibility of recovering their lost discs thanks to Daisy's remarkable skills.

4. Australian earless dragon last seen in 1969 rediscovered in secret location

A tiny earless dragon feared to be extinct in the wild has been sighted for the first time in more than 50 years – at a location that is being kept secret to help preservation efforts.

The Victorian grassland earless dragon, Tympanocryptis pinguicolla, has now been rediscovered in the state, according to a joint statement issued by the Victorian and federal Labor governments on Sunday.

5. Detroit is going to power 100% of its municipal buildings with solar

All of Detroit’s municipal buildings are going to be powered by neighborhood solar as part of the city’s efforts to combat climate change – check out the city’s cool grassroots plan. Meet Detroit Rock Solar City.

The city has determined that it’s going to need around 250 acres of solar panels in order to achieve 100% solar power for its municipal buildings.

6. Canada Officially Bans Cosmetic Testing on Animals

The fight for cruelty-free beauty in Canada has seen a significant breakthrough as the Canadian government legislates a full ban on cosmetic animal testing and trade, marking a victory for Animal rights advocates and eco-conscious consumers.

This landmark decision is part of the Budget Implementation Act (Bill C-47), not only prohibiting cosmetic animal testing but also putting an end to the sale of cosmetics that use new animal testing data for safety substantiation.

7. Belize certified malaria-free by WHO

The World Health Organization (WHO) has certified Belize as malaria-free, following the country’s over 70 years of continued efforts to stamp out the disease.

“WHO congratulates the people and government of Belize and their network of global and local partners for this achievement”, said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. “Belize is another example of how, with the right tools and the right approach, we can dream of a malaria-free future.”

----

That's it for this week :)

This newsletter will always be free. If you liked this post you can support me with a small kofi donation:

Support this newsletter ❤️

Also don’t forget to reblog.

[aquilaofarkham]

Dying Has Never Frightened Us: Intergenerational Trauma, Healing, & the Burden of Legacy in Castlevania

An analytical and interpretation essay that discusses how the concept of family legacy and duty can lead to intergenerational trauma in the Castlevania franchise. Focuses primarily on the Belmont who found strength from his pain by honouring his family’s legacy no matter how heavy it felt or the burden that came with it and the Belmont who found his own strength from the ones he loved and who loved him in return.

☽ Read the full piece here or click the read more for the text only version ☽

THE BURNING NEED FOR RETRIBUTION: INTRODUCTION

The world has trauma. It is deep, collective, spanning its roots over centuries and territories dating back to when the borders of today never existed, and it has largely gone untreated—but not undiscussed.

From children’s cartoons to award winning dramas, trauma has become one of the most common topics for media to discuss, depict, and dissect. It makes sense given the sort of physical and mental gauntlet which society has been through in the past five years. Sometimes even in just the past twenty-four hours. From an uptick in disasters stemming from climate change, the rise of publicised policy brutality, genocide as a result of settler colonisation, new developments coming to light after decades of denial regarding the residential school system in Canada, and of course a global pandemic which is still making ripples. Then there is the recent examination of generational trauma which differs from culture to culture. The open wounds we’ve already left and will be leaving for future age groups.

Seeing how fiction reflects reality and vice versa, it isn’t any wonder that movies, television shows, and video games find ways of processing this worldwide sensation of frustrated ennui along with the need to find answers as to how regular citizens can fix things, including ourselves, when politicians and world leaders cannot. When reality cannot provide satisfying resolutions, when we are left confused and even angrier than before due to the apparent shortcomings of institutions meant to provide relief towards the average person, it’s natural to look towards specific media. Whether for coping mechanisms, validation for this collective and personal trauma, or simply for cathartic release so the emotions don’t have to remain bottled up.

Castlevania , both its original 2017 series and the most recent entry of Castlevania: Nocturne (as well as the video games which the show is inspired by), is no stranger to this popular trend of storytelling and characterisation. Yet this trend also comes with its own controversy. When done with a deft writer’s hand and a layer of empathetic critical thinking, trauma in fiction and how we heal from its intergenerational effects can be a powerful tool in raising awareness in regards to something left forgotten by the larger public or it can allow viewers to look inwards at themselves. Done poorly or with a lack of empathy and taste, then the floodgates open.

But beyond the usual discourse surrounding trauma in fiction (how to portray a “realistic” panic attack, what makes a “good” victim, the problematic connotations of forgiving one’s abuser, etc.), Castlevania has its own things to say about the lingering effects of grief, guilt, and pain over the course of thirty-two episodes (now a fourty episode runtime with the inclusion of Castlevania: Nocturne season one). The series—particularly the first which ran from 2017 to 2021—has now gained a reputation for being one of the darker animated ventures tackling themes of religious corruption, abuse, sexual manipulation, and injustice among many others. The value and thoughtfulness of each depicted theme ranges from being genuinely compelling to delving into mere shock value yet the series is also known for its uplifting ending and cathartic release from such dark themes.

One could write entire dissertations on each complicated character and their developments. From Dracula’s suicidal tendencies as a result of unchecked grief to Isaac’s conflicted redemptive journey beginning with his unflinching loyalty to the king of vampires and ending with him forging down his own path in life. How characters such as Carmilla, consumed by her inner agonies and burning hatred towards the world to the bitter end, was left isolated from her sisters until she was forced to choose the terms of her own death, while others like Alucard, Sypha, and to an extent Hector rose above their individual torments in favour of hope and survival. However, this examination will focus on the series’ titular family of vampire hunters. Namely, the Belmont who found strength from his pain by honouring his family’s legacy no matter how heavy it felt or the burden that came with it and the Belmont who found his own strength from the ones he loved and who loved him in return.

Note: this essay will delve into speculations and purely interpretative hypotheses stemming from the author’s own opinions in regards to how they personally read the presented text. It will also discuss heavy spoilers for the majority of Castlevania games and the first season of Castlevania: Nocturne.

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WHAT A HORRIBLE NIGHT FOR A CURSE: THE CYCLE OF TRAGEDY IN THE CASTLEVANIA GAMES

This examination begins in the exact same place as the show began with its inspirations and references: the original video games developed and distributed by Konami Group Corporations. It’s easy to get swept up in the notion that because of the technological limitations with video games at the time, the Castlevania games are devoid of story or characterization. Yet even the most bare bones of a story found in the games can still have something to say about the burden of legacy and how trauma left unconfronted has the possibility of tearing down that legacy. The most prominent example being Castlevania: Symphony of the Night , arguably the first game to begin delving into a deeper story and character driven narrative. It follows the events of Castlevania: Rondo of Blood , a game which portrayed its protagonist Richter Belmont as a force of nature in the face of evil, always knowing what to do, what to say, and emerging victorious without so much as breaking a sweat (or candelabra).

In keeping with the time of its release and the landscape of popular media particularly in Japan, Rondo of Blood feels like a traditional 1990s action anime complete with brightly coloured cutscenes and character designs reminiscent of Rumiko Takahashi and Rui Araizumi (despite the usual classic horror elements present in every Castlevania game). This is most evident with Maria Renard, the second playable protagonist who attacks with her own arsenal of magical animals and even has her own upbeat theme music during the credits when players complete the main story in “Maria mode”. Richter also shares many similar personality traits with his counterpart, namely his optimism in the face of danger and the confidence that he will be the hero of this narrative.

Of course all this changed in the direct follow-up to Rondo of Blood , the aforementioned Symphony of the Night . Arguably the new staple of future Castlevania games to come, not only did it change the gameplay and aesthetic, it changed the very core of the characters as well. The game even begins with the same ending as Rondo of Blood where Richter fights and defeats Dracula with the help of Maria. Then during the opening crawl, we discover that during a time skip, Richter has vanished and Maria is searching for him. Surely this will be nothing less than a heroic rescue and the most powerful Belmont of his century will be restored to his rightful pedestal.

Yet for the first half of Symphony of the Night , the player is faced with a sobering realisation—the villain we’re supposed to be fighting, the one responsible for conjuring Dracula’s castle back into existence, is Richter himself. No longer the hero we’ve come to adore and look up to from the previous game. Of course, the player along with new protagonist Alucard both know that something isn’t right; perhaps Richter isn’t in his sound mind or some nefarious force is possessing him to commit evil deeds. But unless the player solves the right puzzles and find the right in-game items, Symphony ends with Alucard putting down Richter like a rabid dog. However, this ending can be avoided and a whole second half of the game is revealed.

Richter’s canonical ending is left ambiguous at best, tragic at worst. He laments over his moment of weakness, claiming the events of the game were his fault despite Alucard’s insistence that confronting Dracula was always going to be inevitable. Still, the tragedy of Richter’s fate and how he is portrayed in Symphony of the Night comes much later, when it’s implied the Belmonts are no longer capable of wielding the fabled Vampire Killer, a leather whip imbued with supernatural properties that has been passed down generation after generation. One mistake and misjudgment left the Belmont legacy in a perpetual long lasting limbo with the titular hunters themselves seemingly disappearing from history as well, leaving others such as the Order of Ecclesia to pick up the fight against Dracula’s eventual resurgence. It isn’t until the height of World War II (the setting of Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin ) when the whip’s true potential is finally set free thanks to the actions of Jonathan Morris, a distant relative of the infamous vampire slaying family. However, the only way in which Jonathan can reawaken the Vampire Killer is by defeating a manifestation of the person who last wielded it and also whom the whip abandoned nearly two hundred years prior—Richter Belmont.

Yet players and fans don’t get to see it in the hands of another Belmont until the events of 1999 when Julius Belmont defeats the latest incarnation of Dracula and seals his castle away in a solar eclipse. Even then, he loses his memory until thirty years pass and he’s forced to do battle with Soma Cruz, an innocent transfer student who is also the reincarnation of Dracula. If the protagonist of Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow succeeds in defeating the cosmic threat that has awakened his supposed “evil” destiny, then Julius can finally lay down the Vampire Killer in peace (until the sequel Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow , of course). If not, the game ends with Julius keeping his promise to Soma should he lose sight of his human side and let Dracula be reborn once again. In a scene that directly mirrors the beginning of Symphony , Julius enters the castle throne room, Soma throws down his wine goblet, and the screen goes black. The cycle continues anew. Julius has upheld the duty of his family name but at what cost.

The theme of tragedy getting passed down through different generations, permeating from person to person even with those who are not Belmonts, is a staple of later Castlevania games following Symphony of the Night . In some instances, pain and trauma is what jumpstarts the story moving forward. Castlevania: Curse of Darkness begins with its protagonist Hector in a direct parallel to Dracula swearing revenge on the one responsible for the murder of his wife; an ultimatum that follows him every step of the way, fuelling his rage and determination up until the penultimate moment when his goal is within reach. Yet even then he cries out, claiming this “murderous impulse” isn’t truly him—it’s the result of an outside force he himself once aided before defecting before the events of the game.

Something similar occurs in Castlevania: Lords of Shadow , an alternative reimagining of the franchise that while still a topic of division amongst most die hard fans has also seen a resurgence of popularity and reevaluation. It begins with Gabriel Belmont grieving over the death of his own wife (a trope which is unfortunately common amongst the majority of Castlevania titles). This is a wound that follows him throughout his journey until an even more painful and shattering twist regarding Marie Belmont’s demise is revealed to Gabriel later in the game.

However, there is one example from the games that stands above the rest in regards to the sort of damage which generational trauma as a result of familial duty and legacy, upheld to an almost religious degree, can inflict. So much so that even a declaration of retribution can evolve into a generational curse.

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HUNT THE NIGHT: LEON BELMONT & THE MYTH OF FREE WILL

The Castlevania timeline didn’t always have a set beginning. An inciting incident by which all future stories, characters, and inevitable calamities could base themselves off of. Rather it changed from game to game until a definitive origin was settled in 2003 with the release of Castlevania: Lament of Innocence . For at least two games, the starting point was supposed to be with Simon Belmont, making his way through a labyrinth of dark forests and cursed towns, before finally traversing the ever changing fortress in Transylvania to defeat Dracula. He even went as far as to gather the remains and resurrect the eponymous lord of his own choice just to rid himself of another curse entirely. 

Castlevania protagonists are always cursed by something. Whether it be the cause of Dracula’s influence, their own actions as seen in Lords of Shadow , a curse of the flesh like how Simon had to tackle his own ailment in Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest , or something else just as common as Dracula’s curse: the burden of honouring a family duty.

