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ravenaveira · 4 years

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Ok, time for my review of Kh3 Re:Mind Dlc

This is gonna be long, so be prepared, and yes there will be many spoilers so if you dont want spoilers of the game then you probably shouldnt read this, but if you dont care then stick around.

I will start off with my unbiased and critical opinion.

From the title menu alone you already know what this game is gonna be about. Kairi is gonna be center focus, or should say specifically Sokai, and Riku will be virtually non existent.

Now I know what your thinking, well duh its all about saving Kairi of course Riku wont have that big a role and she’ll be the main focus, and to that I say no shit sherlock I already knew that. My issue isnt that it was Kairi focused because I already knew that and still pre-ordered the DLC, but my issue is what this title screen represents and my fears were proven correct.

Let me elaborate

Riku is just as much of a friend to Sora as Kairi is, from the beginning of the series its always been Sora, Riku, and Kairi, thats the way its ALWASY been. But from this title screen I could tell Riku’s bond with them wasnt gonna be present at all and I was right.

I’ll elaborate further

I know Im jumping way ahead here but bare with me, at the end of the game after Sora rescues Kairi they travel the worlds together, Sora notices he is fading away which is why he goes to the many different worlds he has visited but now with Kairi, spending his final moments with her before he finally disapears.

See the problem? Sora doesnt involve Riku at all in his final moments being alive, he is just completely absent during his entire remaining life. Sora only spends time with Kairi during his final moments, Riku wasnt shown with them once.

I know some people say well we dont know how long Sora was alive before vanishing and he was probably the one who organized the party, but did we see that though? did we see any signs that Sora was alive for more than a day or two? did we see Sora talking to anyone like he was setting anything up? NO, it was all about Kairi and Riku was completely forgotten.

I can understand if Sora wasnt dying then it wouldnt matter how much time he spends with Kairi alone, but Sora was fading away ANY SECOND and he didnt spend any of his remaining time with Riku at all, even at the beach party who is Sora sitting next to alone with before he finally vanishes? Kairi. That is inexcusable and a huge insult to Riku and his bond with Sora, hes just completely excluded, that is unforgivable.

These new added scenes to the ending actually made it worse than the original version of it, before we didnt even know Sora was around for more than a day and just assumed they all had a beach party afterwards to celebrate getting everyone back and saving the world, but now we know Sora was actually around for an extended period of time and made no effort to spend time with anyone other than Kairi, not even his best friend Riku did he spend time with for his final hours, that is despicable.

Another major issue is how Sora keeps saying his journey started with losing Kairi in this game, as if Riku wasnt ALSO lost that day, as if Riku wasnt the reason Sora kept on his journey even after saving Kairi and sending her back to Destiny Islands, as if he didnt fall to his knees and bawl his eyes out finally reuniting with him, as if he wasnt content with spending the rest of his life trapped in the Realm of Darkness with Riku, as if for the entirety of the base game of kh3 Sora wasnt constantly and only thinking about Riku and how many things he wished he could show him.

Apparently in Remind none of that happened, none of that mattered, it was Kairi that was his main motivation, it was Kairi that started his journey, Riku wasnt involved in it at all.

That is a huge issue with this DLC, it treats Riku like a side character and of little importance to Sora, in the base game they handled them fine minus that on instance in the Keyblade Graveyard where Sora says ‘Alone, Im worthless’ even though Riku’s right there but other than that their relationship and bond was handled very well but in Remind? practically non existent.

Now onto the story aspect, if your not into time travel and have trouble understanding the many variations of it then your gonna have a bad time because it gets VERY confusing to follow, which is why you should never introduce time travel because it becomes way too complicated to keep track of and not only that you also have to worry about things like paradoxes, ripples in time, alternate timelines etc. Its a complete clusterfuck to keep up with and manage so time travel really shouldnt have been introduced in this series.