A basic yet iconic 1986 entry followed by a sequel that had potential especially with the first appearance of the now famous “Bloody Tears” track but suffered from a rather confusing and lacklustre end product. Then suddenly the starting point for the franchise timeline changed drastically. Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse despite the numerical inclusion in its title stands as more of a prequel, detailing the exploits of the Belmont who came before Simon. Not much was altered in the grand scheme of things; the titular vampire hunter still essentially slays Dracula with the help of three other playable characters, said final boss having been driven mad and more violent than ever by humanity’s slight against him. However, not only were the methods by which Dracula is defeated changed but players were given more insight into the sort of burden placed upon the Belmont family name.

When the story of Dracula’s Curse begins, protagonist Trevor Belmont isn’t revered as a legend or hero but rather a blight on larger society who the people only turn to as a last ditch effort against rising evil. The regular god-fearing people of Wallachia now fear the Belmonts and their power (it is also implied that some still feared the barbarian-esque Simon despite his legendary status) so the family is excommunicated. Trevor is forced to enlist three other outcasts—or simply two other fighters, depending on which version of the story you examine—in order to carry out the family business. Even when the rest of the world has shunned them and there are plenty of others just as capable of stopping the forces of evil, a Belmont still has a destiny to fulfil. 

Yet once a series has gone on for long enough, things within the established canon are bound to change—again and again. Whether through re-examination in order to line it up better with present day morals and sensibilities, or through good old fashioned retconning in favour of something more interesting, more thought out, or less convoluted. Other times, it’s simply because either the creator or viewers wanted it to happen. In 1997, this occurred with the release of Castlevania Legends on the GameBoy, a prequel to Dracula’s Curse that was meant to serve as the actual origin for the Belmonts, Dracula, and even his son Alucard. Instead of Trevor, the very first Belmont to fight Dracula is now his mother, Sonia Belmont, seventeen years old and already burdened with the glorious purpose of her bloodline.

Sonia is undoubtedly the protagonist of her own story with agency and drive. However, the game ends with a stark reminder of why the Belmonts have a place in the Castlevania universe. The last we see of Sonia in Legends is in the form of an epilogue where she holds her newborn child and states that one day when he’s grown, he will “be praised by all the people as a hero”. Despite her triumph over Dracula—a monumental feat itself—it seems that her purpose in the end (the purpose of most Belmonts other than to forever fight evil in fact) was to merely continue the bloodline so that descendants can carry out a promise made centuries before by another Belmont—someone that neither Simon, Trevor, Julius, or Richter ever knew.

The inevitability of sudden retcons within long-running media was not as kind to Legends as it was to Dracula’s Curse . Because of how the in-game events conflicted with subsequent entries (for example the implication that Trevor is actually the son of Alucard, thus further tying the Belmonts to Dracula through blood as well as duty), both Legends and Sonia were completely removed from the canon timeline. This is merely one reason why the next attempt at creating the definitive origin for the franchise, now a cult favourite among certain subsections of the fan community, was regarded with some animosity. However, twenty years after its release, Castlevania: Lament of Innocence is considered by many as an underrated entry. It is certainly the darker title where both the hero and villain stumble through their own hardships yet neither emerges completely victorious by the end.

The opening narration crawl of Lament of Innocence describes the lives of Leon Belmont and Mathias Cronqvist. They spend most of their lives as reflections of each other; one grows into more of a fighter while the second is coveted for his intellect and ambition. Both are valorous, honourable, and products of their own respective plights. Despite his service to the church, Leon is soon systematically stripped of everything save for the clothes on his back because he wouldn’t follow their orders blindly. While Mathias is forced to watch as an uncaring god (the very same god he serves) takes away a figure of pure virtue and love. This figure, Elisabeta Cronqvist who appears to be a splitting image of Dracula’s next deceased wife Lisa Tepes, was the last remaining tie Mathias still had to whatever bit of morality he still feels, which he eventually throws away when deciding to drag his only friend and everything he holds dear into hell alongside him.

The difference is how both men react to those personal horrors and how they let it govern their pasts, presents, and futures not just for themselves but for others who follow after the dust has supposedly settled. Two men, two best friends turned hateful enemies because of an interlinked tragedy. Not only that, but also because of their perspectives, morals, and the way they view a world that is unkind to them. Both were spurred by the death of loved ones, both used it as a conduit, or rather a catalyst for the radically opposing directions in which their choices take them and their families. Leon chooses to struggle onwards towards a world free from darkness and horror despite his pain. Mathias chooses to revel in that very same darkness and pain with a fire that would burn for aeons. In the end, one thing is absolute. A single thing the two men can agree upon as they flee down adverse paths: one of them will destroy the other.

Yet the timeline of Castlevania proves that this choice comes at a great cost for the Belmonts in particular. By the end of Lament of Innocence , Mathias has revealed himself to be the great manipulator pulling the strings behind the scenes. Due to the immense grief he felt over losing Elisabeta to a presumably common illness made untreatable because of the time period’s medical limitations (coupled with his own arrogance and narcissism), Mathias finally becomes Dracula. Dominion over death and even god by has been achieved by doing what Leon’s righteously moral mind cannot comprehend: transforming himself into an immortal creature driven by bloodlust. All he had to do was lie, cheat, and cruelly outsmart everyone else around him. That of course includes Leon as Mathias’ manipulation tactics were also the cause of the mercy killing of Sara Tarantoul, Leon’s fiance, to stop her from turning into a vampire herself. After watching his former friend escape before the sun can rise and disposing of Dracula’s constant right hand man Death, Leon finally feels his anger over such a betrayal boil over. He gives one final message to Mathias, now the new king of the vampires: “This whip and my kinsmen will destroy you someday. From this day on, the Belmont Clan will hunt the night.”

This is how Castlevania: Lament of Innocence ends. Unlike other entries like Symphony of the Night, Aria of Sorrow, or Harmony of Dissonance , there is no good, neutral, or bad ending that can be achieved if the player is aware of certain secrets and tricks. There is only one for Leon and Mathias. The inclusion of multiple endings in some Castlevania games versus a singular set ending in others may seem like a small coincidental narrative choice in conjunction with evolving gameplay, but it matters in the case of Lament of Innocence. From the moment Leon enters the castle to rescue his fiance, the wheel has already started turning and his fate is sealed. Mathias has already won and Sara, along with future Belmonts, are already doomed. And Leon’s ultimatum made in the heat of the moment would go on to have repercussions centuries later. “Hunting the night” gave the Belmonts purpose but it also burdened them with that exact purpose. While Dracula deals in curses, so does the Belmont family—a curse of duty that gets passed down throughout the bloodline.

Leon Belmont was of course never malicious or cruel like Mathias was. He never wanted to deliberately curse his family because he suffered and so should they. His choice was made out of anger and retribution. Still, it goes on to affect Simon, Sonia, Julius, and others in drastic yet different ways. Yet in the case of specific Belmonts like Trevor and Richter, we see how this family legacy can have varied consequences in far more detail through the introduction of animation and serialised writing into the Castlevania franchise.

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SOMETHING BETTER THAN A PILE OF RUINS: TREVOR BELMONT & STRENGTH FROM LEGACY

If there’s one thing that Castlevania makes abundantly clear with its four season runtime, it is that trauma does not inherently make people better or more virtuous. We of course see this from the games with Mathias and his personal crusade against god which leads to the complete dissolvement of his closest friendship. Or with Hector and the rage he feels towards his wife’s murderer, who also happens to be his former comrade under Dracula’s employment. Even Leon’s promise to both his friend, now his most despised enemy, and future descendants can also be an example of how gut reactions to pain, grief, and betrayal can have damaging consequences in the long run. This particular dissection of trauma when it affects a survivor negatively and in almost life-altering ways while still giving them a chance at achieving their own method of healing is most apparent with the animated representation of Trevor Belmont.

At its core, the first season of Castlevania airing in July of 2017 with four episodes in total is inspired by the events of Dracula’s Curse with the following seasons taking more from Curse of Darkness along with original story elements. It begins with the brutal execution of Lisa Tepes after she is falsely accused of being a witch. Shortly afterwards, Dracula declares war on all of humanity in an explosion of grief-riddled vengeance (a declaration that is not dissimilar to Mathias’ cursing of god after Elisabeta’s admittedly more natural death). Hundreds of civilians are slaughtered in the capital city Targoviste and hoards of night creatures descend upon more townships across Wallachia. 

This would be the perfect opportunity for a Belmont to stand up and fight back except there is one problem: the Belmonts have been eradicated from this world on false grounds of black magic and aiding the vampire lords instead of hunting them—much like how Lisa was slandered and paid the price with her own life.

The only Belmont left surviving is Trevor himself and his introduction does not paint him in the most optimistic or even heroic light. In the midst of being excommunicated by the church, he’s been wandering aimlessly for the past few years while languishing in whatever tavern he stumbles upon. In one particular bar Trevor finds himself in, he overhears the other patrons cursing the Belmonts and blaming them for Dracula’s siege upon humanity. He tries to stay out of it and not bring too much attention to himself until one glance at the family emblem stitched into his shirt breast is enough to ignite an all out skirmish.

Trevor hides his true identity not because he’s ashamed of it, but for his own safety and self preservation. In fact, the opinion he holds of his family is the total opposite from disdain for the sort of legacy they have saddled him with even in death. He reacts strongly to false accusations directed towards the Belmonts, angrily correcting the bar patrons by stating that his family fought monsters. However, he quickly realises he’s said too much and tries saving face by once again detaching himself from possibly being connected to the aforementioned Belmonts.

It’s only when Trevor is backed into a corner and is fresh out of snappy drunk retorts (thanks to a few hard hits to his nether regions) does he finally admit to his real lineage. As mentioned earlier, Trevor finds himself caught up in the first real brawl of the series not because of the pride he feels in himself but the immense pride he feels for his bloodline. All the while, he’s given up trying to hide what he is—a Belmont—and what he was born to do—fight fucking vampires.

Every time Trevor has the opportunity to bring up his bloodline whether in a fight or in conversation, it’s usually spoken with some bravado and weight even when he’s inebriated. However, when visiting the ruins of the Belmont ancestral home in season two and thus directly confronted with what little remains of his family legacy, Trevor loses all that previous bluster and becomes far more contemplative. He doesn’t reveal much of what it was like to actually live as a Belmont, only that it was “fine” and “no one was lonely in this house”. Even when staring up at the portrait of Leon Belmont, he says nothing and instead firmly  grips the very weapons which his ancestor must have also wielded.

It’s clear that Trevor feels no shame, bitterness, or lack of respect towards his family history despite the hardships that have come with it. Still, it’s difficult for him to truly accept the duty of being a Belmont and Trevor continually struggles with it over the course of two full seasons. Upon arriving at the ruined city of Gresit which is under constant threat of night creature attacks, Trevor doesn’t seem particularly concerned with the people’s plight or with helping them. He inquires about what’s been happening by speaking with a few local merchants but it’s only in order for him to gain a better picture of the situation that Gresit finds itself in. Otherwise, he’s simply passing through on his way to another tavern, fist fight, sleeping spot, or all three. Until he puts aside his own needs for self-protection in favour of saving an elder Speaker (a fictionalised group of nomads original to the Castlevania show who have made it their mission to help less fortunate communities and pass on their histories via oral tradition) from a potential hate crime committed by two supposed men of the cloth.

This moment acts as a representation of the first chip in Trevor’s carefully maintained armour. During the bar fight, he claimed over and over again that he was a Belmont in both skill and purpose. However, Trevor hasn’t done much to prove such a proclamation. Because of his ennui and poor coping mechanisms due to lingering trauma, he’s been all talk and not a lot of action—until this point. At first he tells himself to walk away, this sort of confrontation doesn’t concern him. Then he remembers where he comes from and uses the very same family heirloom to help someone physically weaker than himself.

Yet when he accompanies the elder back to where the other Speakers have found shelter from the monsters repeatedly demanding their heads as well as future night creature attacks, Trevor’s metaphorical walls are erected back up. He won’t take any part in this eradication of humanity whether as a victim or perpetrator and especially not to stop it. The people of Wallachia made their choice in the unjust murder of Dracula’s innocent wife, they made their choice when they decided to massacre what was left of his family, and the church made their choice when they decided to fight Dracula’s armies themselves without the Belmonts. Why should he lift a finger (or whip) to save the masses?