Chirithy tells Sora that no matter what he cant change the past again, yet there are times where Sora does just that so exactly what cant he change? for example, when Roxas appears he asks Sora to do him a favor which is essentially getting the X back from Xemnas in their names. Sora does several things to make this happen and even Kairi gets a couple swings at Xemnas this time but then the two of them are basically caught and restrained inside shadow balls [pause]

See the prob? this is a huge change to that fight, Kairi never took a single swing at Xemnas, she just stood there and got snatched up, Roxas never asked Sora for help getting the X’s back from Xemnas, and Sora and Kairi never got restrained by Xemnas and knocked out.

Chirithy explicitly said Sora cant change what happened and no matter what he has to accept it for what it is, yet here he is, changing what happened. Maybe you could argue well this is an alternate timeline, even if it is that makes all of this irrelevant and means it never happened because the true ending is the one where it didnt happen, making this semi useful Kairi moment really pointless because at the end of the day its not canon, her being useless is the true outcome, none of this matters.

That is extremely disappointing, so even if you alter the past for the better it doesnt matter because its an alternate timeline and that timeline isnt the real one making this whole redo pointless and time consuming for a short DLC that was an extra 30$ to play.

So the time travel is very confusing and even if you follow it, it ends up being very disappointing when you realize none of it matters.

Moving on to some of the tied loose ends, Im glad they explained why Aqua froze up after saying ‘We stand together’ and I like how we get to see how Young Xehanort came to have the beliefs that lead to what he did and also MOMs subtle influence on him succumbing to darkness.

He told Xehanort that he would outgrow the robe and no longer need it because if he was truly powerful then he’d be the one controling the darkness, this leads to Xehanort later begining to travel without the robe and being corrupted. So we know now that MOM also influenced that as well and is very sketchy, even more now than he was before since this action greatly influenced what Xehanort eventually does and all the pain he caused, all of which would have probably never happened if it wasnt for him.

But thats just my theory and what I got from it.

I liked that we got to see Namine for a brief moment where Sora basically brushes her off and completely forgets about thanking her, this is a plotline Im pretty sure at this point is just never going to get resolved. He just tells her to go to the Final World and walks off, which makes no sense because Sora was surprised to see her in the original playthrough.

Another change was Lingering Will dying to protect Sora, again this never happened because Sora was busy fighting alongside everyone in the maze while Lingering Will and Terranort were fighting away from them. After Lingering Will died for him then Sora is pretty much squeezed to death by Terranorts Stand, or atleast knocked unconscious.

So much about these are just so confusing as to how they are happening when Chirithy said the events couldnt be changed I just stopped questioning it.

But atleast this time its made clear that Namine is the one who sent Lingering Will to help everyone and how she did it, so now people can stop saying Kairi is the reason everyone survived because it wasnt, without Lingering Will they would have all died a second time.

Basically the first half of the DLC is just recap with some minor changes and additions to the cutscenes, you get to play as other characters like Riku [optional] Aqua [not optional] and Roxas [optional] but other than that its basically the same thing all over again for the first 3-4 hours of the DLC, that is ridiculous.

The new content finally starts when Kairi is shattered, funny how the game gets good after Kairi dies xD I’ll stop.

Anyway once Kairi dies is when we finally get explorable Scala, but not without having to endure an insane fight with tons of heartless and nobodies and yes its more complicated than you think. It doesnt matter how many heartless or nobodies you kill, they will keep coming until you kill this one red heartless with way more health than your average heartless has.

After that you can pretty much wander around Scala as you wish and this is the only time where you can buy items or food so make sure to do that if your low on items. If your low on money there are minor enemies there that you can kill to get some so take advantage of this opportunity because your not getting another one.

Your goal in Scala is to basically run around, solve a couple puzzles, and get 5 of Kairi’s heart shards, revealed to having to be 7 later on. Sound fun? besides being able to see more of Scala’s layout, not really. But its a good place to take a breather before getting back into the big battles ahead.

Unfortunately your actually forced to fight the armored organization again but thankfully you dont have to do the ENTIRE final battle over, just that one section which I appreciate but wish we didnt have to do any of it at all.

So after we’re done Scala we get in MY opinion the two best parts of the entire DLC. We get to see what was going on with the rest of the keyblade wielders back home and it was INSANE and extremely well done, everybody had a chance to shine.

When everyone was swept away and Mickey was down and out, it was amazing seeing Mickey push himself back up and slowly with what little strength he had take on all the armor organization BY HIMSELF severely weakened, yet still powerful enough to hold them off and stand his ground. He really showed us WHY he is the King, so THAT I really enjoyed. It was extremely well done and one of the most memorable parts of the DLC.

The next part was even more insane and well done, which is us getting to fight as all the keyblade wielders against the armored organization and even get some cool dialog and team attacks in between, it was just amazingly well done seeing everyone work together and switching between characters was just so epic and enjoyable.

Honestly I could play those two parts over and over again and enjoy it everytime, their just that good and the most memorable in the entire DLC.

Coming back with Kairi and killing Xehanort together with all the keyblade wielders including Kairi this time was satisfying to see but it excludes Xehanorts and Eraquses final words, I mean yea seeing Xehanort have a semi happy ending put off alot of people but at the same time, seeing Xehanort come to the realization that he was wrong about everything and giving the Wayfinder trio closure by seeing their master one last time and hearing his apology to them just held more weight to me.

Im not saying I think Xehanort should be redeemed as easily as he was, but I feel like excluding Eraqus and their final words made the ending feel hollow, just ok we beat the bad guy, happily ever after now. Thats pretty lackluster and unsatisfying In my opinion.

Finally the ending....

Heres where Im gonna be biased and give my personal thoughts. Warning if your a fan of Kairi skip to the very end of the review where I give my overall rating

I hate the ending, for the reasons I listed in the beginning but also many others. I get the main focus was gonna be Kairi since the DLC was about saving her, Im not mad about the obvious, Im mad about the execution.

The Sokai agenda was so forced and apparent its not even funny, they shove it in your face so hard yet when Sora is talking with Chirithy he still refers to Kairi as a friend, really? your shoving this pairing down our throats just to have Sora still friendzone her? Im not mad because I dont want them together anyway but I hate the games being played here, you either want them together or you dont, pick a friggin side Nomura.

And while we’re on the subject, I hate, HATE, how this game is so heavily romance focused when Kingdom Hearts was NEVER about romance to begin with, it was always about friendship and bonds. Not in this DLC though, no now its all about Kairi and being with her forever, traveling the world together, holding hands, all this lovey dovey nonsense nobody invested in the plot could give a rats behind about.

Sure people who are into Kingdom Hearts for the romance of course they dont mind, but Im pretty sure MOST people invested in this series are in it for the story, not some stupid pairing, and I HATE how much they shove it down your throat because it is just so forced and obvious what they were doing.

This was all damage control for Kairi, who has been a useless damsel in distress and dues ex machina in every single game shes been a part of. I repeat, EVERY SINGLE GAME SHES A PART OF.

Kh1 - Kidnapped, unconscious, Sora needs to die to save her.

Kh2 - Kidnapped, held hostage, Sora needs to find and save her.

Kh3 - Kidnapped, unconscious, is killed twice, Sora needs to die to save her.

Do you see what I fricken mean? Every fuckin game its the same danm thing over and over and quite frankly Im sick of it. You might as well say this is a Mario game because Kairi is princess Peach always gettin snatched up and Sora is Mario always going through insanely deadly trials to get her back, and then it happens all over again.

This DLC was damage control for that, instead of immediately getting snatched up by Xemnas she actually gets a few good swipes at him to no avail of course, and then she fights together with Sora against armored Xehanort, all of which is just damage control for her not doing anything in the entire franchise and pandering to her fanbase that are constantly screeching for playable Kairi and for her to do something.