Despite this nihilistic attitude, Trevor proves to be a poor defeatist. He still desperately wants to protect the Speakers and warns them of an oncoming pogrom planned for them. A massive hate crime fueled by superstition and facilitated by the corrupt Bishop of Gresit which will supposedly save the city from night creature ambushes (this can be interpreted as a direct allegory meant to comment on how minority groups such as Jewish and Romani communities were used as scapegoats during the Mediaeval period). However, the Speakers refuse to budge and decide to face the angry and misled crowds head-on. They instead tell Trevor to leave in their place which, in a burst of frustration, spurs him to finally act like a member of his clan should. 

What follows next is one of the most defining moments of the series for Trevor, cementing his place as a Belmont. Another corrupt member of the church demands to know what he could possibly stand to gain from fighting back considering his downtrodden state and the fact that he’s entirely outnumbered. Trevor’s answer is simple: nothing. The Belmonts don’t protect everyday people for any great reward or because of any strong personal ties. They do it because it’s their duty and the right thing to do. Trevor even mirrors something which the elder Speaker told him; a family mantra that encompasses the very purpose of the Belmonts, dating back to Leon: “It’s not the dying that frightens us. It’s never having stood up and fought for you.”

Trevor’s healing journey does not end at this moment. He still has moments of hesitation where someone like Alucard has to forcibly remind him of his place as Belmont, saying he needs to choose whether he’s really the last of a long line of hunters or a drunkard. This leads to a fight sequence that nearly spans the length of an entire episode where Trevor further proves himself by taking on at least three different creatures all with varying degrees of strength, skill, and fortitude. Episode six of season two is the ideal example of not only Trevor’s determination but also his quick thinking. Moments such as him wrapping his cloak around his hand so that it doesn’t get cut while his sword slices through the throat of a minotaur or using a set of sticks to beat against an adversary when his whip is knocked away. Being a Belmont means using one’s intellect (no matter how unconventional it may seem) as well as one’s muscles. 

There is also another albeit less violent instance at the start of season three where he still feels the need to hide his surname while in an unfamiliar village. Then there is the revelation that malicious stories about the Belmonts and their supposed demise still circulate amongst rural Wallachian communities. Yet despite coming from a family of old killers (a term Trevor uses before facing off against Death in the final season) his family name remains his strength and the weight of both the Vampire Killer and Morningstar whip keep him grounded rather than burden him. The Belmont name carries such weight throughout the series that by the end, there is strong consideration from Alucard of naming a new township nestled in the shadow of Dracula’s castle after that family.

Trevor deals with his pain and trauma quietly, almost numbing it with the assistance of alcohol and dodging the harder questions regarding what his family was really like. He still finds strength in remembering what the Belmonts are here for despite the tribulations that come with the family name. Hardships that continue and evolve nearly three hundred years later.

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THE THINGS THAT MAKE ME WHO I AM: RICHTER BELMONT & STRENGTH FROM LOVE

Depending on what sort of mood you might find the author of this essay in, their favourite Castlevania game will vary. At the moment, it’s a three way tie between Symphony of the Night for its artistry, Lament of Innocence for its story and characterisation, and Aria of Sorrow for its evolved gameplay. However, one personal decision remains relatively consistent no matter the mood or time of day: Richter Belmont is the author’s favourite Belmont and the inclusion of him in the latest animated adaptation Castlevania: Nocturne has only cemented that fact.

It makes sense from both a narrative and marketing standpoint as to why we’ve suddenly gone from the events of Dracula’s Curse/Curse of Darkness depicted in the previous series all the way three hundred years later to Rondo of Blood . Narratively, Richter and his companion Maria Renard already have a direct link to Alucard through the events of Symphony , which Nocturne will most likely cover and be inspired by in its second season. Marketing wise while also appealing to the largest demographic possible (even those less familiar with the games), amongst more recurring characters like Dracula and Alucard, Richter is arguably one of the most recognisable Castlevania figures right down to his design.

Certain traits and visual motifs of other Belmonts have changed drastically over the years and with each iteration. Meanwhile, from Rondo and Symphony , to Harmony of Despair and the mobile game Grimoire of Souls , to finally Nocturne and the inclusion of Richter as a playable character in the fighting game Super Smash Bros Ultimate , specific elements of Richter never waver. This includes his blue colour scheme, his tousled brown hair, and his iconic white headband. All of which carry over in the first season of Nocturne which not only expands upon Richter’s character first established in Rondo of Blood but also further examines said character.

For example, Richter’s true introduction directly following the downer cold opening is without a doubt the farest cry from Trevor’s. While Trevor’s first scene acted as a sobering depiction of what happens when physically/mentally damaging coping mechanisms mix with unacknowledged grief, Richter’s first fight gets the audience’s blood pumping, complete with a triumphant musical score and a showcase of his skill with the Vampire Killer. Richter is cocky, but not reckless. He’s sarcastic, but not sullen like Trevor was. Because of his upbringing after the death of his mother, filled with positive affirmations, he values the wellbeing of others along with their fighting experience. Yet his confidence does not overshadow his acknowledgement of the family burden. Richter is well aware of how heavy the Belmont legacy and duty can weigh upon an individual’s shoulders along with how closely it can tie itself around a person’s life and their death—a reminder as well as memory which haunts him for nine years.

When Nocturne begins, its first major fight sequence takes place between Richter’s mother Julia Belmont (an original character for the show) and the vampire Olrox, an enemy taken from Symphony of the Night now reimagined as a seductive, complex Indigenous vampire on his own path towards vengeance against the very person who took away the one he loved most in this world—just one of many thematic parallels to the first series, this time referencing Dracula’s motives and justification for his grief. Just when it seems like Julia has the upper hand thanks to her magical prowess, Olrox transforms and ends her life in a swift yet brutal manner. All of which happens right before ten-year-old Richter’s eyes.

Julia was simply doing her duty as a vampire hunter and her life as a Belmont ended the same as most of her ancestors did: in battle while fighting for the life of another. Why then did it hurt Richter most of all? Why does it haunt him well into his early adult years? And why was it seemingly more so than how Trevor’s trauma haunted him? There are two probable answers to this, one being that Richter was only a child, directly confronted by the cause for his mother’s sudden and graphic death with no way of fighting back despite being a Belmont.

In the case of Trevor, although he was a few years older than Richter when his entire family and ancestral home were burned in front of his eyes presumably by the same people they were supposed to be defending, the circumstances which followed them afterwards are vastly different. For nine years Richter was surrounded by those who loved and cared for him whereas Trevor only had himself and the hoards of average Wallachians who hated him because of superstitious rumours and the church’s condemnation. Trevor had over a decade’s worth of experience in becoming desensitised to his pain and trauma, masking it beneath self deprecation and numbing it with alcohol. He wasn’t even aware of the fact that he was a deeply sad and lonely individual until Sypha pointed it out to him.

Despite his bravado and brighter personality than his ancestor, Richter is also an incredibly sad, hurt person who suffers somewhat from tunnel vision. He obviously has empathy and wants to protect people from monsters, vampires, and the like. More so than Trevor did during his introduction before his moment of self-made rehabilitation. However, he doesn’t seem to care much about the revolution itself or what it stands for. He attends Maria’s rally meetings but he doesn’t take active part in them, opting to stay back and keep a watch out for any vampire ambushes. He admits that he doesn’t really listen to Maria’s speeches about liberty, equality, and fraternity. And in the most prominent example of his disillusionment with fighting for a larger righteous cause, when given a revolutionary’s headband, he shoves it into his pocket and mumbles about how tired he is of everything.

This could be interpreted as defeatist if Richter wasn’t already trying so hard to uphold his family duty and maintain a level head. He needs to have a sense of control and almost achieves it until Olrox so casually confronts him in the middle of a battle which Richter and his friends seemed to be winning until they’re forced to flee close behind him. When Richter runs away and emotionally breaks down the moment he’s finally alone, it isn’t because he’s weak or cowardly. On a surface level, it was due to his fear and panic over not being able to face his mother’s killer (someone who has proven to be much, much stronger and more powerful than any Belmont). Yet it was also a form of harsh admission to himself. He couldn’t maintain that aforementioned sense of control and perhaps he never will, not where he is right now at least.

It isn’t until he’s reunited with his grandfather Juste Belmont (long thought to have died, leaving Richter as the final Belmont) that this negative mindset brought on by unresolved trauma begins to shift. In many ways, Juste is another callback to what happened with Trevor. He suffered an immense tragedy in the past and has since spent his entire life drifting from tavern to tavern, avoiding his own grandson and instead leaving him in the care of people far more capable of raising him and instilling better morals within the youngest Belmont.

Other mentor-esque characters appear in Nocturne such as Tera who raised Richter alongside her biological daughter Maria. There is also Cecile, the leader of a Maroon group which Annette joins after escaping slavery. Despite their individual pains, these two women maintain the hope that humanity can be changed and the evils of the world can be defeated. Meanwhile, Juste has thoroughly lost his own hope. He reveals to Richter that “evil will always win” because of how it permeates everything and is far stronger than any Belmont, even the most magically inclined members. No matter how many Draculas, Carmillas, or Lord Ruthvens are defeated, it will always find a way to creep back to the surface whether through the upper class of France or through the very colonisation that nearly wiped out Olrox’s people or enslaved Annette’s family. 

One of the first things that Juste says to Richter directly references the sheer weight of the Belmont legacy, all of which culminates within the whip itself. This can also be a reference to the Vampire Killer carrying a living soul as Leon Belmont was only able to awaken its true power by sacrificing Sara Tarantoul. The whip has both a metaphorical and literal weight which the Belmonts must come to terms with.

Yet for Richter, family is maintained not through blood ties, which can easily die out or be abandoned because of generational trauma, but through the people we find and attach ourselves to. Under the immediate threat of losing his found family, all of Richter’s pain and anguish explodes when his magical powers violently return to him in one of the most visually impressive and cathartic moments of Nocturne season one, complete with an orchestral and operatic rendition of “Divine Bloodlines” taken straight from Rondo of Blood as he ties the same headband he nearly discarded earlier around his head. Then once the dust settles and Richter is asked by Juste how he managed to tap back into that great power, he simply responds with the most obvious answer he can come up with: there are people who love him and he loves them in return. 

This is reiterated when Richter is reunited with Annette and describes the same revelation when she asks how he was able to regain his magic. Not just a mental revelation but for Richter, it was a physical sensation as well. Just when he believed he had lost everything, something reminded him of all the things worth protecting in his life and all the pain he’s had to endure.

Richter finally donning his iconic white headband is symbolic of not only his decision to actively join the French Revolution but also his revelation that the love he feels for Maria, Annette, and Tera is his own righteous cause. That, to him, is worth defending just as much if not more than the concept of a centuries old curse turned legacy.

—

SLAVES TO OUR FAMILIES' WISHES: CONCLUSION

Richter, both his game depiction and his recent Nocturne iteration, acts as a reflection and subversion of what a Belmont is along with what that family duty means to different members. Trevor found healing from his trauma through his duty. Richter found his healing through love. Of course Trevor loved Sypha and Alucard in his own way, but throughout the entire first series, from the moment he removed his cloak at the end of season one to standing up against Death in the finale, his driving motivation was always to preserve his family’s legacy despite his own shortcomings. The Belmonts were all but gone and Trevor had been exiled, excommunicated, and turned into a societal pariah. Had he given into despair and continued with his vagabond ways, who else would wield the Morningstar, the Vampire Killer, or any of the knowledge cultivated by previous Belmont generations?

But for Richter, family legacy is more of a nebulous concept. It gets mentioned in conversations and we see its varying effects on individuals, but even when Richter is reunited with Juste, the immediate priorities of his found family takes the place of his blood family. This, according to him, makes him a Belmont. 

It is also important to consider that we are still only on the first season of Castlevania: Nocturne with season two having been renewed and in production merely a week after its initial premiere. With the reveal of Alucard as a last minute cliffhanger in the penultimate episode, it will be interesting to see how his own characterisation as well as his close tie with both the Belmonts and his own family burden will further develop especially after three hundred years within the show’s timeline. One of the biggest possibilities is that in contrast with his youthful brashness and instability that was the crux of his character in the first series, Alucard might serve as a sort of mentor figure or perhaps his own generational pain will bond him further to Richter and Maria, more so than he was in Symphony of the Night . Then there is the question of whether Richter in the midst of the apparent losses he suffered during the finale of season one will follow down the same path that his video game counterpart did.