It was also damage control for how non existent their relationship was and what a joke its been since Kh1. They arent fooling anybody because thats exactly what this was, otherwise why you have to try so hard to CONVINCE us how important she was to Sora? why did Riku have to get sidelined so much just to boost Kairi up? why’d Sora completely disregard Riku as a part of his journey? why did Sora not spend ANY time with ANYONE for his final moments alive? its so obvious why. The only way to convince anyone shes actually important and relevant is to play down everyone else or exclude them entirely.

Congratulations, you got your wish, good for you fandom, but at what cost?

The time they spent forcing so much Sokai could have been used to tie up way more loose ends than there were but nope, gotta squeeze in that Sokai, thats what yall really here for right? fuck off.

The two best moments of the game was so short lived its not even funny, this DLC was full of so much padding in the first half, forced romance and pandering for damage control they forgot to actually make this a decent DLC.

Since I recorded my gameplay from start to finish I can actually tell you the amount of old content vs the new

3-4 hours of mostly what we already seen with a few changes, I only died twice

1-2 hours of new content, probably less because I got lost and died alot

That is unacceptable, 30$ for only 10% new content? that is a robbery.

Not only that but the worst part is the Limitcut episode, databattles have always been optional for competative players who like the challenge. Now you are FORCED to fight these INSANELY hard bosses, all 13 in order to get the final bits of the aftermath of the story.

WE PAID FOR THIS, this wasnt free we PAID for it and yet we’re basically told ‘Hey if your a casual player and want the rest of the story? well you gotta fight 13 of these insanely hard databattles that used to be optional but now their madatory for you to get the rest of your moneys worth. Too difficult? cant do it? well too danm bad, get good or go home we got your money already so screw you guess you’ll never know’

That is a fucking robbery and a huge slap in the face to people who are invested in the story, not proving their the best by fighting insanely difficult battles no matter what difficulty your on. It wouldnt be an issue if this was always the case, but these battles were always OPTIONAL for competetive players to do if they WANTED to, but now its mandatory and if you cant do it then oh well middle finger to you.

I couldnt even beat Vanitas, I fought him first and then Luxord and I couldnt beat either of them so I just said fuck it and went on youtube to see what I paid to see for free. 30$ wasted on a game I cant even finish, your out of your fucking mind if you think thats fair and excusable.

Thats why at the end of the day I give it a 5/10, its not good but its not bad either, its just decent. But if you asked me if it is worth the time and money? fuck no, my advice? watch other youtubers play it and keep your 30$

If you want it just to play as some of the characters, experience the new content for yourself, and play the databattles then by all means get it.

But if you think thats not enough for you to spend 30$ for then dont get it.

Overall Re:mind gets a 5/10, useless padding for majority of the first half of things we’ve already seen and cant skip because theres new scenes mixed in, forced romance that nobody but shippers care to see, severely lacking new content, and unfair extremely hard mandatory databattles just to see the final aftermath of the story which is kind of important setup for the next game.

Fuck this DLC, this was my fist time EVER buying a DLC for ANYTHING and thanks to this its probably my last. So thank you Re:Mind, for ReMinding me why I never bought DLCs in the first place.

Ps - Im so glad playable Kairi was optional, thats one of the only things this DLC did right.

#kh3 remind spoilers #kh3 #kingdom hearts 3 #anti-sokai #anti-kairi

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playinginquicksand · 2 years

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Ok so Im going to actually write this shit cause I'm trying to make sense of some of the things I've thought over the years. Several "labels" Ive thought might fit me but im also not 100% and probably never will be without going to a psychologist for 2 and probably more life experience or self understanding for the last:

Autistic: because of my inability to feel connected with people. And always wondering why people I consider my friends dont seem like want to be around me but then they do and I wonder if Im just reading everything wrong sometimes. Then I see other people read things wrong and think oh everyone does that sometimes so my thing isn't weird. The amount of times I've heard "ive never met anyonenlike you." And when asked to clarify just gotten a shrug in answer and "i cant explain it but you're just you" like the fuck does that mean. Or i remember someone saying "sometimes you do stuff and people just kind of look at you but to us we're just like that's just you...." fucking what? No one ever wants to elaborate. Also the fact that eyes are fine from time to time but sometimes l literally just cant and look in the general face directions all out of focus and it wont be until the end of the day that i realize i didnt even look one person in the eye for the day.

ADHD: my inability to focus on anything. The executive disfunction. Forgetting things. Not being able to stay organized. I can get focused and organize all of a sudden but then when it comes to maintaining it its bad. Apparently annoying people by talking over them to interject is common. Etc etc it just seems like other people can just sit down and do things without a deadline. And just a bunch of other little things

Ace or demisexual: weird one because i know im bi for sure. And i have a sex drive. I have fantasies and masturbate and all that good stuff. I also am attracted to people. But that in the gut holy shit feeling only happens once every couple years and it's honestly the worst but also the fact that it almost always happens when I've gotten to know people more and become friends leads me to think I might be demi sexual. But then Im like I do get attracted to people I dont know. But then its like what if none of that is sexual attraction and it's asthetic or platonic attraction. I dont like dating but that could just be because of my connection issue and abandonment issues. Like im afraid of getting hurt or being judged. Which would track. I freak out about trying new things for fear of judgement. That includes sex and shit.

I know labels arent necessarily important. They don't define a person but they help with self understanding and also just make it simple to tell people i want to know about me without oversharing every little thought. And I guess my goal in life is to be understood?

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interstellarbooty · 3 years

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okay finale theory time! i dont think ive ever made a post like this cause they are basically useless as they get refuted almost immediately, but im hyped so now my brain is firing on all cylinders.

while we are all juiced up for the beskar spear vs darksaber fight, i doubt its gonna happen this season. just because mando doesnt even know that much about the darksaber yet beyond overhearing bo-katan talk about it, coupled with the fact that i imagine they are gonna want to build the hype some more. which leads me to the next point...

they will probably have mando fight moff gideon, but get his ass whooped with the darksaber plus probably some other evil shit he has goin on idk. they are clearly doin experiments with midichlorians so that will probably get elaborated on during the rescue mission, or even revealed. maybe there will be some juiced up force sensitive stormtroopers or something. the cliffhanger will probably end with mando (and maybe grogu but we’ll get to that) escaping after a failed fight with the darksaber and going off to learn more about it or something. idk, just all the ways it has been slowly built up leads me to feel like its going to play a bigger role in the future.

while i hope this isn’t the case, i sense they wont be able to successfully rescue grogu. im like 98% sure they’ll get close or something but ultimately fail. again, i hope not, but it would be a good cliffhanger cause you know people will want to tune in next season for a resolution to that, plus it will reflect the dark ending of empire strikes back.

while i sense mando showing his face to grogu is probably endgame for the show, im unsure there will be a face reveal in this episode. they’ve just had a face reveal last episode and that kind of trump card, narratively speaking, is something you want to savor and sit on. if anything, there may be a accidental reveal. i think i saw a post where someone pointed out the cracked visor on the helmet in the last season finale. that might be interesting. but idk. i just highly doubt that they will do another face reveal this season. the only reason i might think otherwise is because of my next point

ultimately, like how the last seasons “goal“ was for mando to overcome his fear of droids and accept his role as a father, i think this season finale will have a lot to do with his internal conflict over his own understanding of mandalorian culture and his place in it. moff gideon probably knows a lot about the culture given his subjugation of their planet, and thus might bring it up as some jabs against him. furthermore, the face reveal last episode will definitely weigh on his mind. im not sure how (maybe another face reveal, but im not sure) but there is most likely gonna be another big scene in this coming episode where these points of conflict come to a head and mando has to come to a new understanding of his relationship with his faith. tho on that note, i hope they dont make it so he has to abandon his creed. its so integral to his identity (the show is literally called the mandalorian for petes sake) that for him to desert it just seems kinda :/. it seems a lot of people are guessing that he will abandon the creed and i just dont see it. come to a new understanding, yes. but abandon? nah m8

oh also boba fett is prolly gonna die

okay thats all for now folks. lets see what actually happens in a few hours.