In 2020, the author wrote another Castlevania -centric essay which detailed the visual, thematic, and aesthetical shifts of the franchise from its inception during the 1980s all the way to the 2017 adaptation through focusing on how these changes affected Alucard. By the end of that essay, it was mentioned that despite the show being renewed for at least one more season, the overall future of Castlevania remained unknown. This is still the case for now. 

Though one can make educated assumptions and theories, there’s no way of knowing what sort of direction season two of Nocturne will take with its themes and characters. This is doubly true for the games themselves. Despite the anticipated releases of the Silent HIll 2 and Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater remakes, as of now Konami has not revealed any official decisions to remake, rerelease, or produce new Castlevania titles. One can hope that due to the success of both shows along with the anticipation for Silent Hill and Metal Gear Solid remakes that something new will be in store for Castlevania in the near future.

Castlevania , both its games and animation adaptations, prove that there is a place in this world for every kind of story. In the last episode of season one airing in July 2017, Alucard states what could very well be the thesis of the entire franchise: “We are all, in the end, slaves to our families’ wishes”. Yet even if we cannot escape the narrative we’ve been latched onto or, for dramatic purposes, cursed with, there are ways in which we can combat it and forge our own healing process.

—

MEDIA REFERENCED

Castlevania (1986)

Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest (1987)

Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse (1989)

Castlevania: Rondo of Blood (1993)

Castlevania Legends (1997)

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (1997)

Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow (2003)

Castlevania: Lament of Innocence (2003)

Castlevania: Curse of Darkness (2005)

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow (2011)

Castlevania (2017—2021)

Castlevania: Nocturne (2023—)

[whencyclopedia]

The Native Peoples of North America (also known as American Indians, Native Americans, Indigenous Americans, and First Americans) are the original inhabitants of North America believed to have migrated into the region between 40,000-14,000 years ago, developing into separate nations with distinct and sophisticated cultures. These autonomous nations spread from Alaska, through Canada, and the lower United States. The earliest periods of migration, settlement, and development are defined by archaeological evidence (spearheads, tools, monumental structures) from sites throughout North America and are most often referred to by the following terms: Paleoindian-Clovis Culture – c. 40,000 to c. 14,000 BCE Dalton-Folsom Culture – c. 8500-7900 BCE Archaic Period – c. 8000-1000 BCE Woodland Period – c. 500 BCE to c. 1100 CE Mississippian Culture – c. 1100-1540 CE During the Archaic Period, some Native populations moved from a hunter-gatherer paradigm to a more sedentary social model as evidenced by sites such as Watson Brake (c. 3500 BCE), Poverty Point (c. 1700-1100 BCE), and others of varying size, developed throughout the region during the Woodland and Mississippian Culture eras. The cultures that developed in and around these sites were distinct from one another but shared a worldview that included belief in a higher power and disembodied spirits, the value of community over individual needs, reciprocity in interaction with the environment and each other, the importance of ritual and tradition, the practice of warfare and slavery, and conservation of resources. Women were highly respected in the communities and frequently served as leaders or advisers in government. These separate communities developed into what are sometimes called 'tribes' (but more often referred to now as 'nations') at some point prior to c. 980 to c. 1030 CE when the first European settlement was established in North America by Leif Erikson at L'Anse aux Meadows, Newfoundland. By the time of the beginning of European colonization of the Americas in the 15th century CE, they were highly developed political and social entities associated with a specific region and a certain territory within that region. Although European expansion across Canada and the United States eventually deprived the indigenous peoples of their ancient lands, the nations still exist today and the image of the 'vanished Indian' is as much of a myth as the 'noble savage' or similar tropes developed by European and American scholars during the 19th and early 20th centuries.

[apollos-olives]

Strongly agree that Israel also doesn't really care abt its civilians either. I was born in Israel and my family moved to Canada when I was a kid, with (at least one of the reasons) being so that my siblings and I wouldn't have to serve in the IDF. Come my 18th birthday I had to apply for military service deferral, and found out that there is no option for permanent deferral. It's conditional, the condition being that if you spend more than 6 calendar months in Israel again, you will be forced to serve. Alongside this, anyone who refuses to serve is jailed. Israel does not care. They despise Palestinians, and they do not even care for their civilians. Their civilians are but disposable tools in their genocidal quest. Anyone who thinks that Israel is committing these atrocities in order to protect its own people, is an idiot. Because it is a lie. Israel is bullshit, death to the tyrannical genocidal government. Freedom to Palestine. Keep being loud, keep talking. I hear you, I see you, and all the power to you.

anon this entire message was a huge wave of relief. FINALLY. someone is listening. someone understands.

israel does not give a shit about it's citizens. it will bomb and kill whoever gets in their way, and then blame the palestinians for it, to try to excuse it. that's why israel systematically puts israeli settlements with "civilians" (no settler is technically a civilian bc as you said above, they all are forced to serve in the military. the only innocent people are the children and anything that happens to a child is entirely on the parents for bringing their child to "israel" in the first place and illegally settling there) right next to the palestinians. if anything happens, israelis are the first ones to get hurt, and therefore israel has another excuse to kill more palestinians while disregarding and killing their own citizens along the way. it's genuinely disgusting, horrifying, and anyone who doesn't understand this at this point is so ignorant of what's going on right now.

i'm glad you're refusing to serve for israel. we need more israelis to start refusing, even if it means jail. this puts extreme pressure on it's citizens and it's an honestly disgusting tactic in order to further oppress palestinians AND zionist-critical israelis.

to add on also, israel only gives a shit about white ppl too. they claim to be a safe nation for all jews but they actively persecute arab jews and black and brown jews. there is SO much proof of this happening too. and it's genuinely so sickening the way israel's propaganda plays such a big part in how the whole world views this genocide, apartheid, and occupation.

i'm glad you're standing with palestine. it must be hard to, considering you were directly born in israel, and a lot of pressure must be put on you right now. but when the smoke clears and the dust settles, palestine will be free. from the river to the sea 🇵🇸

[37sommz]

❁ : no love . . .

✼. masterlist — taglist — request. ✼. genre: angst. ✼. wc: 5.8k.

after a botched pit stop in azerbaijan and a withdrawal in canada, michaela's side of the garage is heading down a slippery slope. michaela's depleted spirit can't take much more. until silverstone.

✼. warnings: language, arguments, more mclaren papaya mess. ✼. notes: so sorry but yuki is the villain in this part.

000.⠀⠀JULY 02, 2022    ›    Silverstone, UK.

Michaela stood tall in her cramped garage, surrounded by the mechanical hum of the Silverstone Grand Prix. Her eyes scanned her McLaren car, the sleek machine adorned with the papaya orange and blue livery that had become her battle armor. The smell of the mechanical tools and racing fuel filled her nose, a familiar scent that had become almost comforting over the years. Despite the whispers that had followed her since the last race, she was in her element, she could feel it.

Her last conversation with Jenson replayed in her mind as she climbed into the cockpit. He had tried to ease her nerves, but his words of reassurance had only served to highlight the precariousness of her situation. She pushed the thoughts away, focusing on the task at hand.

The British Grand Prix was a chance for redemption, and she was not going to let anything or anyone stand in her way. The sound of the engines firing up around her sent a shiver down her spine, a reminder of the power and danger that lay just beyond her grip. Her first free practice session had gone as expected, Michaela lay in comfortable territory on the rankings. The car felt great and she was at the helm, masterminding every turn and hum through the twists of the Silverstone circuit. The second session had followed in similar fashion. She did just enough in the car to provide a glimpse of her potential for the weekend, but not nearly enough for any real predictions to be made.

Michaela knew the media was watching her closely, waiting for any sign of weakness. The whispers grew louder, the questions more pointed. Her rivalry with Lando was a hot topic, especially after the disasters in Saudi Arabia, Azerbaijan, and Canada. But she had faced adversity before and had come out on top. As she stepped out of the garage and into the press conference room following the conclusion of Friday's practice runs, she felt the beginning of vindication start to settle in.

The journalists kept coming back around to her, their faces a mix of curiosity and accusation. The air was thick with the anticipation of a scandal, a juicy headline waiting to be born. One journalist, in particular, had a glint in his eye as he asked, "Michaela, what's your response to the rumors that Lando has been receiving preferential treatment from the team?"

Michaela took a deep breath, her grip on the microphone in her hand tightening. "My focus is on my performance," she replied with a steely smile, her voice as smooth as the freshly paved circuit she'd soon be racing on. "I've seen the times, and I know what I'm capable of. The team is doing their best, and I have full confidence in McLaren." Her response was met with a smatter of applause, a few nods of approval. It was a dance she'd done before, dodging the media's jabs with the grace of a seasoned professional.

The weekend dragged on, the tension between her and Lando palpable. She could feel his eyes on her during the practice session early Saturday morning, the unspoken challenge in every rev of his engine. But she had her own demons to face. Her relationship with Jenson was a tightrope walk, and the fear of losing her grip on her career was a constant weight on her shoulders.

Qualifying day arrived with a mix of nerves and excitement. The Silverstone circuit buzzed with energy, the crowd eager to see who would claim pole position. As she geared up for Q3, the final showdown, she knew she had to put everything aside and just drive. The pressure mounted as she took off for her out lap, the thunderous roar of the engines around her a reminder of the blend of power and ambition at play.

Michaela's heart raced as she pushed her McLaren to the limit, each turn a testament to her skill and determination. Her qualifying lap was pure poetry, a dance of precision and speed that would secure her a spot on the third row in 5th, just behind the two Red Bulls and Ferraris. The crowd erupted into applause, and she couldn't help but feel a swell of pride. The first question out of her mouth as she crossed the lap as the clock ran down was, "Where'd Lando end up?" The response of '7th' was left hanging in the air as she selfishly allowed her heart to flutter with ego.

The evening before the race, she and Jenson talked over the phone, his voice a gentle reprieve from the storm of the day. He apologized for pushing the topic of their relationship into the public eye, saying, "You're right, love. We'll do it on your terms." She felt the knot in her stomach loosen slightly, appreciating his understanding but still feeling the pressure to make a decision. They ended the call with a promise to meet up after the race, regardless of the outcome.

000.⠀⠀JULY 03, 2022    ›    Silverstone, UK.

Sunday dawned bright and early, the air thick with the scent of hunger and anticipation. As she put on her helmet, she could almost taste the podium champagne, her resolve to win stronger than ever.

But fate had other plans.

Michaela's heart sank as she heard the words from Zak Brown, her boss and McLaren's CEO, just before the race. Something about a potential team order to go on the defensive that could favor Lando. She had added a justification for the choice, something about standings and sponsors. She tried to push the thoughts away, but the doubt had already planted its seed.

As the lights turned green, she stalled, the car jolting awkwardly off the line as she dropped to 9th place. The roar of the McLaren fans morphed into a collective groan of disappointment, the air around her thick with the smell of misfortune as the field sped away. Her mind raced, trying to make sense of the chaos. Her engineer's voice crackled over the radio, a mix of concern and urgency, but she couldn't respond, her focus solely on regaining her lost positions.

Her first pit stop was a disaster. The mechanics were not prepared, fumbling with the tires. The seconds ticked by as she sat stationary, the frustration burning in her chest. When she was finally released, she shot out of the pits with a simmering rage, only to be met by Yuki Tsunoda, his Alpha Tauri car snapping at her heels. As he engaged in a risky twist with her, Michaela's anger that had been simmering within her boiled over.

The overtake was clean, a testament to her skill and patience, but Yuki wasn't going to let it go without a fight. He lunged back at her, tires squealing in protest as they danced dangerously close to the edge of the track. The crowd held their collective breath, the tension in the air as visible as the exhaust fumes.

Michaela felt a rush of adrenaline as she saw her opportunity to put distance between them. She floored the pedal, the engine screaming in response. The sound of the tires on the asphalt was a symphony of speed and grip, her car an extension of her will. But Yuki was persistent, his aggression unyielding.

The battle continued, a blur of Orange and Blue as their cars filed through the historic track. The heat of the rare British summer sun bore down on her, the cockpit a sauna of concentration and anger. Every time she glimpsed in her mirrors to catch sight of Yuki, it was a painful reminder of her botched start and the game of 'what if' she had been playing in her mind for the past 15 laps.

Michaela's knuckles were white on the steering wheel, her eyes never leaving the track. The crowd's cheers grew louder as she approached the spot where she had made the overtake. She could feel the energy of the fans urging her on, willing her to push through the pain and frustration. But it was a fleeting victory, every corner a potential disaster waiting to happen.

As they approached the fast-approaching right-hand turn at Stowe, he took a risk, going wide, his tires grazing the grass. She saw her chance and took it, her car responding beautifully as she swung around him. The crowd roared as she reclaimed the position, but Yuki wasn't done yet. He came back at her, his car clipping her rear wing as he tried to muscle his way past. The contact sent her McLaren into a spin, the world around her a whirlwind of color and motion.

Her heart racing, she watched as the tire barrier grew closer, the world outside the cockpit becoming a blur of fear and frustration. Time slowed as she braced for impact, the thud of the car against the wall jolting her body. The sudden silence was deafening as the engine cut out, the only sound the hiss of escaping air and the faint crackle of the dead radio.

Her engineer, Rob, tried to get her attention over the radio, his voice strained with tension. "Michaela, are you okay?" He asked, the static crackling in her ears. She didn't respond, her thoughts a whirlwind of anger and frustration. She sat, dazed, as the safety car was deployed and the marshals rushed to her side.

Michaela's mind was a cloud of emotions as she climbed out of the wreckage. She could feel the eyes of the world on her, the cameras capturing every moment of her defeat. Yuki pulled up alongside, an annoyed look on his face, his words of apology barely audible over the engine noise. The frustration boiled over and she slammed her fist on the side of her car, the anger clear in her eyes.

The medical team checked her over, but she brushed them off, more concerned with the damage to her ego than any bruises she may have sustained. As she was escorted back to the pits, the weight of her failure pressed down on her shoulders. The crowd's cheers had turned to gasps, the excitement of the race now tinged with concern for her safety. She could barely bring herself to open her eyes fully, the pounding in her head echoing hisses of failure and upsetting shortcomings.

The moment she stepped out of the marshall car, the disappointments of the race weekend engulfed her. Mechanics swarmed around her, checking for any signs of injury while team members whispered about the potential repercussions of the crash. In the midst of this, Yuki's voice rang out clear over the huffing of the team.

"That was a bad move, Sommers," he spat, his eyes narrowed as he removed his helmet. "You had no right to take the inside like that."

Michaela's anger flared, igniting like a spark in dry grass. "Don't you dare blame me for your inability to drive in a straight fucking line," she shot back, her voice carrying over the rumblings of the pit lane. The tension between them was palpable, a live wire ready to snap.

Their words grew heated, accusations and recriminations flying as their teams looked on in shock. The cameras had caught every second, broadcasting their argument across the globe. It was a spectacle that no one could have anticipated, two of the sport's rising stars at each other's throats. The mechanics tried to pull them apart, their faces a mix of concern and embarrassment.

The argument was finally broken up by a burly figure in McLaren overalls, his voice a thunderous boom over the din. It was her team's chief mechanic, his face red with rage. "That's enough," he bellowed, his hands firmly planted on their shoulders. "We've got a race to manage."

Michaela took a step back, her chest heaving as she fought to regain her composure. Yuki glared at her before turning away, stalking off towards his own garage. The cameras continued to roll, the scene playing out in real-time on the screens lining the pit wall. Her heart was racing, the adrenaline from the crash mixing with the anger still coursing through her veins. She knew she had to get control of herself, to keep her emotions in check. But it was too late; the damage was done.

The race continued without her, a stark reminder of her failure. She watched from the pit wall, her eyes never leaving the track as Lando and the others fought for position. Each pass, each overtake, stung like a slap in the face. The voices in her head grew louder, questioning her place in the sport, her worth as a driver. Was she really as good as she had thought?

Her engineer, Rob, was by her side, trying to offer words of encouragement. But she couldn't hear him over the roar of the engines, the echo of the crowd's disappointment, and the thundering beat of her own heart. All she could think about was the look on Zak's face when he saw the replay and the inevitable questions from her manager, Guido, about her contract.

Michaela's eyes followed the cars as they disappeared around the final turn, heading towards the checkered flag. Lando would be finishing in a well-earned sixth place, something she couldn't even secure this weekend. The knot in her stomach tightened as the reality of her situation set in. Her thoughts were interrupted by the buzz of her headphones.

"Michaela, we need to get you to the medical center now," Rob’s voice was firm, yet filled with a hint of concern. She nodded, letting the team lead her away from the chaos, her head down to avoid the prying eyes of the media.

The medical center was a blur of white and blue as she was poked and prodded, questions about her well-being flying at her from every angle. Her thoughts remained on the race, on the podium that had slipped through her fingers like sand in an hourglass. The doctor's voice was a distant murmur as she replayed every moment in her head, searching for where she had gone wrong.

Finally, she was given the all-clear, but her mind was anything but. She stormed through the McLaren garage, the smell of burning rubber and hot metal a constant reminder of the battle she'd left unfinished. Guido found her, his expression a mix of disappointment and frustration. He knew better than to speak to her now, the fire in her eyes a warning to tread lightly.

In the post-race press conference, she couldn't escape the questions about her argument with Yuki. A journalist, eager for drama, asked, "Michaela, can you comment on the tension between you and Tsunoda?" She took a deep breath, her jaw clenched tight. "It's just racing," she said through gritted teeth, her voice a forced calm. "We're all out there fighting for the same thing."

The room was a sea of flashing cameras and probing eyes, each journalist hungry for a piece of her. Beata, her press officer, shot her a warning glance, but it was too late. The dam had broken, and now the sharks were circling.

Michaela took a deep breath and faced the horde, her heart pounding in her chest as she grew more agitated by the second. "Yes, there was an incident on track, but that's all it was. Just racing." Her voice was firm, but she could feel the tremble in her hands.

The questions kept coming, each one more pointed than the last. She tried to keep her cool, to stick to the script, but the anger was too much. "I don't know what else you want me to say," she spoke plainly. "We're all out there to win, and sometimes things get heated."

The room fell silent, the only sound the clack of cameras capturing the moment. The moderator stepped in, trying to steer the conversation back on track, but it was too late. The journalists had caught the scent of a scandal and weren't letting go. "Michaela, is there any truth to the rumors of tension within the team?"

Her eyes flashed with anger as she leaned into the microphone. "I've said all I'm going to say about that," she bit back, her voice cutting through the air like a knife. She could feel Beata's eyes boring into her, willing her to walk away, but she was beyond caring. The whispers of doubt and favoritism had been eating away at her for too long, and she wasn't going to let them win.

The press conference was a blur, a minefield of words she carefully stepped around. Each question was a trap, designed to catch her off guard, but she was ready for them. Every answer was a calculated move, a defense of her talent and her team's strategy. But as she stepped out of the press pen, the weight of the weekend's events finally hit her.

Her eyes searched the bustling garage for Beata, who was nowhere to be found. She needed to vent, to scream, to let it all out. The tension in her shoulders was a constant reminder of the crash, the argument, the unspoken accusations. It was then she saw Guido, her manager, his face etched with worry and concern.

Michaela stormed towards him, the sounds of the garage fading into the background. "What the hell was that about, Guido?" she spat out, her voice a mix of anger and defeat. "Why did they have to pit me with those tires?"

Guido held up his hands in a calming gesture. "Michaela, let's talk about this in private," he suggested, leading her to a quieter area behind the garage. She followed, her mind racing with the events of the race.

Once out of earshot, she unleashed her frustration. "I can't believe this. The stall on the line, the pit stop, and now this with Yuki!" she exclaimed, her voice cracking with emotion. Guido's expression grew sterner as he listened, his eyes never leaving hers.

"Michaela, I know this weekend hasn't been easy, but you've got to keep your head focused," he said firmly, his voice low as he tried to keep his driver in line. "We're all feeling the pressure, but lashing out like that isn't going to help."

Her eyes searched his, looking for any sign of understanding or sympathy, but she found none. The walls of the garage felt like they were closing in on her, the weight of the weekend's failure crushing her spirit. "What do you know about pressure?" she snapped, her voice filled with bitterness. "You sit up in your fancy office and tell me what to do, but you've never been out there, fighting for your life."

Guido's expression softened slightly. "You're right, I haven't," he admitted. "But I've seen drivers with half your talent crack under a quarter of the pressure you're under. You're better than this, Michaela."

Michaela's anger didn't abate. "Better than what? Crashing out because of a bad pit stop? Or maybe better than fighting with other drivers over a podium that was never meant for me?"

Guido sighed, his hand resting on her shoulder. "You know what I mean. You're one of the best drivers out there, and you can't let one bad race define you. We need to work on the contract situation, yes, but now is not the time for this."

Michaela's eyes searched his, looking for a glimmer of hope. "What if I don't want to stay?" she whispered, the words hanging in the air like a confession.

Guido's expression grew serious. "You have a contract, and we need to honor that," he said firmly. "But if you're unhappy, we'll talk after the weekend. For now, you need to keep your focus on the next race."

Michaela nodded, her eyes welling up with tears she refused to shed. The pressure of keeping her emotions in check was almost too much to bear. She knew he was right, but the feeling of being trapped was suffocating.

As they walked back to the garage, she spotted Jenson in the distance, talking to his fellow pundits, their expressions a mix of shock and concern as they watched the replay of her crash. She felt a pang of guilt for dragging him into this mess. Their relationship was supposed to be a sanctuary, not a source of additional strain.

The sight of him brought a fresh wave of tears that she hastily wiped away. She didn't want to face the cameras with red eyes and she didn't want to give the media more fuel for their fire.

Guido steered her towards the team's motorhome, the only sanctuary where she could retreat for a brief moment of solace. "Go in, take a breather, and we'll talk after," he said, his grip on her shoulder reassuring.

Michaela nodded, her legs feeling like lead as she climbed the stairs into the plush sanctum of the McLaren motorhome. She slammed the door behind her, the sound echoing through the narrow corridor. The silence was deafening, and she leaned against the cool metal, letting out a shaky sigh. Her eyes fell on her racing suit, still damp with sweat and stained with the grime of the track. The smell of burnt rubber clung to her, a painful reminder of her failure.

She stripped off the suit, the material peeling away from her sticky skin. In the small bathroom, she turned on the cold water, letting it cascade over her, the chill a stark contrast to the heat of the race still lingering in her veins. The water stung as it flowed over the scrapes forming from the crash, a physical representation of the pain she felt inside.

Michaela stood under the shower for what felt like an eternity, her thoughts racing. The pressure to perform, the fear of losing her seat, the strain on her relationship with Jenson, the constant scrutiny of the media—it all converged into a tumultuous storm in her mind. She wished she could wash away the weight of it all with the soap and water swirling around the drain.

Stepping out, she wrapped herself in a towel, the cool fabric offering a brief respite from the heat of her emotions. She took a moment to catch her breath, staring at her reflection in the foggy mirror. Her eyes were red-rimmed, her cheeks flushed with anger. She looked nothing like the poised driver who had stepped onto the grid just hours before.

Michaela dressed in clean clothes provided by the team, her movements mechanical as she tried to push aside the turmoil of her thoughts. The soft knock on the door brought her back to reality, and she took a deep breath before opening it to find Beata waiting outside.

"Michaela, we need to talk," Beata's voice was firm, yet filled with genuine concern.

Michaela nodded wearily, stepping aside to let her in. "I know," she murmured, collapsing onto the couch. The cushions enveloped her in a comfort she hadn't felt in what felt like an eternity.

Beata's eyes searched hers, reading the raw emotion on her face. "Your behavior today was unacceptable," she began, her voice gentle but firm. "We can't have you fighting with other racers, especially not on live television."

Michaela nodded, the fight draining out of her. "I know," she said softly. "It just got to me. The pit stop, the questions about Lando, the whispers about favoritism..."

Beata sat beside her, her expression softening. "You're under a lot of pressure, more than anyone should have to bear. But you're better than that. You're a professional, and you can't let it get to you like this," she said, placing a comforting hand on her arm.

Michaela looked down, the weight of the weekend's events crashing down on her. "I know," she whispered. "But it's just..." she trailed off, unable to put her feelings into words.

Beata nodded, her expression understanding. "It's a lot, I know," she said gently. "But you can't let it consume you. We need to figure out how to manage this, how to keep your focus on the track."