#cant wait to see what happens by reading tweets cause i dont have disney+#and i never will get an account cause fuck disney dude #the mandalorian #star wars #din djarin #grogu #baby yoda #idk what else to tag this #theory

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headcanons-everywhere · 6 years

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thats luego

luego satona

hes gay / pan (nobody rlly figures out which. hes just in general Rlly Into Dudes) and he was one of the people in blu's friend group when blu was a human

and uh

ali ve

witnessed / indirectly caused blu's death (the entire group did but he feels the most guilty over it)

he had a crush on (imma call him blu until i figure out his human name btw ahA) blu even tho he knew blu was straght

he jokingly gives luego shit for it

like lue making kissy noises and acting like hes about to amother blu in love and blus just like "eW BRO STOP!!! KISSING IS GROSS UGH"

but he doesnt care if one of his best friend's gay or pan or w/e as long as he finds someone hes happy with

but blus just personally grossed out by affection in general so thats where the 'giving him shit for it' comes in, ie: laughing in faux-disgust while shoving lue's face away bc luegos still tryina sneak in n smooch him just to ruffle his feathers

stuff like that :)

tho after blu died

well

lemme copy paste

it woNT SEND

[hes tall

n blu uh

is sort of?

luego is def taller tho

kappital - 11/15/2017

hows he feelin about

dead boy

manic pixie dream tarantula - 11/15/2017

dunno the exact relationship yet so idk how hed react but

he was definitely Upset the night it happened

esp since im thinkin he was one of the ones joking like "bro ur gonna fuckin hurt urself" n such bc he was geuinly like "IDK IF THIS IS A GOOD IDEA GUYS" but was playing cool abt it

kappital - 11/15/2017

manic pixie dream tarantula - 11/15/2017

but when blu died from whatever happened (it was an instant accident kinda deal, like a stumble+fall or smthin) and everyone kinda freaked n left, luego was the last one to leave

bc he geuinly didnt know what to do n so he hung back just staring in horror and trying to think of some other option until the grouo called back like "dUDE LETS GO" or smthin n he judt made a rlly frustrated / upset noise before glancing over one last time apologetically / "this is so fucked" kinda look at blu n then turning to run with the rest

bc they knew if police or smthin showed up thered be a fuckton of trouble for them since they prolly had a p bad reputation around town anyways, so itd def look like a crime rather than an accident

so they just

ran

but luego was def one of the ones most fucked up by it tho

he felt rlly nauseated n guilty for a long time afterwards, even after all the rlly bad emotional stuff

kappital - 11/15/2017

thats fucking intense

ive had dreams like that thats scary

manic pixie dream tarantula - 11/15/2017

yE AH

but today like, at this very moment idk where hes at or what hes up to

that im still figuring out

or if hes even still around ngl

but after that most of the group splintered off into being rlly upset with one another n he was prolly the angriest out of the group bc he was the closest one emotionally w/ blu

so thats fun :) ]