Michaela leaned back into the cushions, her eyes glazed over as she stared at the ceiling. "I just want to race," she murmured. "I don't care about the drama, the politics, the cameras."

Beata squeezed her arm gently. "I know you do, but you're in the public eye now, and people are going to look for a story. You've got to learn to rise above it, to keep your cool when things get tough."

Michaela nodded, her eyes closing briefly as she took in her words. It was a lesson she knew all too well but had clearly forgotten in the heat of the moment. "What do we do now?" she asked, her voice small and defeated.

"We'll issue a statement about the crash and the incident with Yuki," Beata said, her tone professional once more. "But we need to be careful with how we handle this. The last thing we want is for it to blow up into something it's not."

Michaela nodded, understanding the gravity of the situation. She knew the media would be hungry for more, eager to dissect every word she said and every gesture she made. The thought of facing the press again made her stomach churn, but she knew it was a necessary evil.

Beata stirred, reaching for Michaela's phone out of her handbag. "Jenson's been trying to call," she said gently.

Michaela's heart skipped a beat. She hadn't even thought about Jenson, about how he might have seen the crash, the argument, and the subsequent fallout. She took the phone, her hand trembling slightly as she answered the call.

"Hey," she said, her voice barely above a whisper.

Jenson's voice was filled with concern. "Are you okay? I've been worried sick after watching that."

Michaela took a deep breath, trying to keep her voice steady. "I'm fine," she lied, the ache from the crash still present. "Just a bit shaken."

"You don't sound fine," Jenson said, his voice tight with worry. "What happened with Yuki? I've never seen you that angry before."

Michaela leaned her head back against the cool leather of the couch, feeling the weight of his question. "It was just a racing incident," she replied, her voice hollow. "We both wanted the same thing, and we didn't get it."

"Is that all it was?" Jenson's voice was probing, not quite convinced.

Michaela closed her eyes, the sound of his voice soothing the storm inside her. "It's just...it's been a tough weekend," she admitted, her voice cracking. "The pit stop, the questions about favoritism, and then this with Yuki..."

"I know, sweetheart," Jenson said, his voice filled with empathy. "But you've got to keep your head up. You can't let the media get to you like this."

Michaela felt a tear slip down her cheek. "I know," she said, her voice breaking. "It's just...I don't know if I can keep doing this."

"Keep doing what?" Jenson's voice was gentle, coaxing.

Michaela took a deep breath, the words spilling out in a rush. "This whole circus," she said, gesturing to the bustling paddock outside. "The racing, the drama, the expectations. It's just too much."

There was a pause on the other end of the line, and she could almost see Jenson's furrowed brow, his mind racing as he searched for the right words to say. "Michaela, you're one of the best drivers out there. You can't let a bad race, or some idiot journalist, or even a dickhead like Yuki, get you down."

A small smile tugged at the corner of her mouth despite her pain. "Thanks," she murmured, her voice thick with unshed tears. "I just wish it was that simple."

"It is simple," Jenson said firmly. "You're in this because you love to race, not because you love the drama. Remember that."

Michaela nodded, his words resonating with her. "Guess I've gotta start looking at other teams," she murmured. "Even if McLaren decided to stick with me for next season, I'm not sure I'd be okay with that. Not at this point."

Beata and Jenson sighed on either ends of the call, both knowing the gravity of her words. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Beata said, trying to lighten the mood. "For now, let's get through this weekend."

Michaela nodded, her eyes still closed. "I'm sorry for putting you through this," she murmured into the phone, the weight of her emotions threatening to crush her.

"You don't have to apologize to me," Jenson said firmly. "But you do need to apologize to the team. They're all here supporting you, and you can't let them down."

Michaela nodded, wiping away the stray tear that had escaped. "I know," she said, her voice stronger now. "I'll go talk to them."

The conversation with Jenson had brought a small spark of resolve to her. She knew she couldn't let one bad race define her, especially not in front of her team who had put their faith in her. She took a deep breath and opened the door to the bustling garage, the sound of engines and chatter filling her ears once more.

The McLaren crew looked up as she approached, their expressions a mix of concern and curiosity. She could see the question in their eyes—what had happened? But she didn't want to rehash the drama of the day. Instead, she focused on what needed to be said.

"I'm sorry," she began, her voice loud enough to carry over the garage's din. "I know I screwed up out there, and let my emotions get the better of me." The team stared at her, some of the tension visibly draining from their faces. "I'm going to learn from this and move forward. I hope you all know how much I appreciate the work you all do for my benefit. This is just a bump in the road to better things. I'm so sorry, again. But, I'll see you all in Austria, cheers."

Her words were met with a round of nods and murmurs of understanding. The mechanics, engineers, and strategists were a tight-knit group, and she knew they had her back. But she also knew that she had let them down, and she wasn't about to let it happen again.

Michaela walked over to her car, the wreckage of her McLaren a stark contrast to the gleaming machines around her. The car looked defeated, a shell of its former glory, but she saw the potential beneath the bruises. She ran her hand along the carbon fiber body, feeling the coolness of the metal, the scent of failure still lingering in the air.

"We'll get it fixed," a voice said from behind her. She turned to see her chief mechanic, David, his eyes filled with determination. "We'll be back stronger in Spielberg."

Michaela managed a smile, appreciating the support. "Thanks, David." She knew the team would work tirelessly to rebuild the car, but it was the internal damage she wasn't sure could be repaired so easily. The doubt, the fear, the anger—it was all simmering just beneath the surface.

As the team began to disperse, Beata approached her with a gentle look. "You need to be more careful, Michaela," she warned. "The press is already having a field day with this. If you're not happy with McLaren, we can explore options, but you can't let it affect your performance on the track."

Michaela nodded, feeling the weight of her words. "You're right," she said, her voice a whisper. "I just want to get out of here."

Beata nodded sympathetically. "Let's get you out of here," she said, steering her away from the garage and handing her a pair of emergency sunglasses. They walked through the paddock, the buzz of the grandstands a stark contrast to the quiet of the team's area. The fans were already starting to file out, their excited chatter muffled by the distance.

Michaela's mind raced as she put on the sunglasses, trying to compose herself. She knew the moment she stepped out of the garage, the media would be waiting, eager for a glimpse of the troubled driver. The cool breeze outside did little to ease the heat of the day or the pressure in her chest.

"Michaela, are you okay?" a journalist called out as they passed by the media pen. She ignored the question, her eyes fixed straight ahead. Beata shot her a warning look, but she knew better than to engage.

The car ride to the airport was silent, both of them lost in their thoughts. The tension in the air was thick, and she could feel the unspoken words weighing down on her. As they pulled up to the rented jet, the reality of her situation hit her like a ton of bricks. She was living the dream, but at what cost?

Michaela took a deep breath before stepping out of the car, her eyes scanning the tarmac for any signs of paparazzi. The last thing she needed was another scene. She climbed the stairs to the jet, her legs feeling like jelly. Once inside, she collapsed into her seat, the plush leather a stark contrast to the hard plastic chair she had been in just minutes ago.

The flight to Austria was a blur of recaps and strategy sessions, the team trying to dissect where it had gone wrong. Each time someone talked about the pit stop or the crash, she felt a stab of pain in her chest. Her mind kept replaying the moment she lost control, the feeling of the car spinning out, the sickening crunch as it hit the barrier. It was a reminder that no matter how much she pushed herself, how much she wanted it, there were factors beyond her control.

Michaela sat in the back, her headphones on but the music muted. Instead, she listened to the hum of the engines, a constant reminder of the beast she would soon be taming again. She knew she had to channel her anger into something positive, to use it to fuel her drive in the upcoming race next weekend. But it was easier said than done.

The team's debrief was thorough, leaving no stone unturned. Each member took responsibility for their part in the weekend's disaster, but it was clear that the tension between her and the team was palpable. Guido, her manager, sat quietly in the corner, listening intently to every word. He knew that her heart was in the right place, but the public's perception was a different beast to tame.

[fatehbaz]

Regarding this post going around:

Recommend checking out an article by Kasey Keeler and Ryan Hellenbrand, published at Edge Effects in 2021.

Aside from addressing the Ojibwe story about the Nanabozho fighting against logging (including an image of the encounter), they also describe Paul Bunyan's entanglement with the transition from clear-cutting timber logging to the later advent of the US federal government’s “German-style” extraction and "sustained yield" management (an approach, like early twentieth-century "British forestry" style, which still pursues profit-oriented extraction). Basically, they recount/argue: Story-telling makes claims to landscapes. Nostalgia can be a powerful tool. Paul Bunyan stories became more widely known after 1914. A logging company which used Paul Bunyan in promotional marketing owned the land that would become Paul Bunyan State Forest and Chippewa National Forest (the first national forest established by act of Congress rather than presidential proclamation), which functioned as a "laboratory".

All text (images and captions, too) below is excerpted from their article.

[Quote:]

Across the Northwoods, a geography that spans the U.S.-Canada border, stories are used to make and claim space. [...] Throughout northern Minnesota, legends of Paul Bunyan, the fictional giant lumberjack, have been used to claim space. [...] Bunyan has been credited with creating Minnesota’s 10,000 lakes, the Mississippi River, and the Grand Canyon, while simultaneously logging millions of acres of forest. [...] Together, we juxtapose the history of two forests - the Paul Bunyan State Forest and the Chippewa National Forest - to reveal how German settlement, logging, and forestry have contributed to placemaking narratives, and how [...] nostalgia links past and present. Paul Bunyan’s literal and figurative imaginings advance American Indian erasure narratives, leading to the invisibility of these same communities today. [...] The Northwoods have been popularized and imagined as America’s version of northern Europe. [...] Across Minnesota, towns like New Ulm, New Munich, Heidelberg, and Luxemburg bear witness [...]. More recently, Native scholars Michael Dockry and Christopher Caldwell have examined [...] “the Menominee people’s profound sense of place and their intimate relationship with place.” [...]

---

Ojibwe dispossession, well underway by the late nineteenth century, is not told in any Paul Bunyan story. [...] The "heroic labor" of logging formed a significant portion of Great Lakes region economies [...] on the heels of, and entangled with, Ojibwe dispossession. [...] Formally established in 1908, the 1.6-million-acre Chippewa National Forest (CNF) lies nearly contiguous with the Leech Lake Reservation. [...] [T]he CNF was the first national forest created "for the benefit of [American] Indian people." [...] In 1902 came the Morris Act. Authored by [a] Duluth congressman [...], the act "created the first forest reserve established by congressional action rather than presidential proclamation." The act established the 225,000-acre Minnesota Forest Reserve as a “compromise,” a way to tackle the “Indian problem” while allowing for timber harvest. Here, Ojibwe homelands became “a laboratory for the first comprehensive forest management plans undertaken by a federal agency.” In 1928, the forest was renamed the Chippewa National Forest, as it remains today.

---

While the Chippewa National Forest forces us to consider the many ways logging and forestry has usurped American Indian peoples’ access to land, the nearby Paul Bunyan State Forest encapsulates the material legacy of symbolic myth. [...]

Officially recognized in 1935, the Paul Bunyan State Forest evolved from the site of the Red River Lumber Company sawmill. Founded in 1884, the Red River Lumber Company (RRLC) directly participated in and contributed to Ojibwe dispossession. By the end of the nineteenth century, he RRLC had purchased most of the land that comprises the present-day Pual Bunyan State Forest, milling millions of board feet of lumber at the company town of Akeley. [...]

The expansion of RRLC to California precipitated another key move: using Paul Bunyan in their marketing. William B. Laughead (pronounced Log-head), advertising manager in 1914 and a logger himself, spun another Paul Bunyan tale for the promotional booklet “Introducing Mr. Paul Bunyan of Westwood, Cal,” which included Bunyan’s first pictorial representation. This marketing campaign relied on the new and growing nostalgia for the grand logging days in the Great Lakes to keep the transcontinental corporation rooted in place.

With logging long established throughout the Great Lakes region, the ecological damage was clear. To remedy this, in the mid-1930s (German) forestry was introduced to manage timber on a sustained yield base. This, then, is the irony of the Paul Bunyan State Forest: named for an American legends who is said to have literally cleared the path for settlement, forest management now proposes to maintain the integrity of the forest. [...]

Though Paul Bunyan narratives dominate the landscape of the Northwoods, if we look closely we can see the ways Native people resist the legendary exploits. Indeed, a lesser-known Ojibwe oral story reminds us that the Anishinaabe people, their culture, and their histories will always prevail over dispossession and logging. In the story, Nanabozho, an Ojibwe trickster or cultural figure, confronts Paul Bunyan, who had already logged off most of the northeastern states before making his way to Minnesota. Nanabozho tells Paul to leave, to not log any more timber. A fight ensues, and [...] Nanabozho swings a Red Lake walleye at Paul, knocking him off his feet. As Paul stumbles, Nanabozho pulls at Paul’s whiskers, making him promise to leave the area. This is why, today, Paul Bunyan does not have a beard and why he is facing west at the statue on Lake Bemidji, as he prepares to leave the region. This is also why we have the Chippewa National Forest, because Nanabozho and his Ojibwe kinsmen saved it from being logged. It is this contemporary narrative that highlights the complexity of Ojibwe storytelling [...].

---

[End quote.]

Images, captions, and text by: Kasey Keeler and Ryan Hellenbrand. “Paul Bunyan and Settler Nostalgia in the Northwoods.” Edge Effects. 2 December 2021. At: edgeeffects dot net/paul-bunyan-narratives/ [Bold emphasis and some paragraph breaks/contractions added by me. Presented here for commentary, teaching, criticism. Images and captions are shown unaltered as they originally appear in the article.]

[mostlysignssomeportents]

“Humans in the loop” must detect the hardest-to-spot errors, at superhuman speed

I'm touring my new, nationally bestselling novel The Bezzle! Catch me SATURDAY (Apr 27) in MARIN COUNTY, then Winnipeg (May 2), Calgary (May 3), Vancouver (May 4), and beyond!

If AI has a future (a big if), it will have to be economically viable. An industry can't spend 1,700% more on Nvidia chips than it earns indefinitely – not even with Nvidia being a principle investor in its largest customers:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39883571

A company that pays 0.36-1 cents/query for electricity and (scarce, fresh) water can't indefinitely give those queries away by the millions to people who are expected to revise those queries dozens of times before eliciting the perfect botshit rendition of "instructions for removing a grilled cheese sandwich from a VCR in the style of the King James Bible":

https://www.semianalysis.com/p/the-inference-cost-of-search-disruption

Eventually, the industry will have to uncover some mix of applications that will cover its operating costs, if only to keep the lights on in the face of investor disillusionment (this isn't optional – investor disillusionment is an inevitable part of every bubble).

Now, there are lots of low-stakes applications for AI that can run just fine on the current AI technology, despite its many – and seemingly inescapable - errors ("hallucinations"). People who use AI to generate illustrations of their D&D characters engaged in epic adventures from their previous gaming session don't care about the odd extra finger. If the chatbot powering a tourist's automatic text-to-translation-to-speech phone tool gets a few words wrong, it's still much better than the alternative of speaking slowly and loudly in your own language while making emphatic hand-gestures.

There are lots of these applications, and many of the people who benefit from them would doubtless pay something for them. The problem – from an AI company's perspective – is that these aren't just low-stakes, they're also low-value. Their users would pay something for them, but not very much.

For AI to keep its servers on through the coming trough of disillusionment, it will have to locate high-value applications, too. Economically speaking, the function of low-value applications is to soak up excess capacity and produce value at the margins after the high-value applications pay the bills. Low-value applications are a side-dish, like the coach seats on an airplane whose total operating expenses are paid by the business class passengers up front. Without the principle income from high-value applications, the servers shut down, and the low-value applications disappear:

https://locusmag.com/2023/12/commentary-cory-doctorow-what-kind-of-bubble-is-ai/

Now, there are lots of high-value applications the AI industry has identified for its products. Broadly speaking, these high-value applications share the same problem: they are all high-stakes, which means they are very sensitive to errors. Mistakes made by apps that produce code, drive cars, or identify cancerous masses on chest X-rays are extremely consequential.

Some businesses may be insensitive to those consequences. Air Canada replaced its human customer service staff with chatbots that just lied to passengers, stealing hundreds of dollars from them in the process. But the process for getting your money back after you are defrauded by Air Canada's chatbot is so onerous that only one passenger has bothered to go through it, spending ten weeks exhausting all of Air Canada's internal review mechanisms before fighting his case for weeks more at the regulator:

https://bc.ctvnews.ca/air-canada-s-chatbot-gave-a-b-c-man-the-wrong-information-now-the-airline-has-to-pay-for-the-mistake-1.6769454

There's never just one ant. If this guy was defrauded by an AC chatbot, so were hundreds or thousands of other fliers. Air Canada doesn't have to pay them back. Air Canada is tacitly asserting that, as the country's flagship carrier and near-monopolist, it is too big to fail and too big to jail, which means it's too big to care.

Air Canada shows that for some business customers, AI doesn't need to be able to do a worker's job in order to be a smart purchase: a chatbot can replace a worker, fail to their worker's job, and still save the company money on balance.

I can't predict whether the world's sociopathic monopolists are numerous and powerful enough to keep the lights on for AI companies through leases for automation systems that let them commit consequence-free free fraud by replacing workers with chatbots that serve as moral crumple-zones for furious customers:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0747563219304029

But even stipulating that this is sufficient, it's intrinsically unstable. Anything that can't go on forever eventually stops, and the mass replacement of humans with high-speed fraud software seems likely to stoke the already blazing furnace of modern antitrust:

https://www.eff.org/de/deeplinks/2021/08/party-its-1979-og-antitrust-back-baby

Of course, the AI companies have their own answer to this conundrum. A high-stakes/high-value customer can still fire workers and replace them with AI – they just need to hire fewer, cheaper workers to supervise the AI and monitor it for "hallucinations." This is called the "human in the loop" solution.

The human in the loop story has some glaring holes. From a worker's perspective, serving as the human in the loop in a scheme that cuts wage bills through AI is a nightmare – the worst possible kind of automation.

Let's pause for a little detour through automation theory here. Automation can augment a worker. We can call this a "centaur" – the worker offloads a repetitive task, or one that requires a high degree of vigilance, or (worst of all) both. They're a human head on a robot body (hence "centaur"). Think of the sensor/vision system in your car that beeps if you activate your turn-signal while a car is in your blind spot. You're in charge, but you're getting a second opinion from the robot.

Likewise, consider an AI tool that double-checks a radiologist's diagnosis of your chest X-ray and suggests a second look when its assessment doesn't match the radiologist's. Again, the human is in charge, but the robot is serving as a backstop and helpmeet, using its inexhaustible robotic vigilance to augment human skill.

That's centaurs. They're the good automation. Then there's the bad automation: the reverse-centaur, when the human is used to augment the robot.

Amazon warehouse pickers stand in one place while robotic shelving units trundle up to them at speed; then, the haptic bracelets shackled around their wrists buzz at them, directing them pick up specific items and move them to a basket, while a third automation system penalizes them for taking toilet breaks or even just walking around and shaking out their limbs to avoid a repetitive strain injury. This is a robotic head using a human body – and destroying it in the process.

An AI-assisted radiologist processes fewer chest X-rays every day, costing their employer more, on top of the cost of the AI. That's not what AI companies are selling. They're offering hospitals the power to create reverse centaurs: radiologist-assisted AIs. That's what "human in the loop" means.

This is a problem for workers, but it's also a problem for their bosses (assuming those bosses actually care about correcting AI hallucinations, rather than providing a figleaf that lets them commit fraud or kill people and shift the blame to an unpunishable AI).

Humans are good at a lot of things, but they're not good at eternal, perfect vigilance. Writing code is hard, but performing code-review (where you check someone else's code for errors) is much harder – and it gets even harder if the code you're reviewing is usually fine, because this requires that you maintain your vigilance for something that only occurs at rare and unpredictable intervals:

https://twitter.com/qntm/status/1773779967521780169

But for a coding shop to make the cost of an AI pencil out, the human in the loop needs to be able to process a lot of AI-generated code. Replacing a human with an AI doesn't produce any savings if you need to hire two more humans to take turns doing close reads of the AI's code.

This is the fatal flaw in robo-taxi schemes. The "human in the loop" who is supposed to keep the murderbot from smashing into other cars, steering into oncoming traffic, or running down pedestrians isn't a driver, they're a driving instructor. This is a much harder job than being a driver, even when the student driver you're monitoring is a human, making human mistakes at human speed. It's even harder when the student driver is a robot, making errors at computer speed:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/04/01/human-in-the-loop/#monkey-in-the-middle

This is why the doomed robo-taxi company Cruise had to deploy 1.5 skilled, high-paid human monitors to oversee each of its murderbots, while traditional taxis operate at a fraction of the cost with a single, precaratized, low-paid human driver:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/01/11/robots-stole-my-jerb/#computer-says-no

The vigilance problem is pretty fatal for the human-in-the-loop gambit, but there's another problem that is, if anything, even more fatal: the kinds of errors that AIs make.

Foundationally, AI is applied statistics. An AI company trains its AI by feeding it a lot of data about the real world. The program processes this data, looking for statistical correlations in that data, and makes a model of the world based on those correlations. A chatbot is a next-word-guessing program, and an AI "art" generator is a next-pixel-guessing program. They're drawing on billions of documents to find the most statistically likely way of finishing a sentence or a line of pixels in a bitmap:

https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3442188.3445922

This means that AI doesn't just make errors – it makes subtle errors, the kinds of errors that are the hardest for a human in the loop to spot, because they are the most statistically probable ways of being wrong. Sure, we notice the gross errors in AI output, like confidently claiming that a living human is dead:

https://www.tomsguide.com/opinion/according-to-chatgpt-im-dead

But the most common errors that AIs make are the ones we don't notice, because they're perfectly camouflaged as the truth. Think of the recurring AI programming error that inserts a call to a nonexistent library called "huggingface-cli," which is what the library would be called if developers reliably followed naming conventions. But due to a human inconsistency, the real library has a slightly different name. The fact that AIs repeatedly inserted references to the nonexistent library opened up a vulnerability – a security researcher created a (inert) malicious library with that name and tricked numerous companies into compiling it into their code because their human reviewers missed the chatbot's (statistically indistinguishable from the the truth) lie:

https://www.theregister.com/2024/03/28/ai_bots_hallucinate_software_packages/

For a driving instructor or a code reviewer overseeing a human subject, the majority of errors are comparatively easy to spot, because they're the kinds of errors that lead to inconsistent library naming – places where a human behaved erratically or irregularly. But when reality is irregular or erratic, the AI will make errors by presuming that things are statistically normal.

These are the hardest kinds of errors to spot. They couldn't be harder for a human to detect if they were specifically designed to go undetected. The human in the loop isn't just being asked to spot mistakes – they're being actively deceived. The AI isn't merely wrong, it's constructing a subtle "what's wrong with this picture"-style puzzle. Not just one such puzzle, either: millions of them, at speed, which must be solved by the human in the loop, who must remain perfectly vigilant for things that are, by definition, almost totally unnoticeable.

This is a special new torment for reverse centaurs – and a significant problem for AI companies hoping to accumulate and keep enough high-value, high-stakes customers on their books to weather the coming trough of disillusionment.

This is pretty grim, but it gets grimmer. AI companies have argued that they have a third line of business, a way to make money for their customers beyond automation's gifts to their payrolls: they claim that they can perform difficult scientific tasks at superhuman speed, producing billion-dollar insights (new materials, new drugs, new proteins) at unimaginable speed.

However, these claims – credulously amplified by the non-technical press – keep on shattering when they are tested by experts who understand the esoteric domains in which AI is said to have an unbeatable advantage. For example, Google claimed that its Deepmind AI had discovered "millions of new materials," "equivalent to nearly 800 years’ worth of knowledge," constituting "an order-of-magnitude expansion in stable materials known to humanity":

https://deepmind.google/discover/blog/millions-of-new-materials-discovered-with-deep-learning/

It was a hoax. When independent material scientists reviewed representative samples of these "new materials," they concluded that "no new materials have been discovered" and that not one of these materials was "credible, useful and novel":

https://www.404media.co/google-says-it-discovered-millions-of-new-materials-with-ai-human-researchers/

As Brian Merchant writes, AI claims are eerily similar to "smoke and mirrors" – the dazzling reality-distortion field thrown up by 17th century magic lantern technology, which millions of people ascribed wild capabilities to, thanks to the outlandish claims of the technology's promoters:

https://www.bloodinthemachine.com/p/ai-really-is-smoke-and-mirrors

The fact that we have a four-hundred-year-old name for this phenomenon, and yet we're still falling prey to it is frankly a little depressing. And, unlucky for us, it turns out that AI therapybots can't help us with this – rather, they're apt to literally convince us to kill ourselves:

https://www.vice.com/en/article/pkadgm/man-dies-by-suicide-after-talking-with-ai-chatbot-widow-says

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/04/23/maximal-plausibility/#reverse-centaurs

Image: Cryteria (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HAL9000.svg

CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en

[icarusredwings]

Camping

pt 1

pt 2

A heart warming 1000th follower special!!

Logan takes the X kits camping. Simple right?

Wrong.

Children in this school are expected to be top of their class... If they aren't.. They at least need to be able to take care of themselves and use their powers decently well. For good of course.

Now you may be thinking 'Or what?'

Well- Or else you have to go with Wolverine for a survival training exercise. Aka- Summer Camp.

"Are we almost there? I'm tired." The lion boy groaned, his pack the heaviest amongst the children due to his natural strength and the fact he greatly overpacked.

"You're always tired, Leo.." Owen mutters, rolling his eyes. "But he's right. I'm starving."

This- of course, was Wade's cue.

"Hi starving! Hi tired! I'm dad!" He smiles widely as he treks behind his husband in khaki shorts and a button up shirt with a few random badges in it, his pack quite large due to his ability to carry the most in this little team of theirs.

There were a total of 12 children this time around, most being Xkits or... well.. Kids that Logan have decided to adopt under his own metaphorical wings. Unlike Warren who has legally adopted Issac under his literal wings. His mother being none other than Laura herself. Clone business and all that.

“This is stupid..” The 11 year old grumbles, wings dyed black tucked in as he holds his pack on the side. Why he chose to wear skinny jeans in the middle of the woods? Well that would be the stubbornness of his grandfather in him.

“Maybe you should have participated in Gym and you wouldn't be missing a credit.” Logan tells the taloned boy, who grumbles under his breath how unfair it is to be related to your teacher because he targets you. “You're not even my real grandfather...” He'd grumble.

“Ooh but technically he is, chickadee. See you're a clone of Laura and Laura is his daughter, which makes you..” Wade whispers to him with a big smirk.

“Gabrielle is a clone of Laura too and she's her sister. Not her daughter. So why do I have to be her son?”

Wade laughs. “Ha! What? You wanna be big guys son? That's even worse, trust me. Besides! You got different Dna then Laura cause your daddy is fancy pants rich mcgee-” He pokes, only for his hand to be slapped away. Holding a hand up to his mouth, Wade whispers. “Between you and me, He likes being a grandpa. Don't let him lie.”

“Shut up! You're scaring the wild life with your big mouth.” He growls through grit teeth.

“Ooh.. Touchy subject..”

Let's just say that Logan was getting real tired of people using his Dna to splice together more mutant children. Especially if they were just going to be raised as weapons..

There had been twelve kids on this trip, each chaperone had 3 kids to look after, well..Four each if you counted Logan and Wade as a pair, seeing as Wade was technically a risk and the only reason he was allowed was because Logan was here. There wasn't exactly a hospital out in the woods, so if he got sick or someone who couldn't regenerate got stabbed- there would be a serious issue.

Each teacher was responsible for an equal number of children, meant to coach them and encourage them to use their powers when out in these deep Canadian woods. They could have gone to the woods in the US But Logan refused unless it was these woods in particular. Those were his requirements. He got Wade, and he got to go to Canada.

Between them, There was Logan, The leader of this group (for obvious reasons), Wade (his cheerful husband), Morph (The current mentor of Ivo), and Father Wagner (Second in command for obvious reasons)

The girl behind them groaned loudly. "You're not our dad, though." She mumbled, replying to Wade's dad joke, having been volunteered by her mother to go on this trip. Something about "connecting more with your roots," she said. She, the daughter of Forge's cousin, would much rather have been in the shop, good with electric tools rather than starting fires, chopping wood, or walking long distances.

Harley, a rabbit girl with far too much sass for someone her age, scrunches her nose. “Ick! It smells like a wet dog here!” She says.

“Gabby! Get out of that puddle!” Logan scolds her, watching as she played in the mud. Taking her fingers she smirks, wiping it on her cheeks like war paint. “Why!? I thought the whole point of being in the woods is to be dirty?” She gets up, shaking off with a big smile, splating mud onto some of the other students.

Harley whines. “Mr. Sydney, Gabby got my dress dirty!”

Owen shifts into Harley for just a moment. “Mr. Sydney, I chose to wear an expensive skirt on a camping trip in the middle of summer!”

“Oi! I don't sound like that!” She starts, balling her fists and glared.

“Hey- hey. Children. That is enough, Ja? Do you really vish to mock your team mate?”

“Yes.” Leo mutters.

The girl growls at the lion, who makes an ‘eep' noise and runs behind the blue tailed man.

“Owen has a point, though, Harley. Mr. Howlett told you that you might get dirty.”

“Uh-yeah. Key word. Might.”

Morph rolls their eyes, groaning. “You sound like Issac right now.”

“I do not!”

“She does not!!”

“He's gross! And icky and mean!”

“She's so prissy and spoiled!”

Wade and Morph glance at each other, smirking before laughing. Yeaahh.. these two were definitely gonna get caught holding hands at lunch in the future. When you've been around kids this much, it's just something you know.

Logan and Kurt look at each other with that ‘Sigh. Kids.’ Kind of look before Kurt flicks his tail. “Okay okay! Who wants to hear a story?”

“Is it a church story?” Cherri asks.

“If it's a church story I'm gonna fall asleep.” Leo mumbles, already yawning.

“Well… I suppose not then. Erm. Wade- NO”

Wade shrugs, leaning on Morph's shoulder. “Good choice really.”

Morph nods, agreeing that Wade's stories were far too mature for this group of 9-14 year olds.

Kurt smiles awkwardly “Mr. Sydney?”

Immediately, the shit eating grin that comes onto their face makes him shake his head. “Nien. Logan?”

He doesn't answer. Their leader is sniffing the air, looking ahead as if he smelt something that perhaps would put them in danger.

“Whatcha sniffin’dad?!” Gabs asked, coming up front to sniff too, their noses twitching.

All Leo, Cherri, Harley, and the other students tried to smell too.

“I don't smell anything.” Owen mumbles, a bit upset.

“Eh don't worry, kid. It's more of an animal thing.”

“A hot animal thing. Woof. I might just skip gym all next semester just so I can come out here and-” He whispers a little too loudly.

“Wade! Shush!” Turning, he waits for them to tell him what it was they smelled. “Hands.” He says and there's a couple that raise. Gabby is currently in the back, jumping with her hand up.

“I know, I know!!”

“I know you know. You can tell me after them. Leo?”

“Is it.. a deer?”

“Close. And you just smell Cherri. Cherri? Whatcha smell?”

“I smell berries. And I hear water.”

“Very good! Harper?”

“It's Harley! She's Harper!”

Logan's hands go up. “Okay, Sheesh. Well, What do ya smell princess?”

“I smell…a cat?”

“Close! Anyone else?” When no one else raised their hands, he sighs. “Gabby?”

“It's a lynx!!” She yells, as if she was holding it in this whole time.

“She gets that from me.” Wade tells Morph, who smirks. “are you sure she aint yours?”

“You see I've been wondering this for years now.” He says, letting go of their shoulder and went to gabby, squeezing her to death. “Huh? My big girl!”

“Ahh!! Papa!!” She giggles, making an “omph” noise when he squeezed the air from her.

Kurt smiles, looking quite happy out here, humble and was silently remencesing on the times Logan and him would come out here, how they'd play chase and tag. Sighing, Kurts tail flicked sorrowfully. But that was a long time ago.. a long time..

“Wade.. Drop it.” Logan says, the way you would A dog.

“If you say so.” Putting his hands up, Wade drops the girl with a soft “Aahh!” as she lands on her feet.

“Now..obviously we aren't going down that trail if there's a Lynx so we'll be camping ealier then expected.”

The children cheer.

“Thank god for the lynx.” Kurt mutters, even his feet starting to get a little sore. They've come about 8 miles already and he really thought Logan was going to force the entire 10. I suppose in his growing age he's been relying on Bamfs far more than he would like to admit.

“You all are getting better at your tracking, but you missed something. If you turn your head a bit you can see a downy woodpecker. They're common around here but they don't have the classic red color we're used to. They're kinda striped.” Logan says to them.

"Hey Joey!” Morph says. The Kangaroo kid known as “Roo” aka Joey, was one of the kids under Kurt's tail of teaching. “Look at this. Who am I?" They then shift into an exact replica of Logan, mimicking him.

"Oi yuall see thathere wud pecka!?" They say, clearly in a very terrible aussie accent.

Joey and the other kids laugh.

Logan rolls his eyes, smiling. "Oh, stop it. I'm not even Australian.” A moment after saying this, He gasps, grinning a bit as he pointed. “Look kids. That's a red breasted nuthatch!”

“Oi chaldren i'z a red bested ‘uthack!”

Wade laughs a bit too hard for this to be a light joke. “I don't know Mr. Howlett, you have some competition.”

He blushes, grumbling. “I don't sound like that..”

“I ‘oint sownd wike dat, mate!”

It's Kurt who giggles now and Logan can't help but growl in that frustrated tone. “Alright alright! har har. Enough.”

“Yeah guys! You guys should respect your elders.” Wade pips up, making Logan nod and then stop. “Wait- what??”

“Oh I'm sorry gramps. Did you forget your hearing aids? I said-”

“You married that old man. So you can't tease him too much.” Morph mutters, interrupting Wade before he went down that rabbit hole.

“Oh, hell yes I did and I f-”

“Ah-Heh-hem! Children!” Kurt coughs into his hand, smiling a bit with a dash of purple across his cheeks.

“Right. Anyway… Race you to the campsite! Last one bunks with Ms. Wet dog over here!”

“Hey! Wait! Wade!!” Logan calls, not wanting them to get split up. It was still a good 100 meters until the campsite and the path was narrow here.

“No way you're beating me!!” Gabby says, taking off after him. Despite their protests, Some of the other kids took off too. The only ones who didn't were Leo, Ashley, and Carmen. Ashley and Carmen were older, 14, so they listened to the adult heros more than the younger ones. Owen wanted to stay with his mentor, Mr. Sydney. He was a nervous kid like that. Always near an adult.

Harley wasn't going to go either until Cherri took off and then Issac followed Harley, who mentioned something about him flying was cheating.

“Hey!! You know they're clipped!”

“What? I can't hear you from way back there!” She teased.

“....Storm is gonna kill us..” Moprh mumbles as Kurt decided to take initiative, trying to keep up with the children so they didn't get hurt or lost. “...Yup.” Logan mutters.

“..Mr. Howlett? Can you carry me? I'm tired.”

“You're always tired, Leo..” Logan sighs, picking up the lion cub, giving him a piggyback for the remaining walk.

Leo lion owned by @bougiebutchbinch

_______

Request by @joykai

Owen/Ivo owned by @rabiessnail

Issac/Harley/Cherri owned by me

[pintadorartist]

Ok, a Monday Update on Bill H.R. 9495

the House voted in committee today with several of the Democrates loudly opposing it (good thing). A full House vote is expected later this week, either Wednesday or Thursday (probably Thursday)

So it's important to keep up the pressure and keep on making your voices heard

Same thing as before :

Find your representative here:

If your Rep is one of the Dems that voted "Yes" on this, tell them this is their chance to stop this bill and not give Trump more powers. Tell them you'll vote for them in the next election if they vote "no" on this bill.

If your Rep is Republican, tell them that this bill would also affect the Salvation Army as it is nonprofit.

If your Rep previously voted "No" on this bill,encourage them to keep their stand and stick to their "No",and thank them for this.

CALL TOOLS :

Here's the ACLU call tool:

FFTF 's updated call tool:

Don't forget to fax as well:

Call in number is 319-313-7674

Script you can also use :

"I am calling to urge my representative to vote no on H.R. 9495 . This is a dangerous bill would give the Trump administration unilateral power to label any non-profit as terrorist supporting and shut it down without due process. I am calling on my representative to defend civil rights organizations and oppose this bill. Thank you.”