OH there we go

he tried to uh

take himself out a few times but after a few failed attempts he was just like "fuck it this is stupid anyways. ill just. idk, ill try to...make the best of it. or something." n thats how he lived to where he is today

openly gay/pan, lived a slightly lavish life style that he liked to show off, drank socially but even then not that muvh bc alcohol is personally gross to him but its a good way to loosen up at big events or w/e

manic pixie dream tarantula - Last Thursday at 1:00 PM

i flip between present n past tense when typing accidently bc techincally "today" / "current" luego uh

died around 20 yrs or so b4 blu was summoned by alexander back into the human world

like he lived a full life n shit but died from some heart problems later in life

but he was p emotionally repressed abt what happened

wouldnt get much out of him unless you openly prodded him about him a lot

like sat him down n seriously tried to pull smthin out of him

but aside from that he was a p content guy :)

also sprry if the messages are fucked, wifi is awful out here aAAAAA

manic pixie dream tarantula - Last Thursday at 2:21 PM

but ye thats a summary of luego for ya

:)))

all his earrings on both ears are diff

no two are the same

n they all have a special meaning to them

OH also

all his earrings on both ears are diff

no two are the same

that all sent out of order omfg

manic pixie dream tarantula - Last Thursday at 5:56 PM

oK im back on good wifi i tjink :)

goo - Last Thursday at 8:37 PM

i've read some of this but it's been a busy day so i'm sorry i'm not ignoring you i just want to get home and read it there so i can elaborate my thoughts and questions to you haha

manic pixie dream tarantula - Last Thursday at 8:37 PM

no no dude ur ok

leila gave me a glimpse of what happened (like a chat screenshot between yall) bc she was askin if u were mad or upset or smthin

i kno ur not ignoring me n im honestly just hopin (if i have the story right??) whichever dog got the weed stuff on accident n ended up with leg spasms is doin ok!!

goo - Last Thursday at 8:40 PM

nah bandit just passed out from weed but miracle got the spasms and he'll be fine it's the usual for him

manic pixie dream tarantula - Last Thursday at 8:40 PM

oH OK

shit man thats still def stressful if at least on some level ahA

glad they sound likr theytr gonna be ok n shit

#blu #luego #alexander #Modern Universe #pre-modern universe

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tuthillscopes-blog · 7 years

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Here's One Of The Bomb Threats Jewish Centers Across The Country Are Hearing

check it out @ https://tuthillscopes.com/heres-one-of-the-bomb-threats-jewish-centers-across-the-country-are-hearing/

Here's One Of The Bomb Threats Jewish Centers Across The Country Are Hearing

This hoax has become all too real.

One or more people are calling in bomb threats to Jewish community centers across the country. The calls have come in waves: Centers in multiple states received at least 16 threats on Jan. 9, more than two dozenon Jan. 18, a handfulon Jan. 31and another 11 got similar calls on Feb. 20. The list is growing.

Police havent found any evidence that the threats are serious, but the sheer volume of them has left Jewish leaders and local authorities facing a difficult and terrifying dilemma.

On one hand, the Jewish Community Center Association which oversees most of the centers affected doesnt want to cause panic by sounding the alarm over a hoax. On the other hand, local police are exhausting their resources searching buildings for bombs that dont exist, the FBI hasnt yet identified any suspects and Jewish leaders are undergoing trainings to prepare for the next wave of threats.

The FBI wont comment on the investigation it launched on Jan. 18 after the second wave of threatening calls. Its unclear how close agents are to narrowing in on a suspect or how long Jewish centers can expect to grapple with an unknown enemy.

But there are clues hidden in the chaos. The Huffington Post reached out to experts to break down the anatomy of a bomb threat and understand why its so difficult to track down a suspect.

What do the bomb threats sound like?

We dont know how many people are behind the threatening calls or whether they are part of a coordinated effort, but the Jewish Telegraphic Agency obtained a recording of a call made during the Jan. 18 wave that matches the description of others around the country.

The JTA declined to identify which center received the disturbing call, which can be heard below:

In the recording, a voice says:Its a C-4 bomb with a lot of shrapnel, surrounded by a bag (inaudible). In a short time, a large number of Jews are going to be slaughtered. Their heads are going to be blown off from the shrapnel. Theres a lot of shrapnel. Theres going to be a bloodbath thats going to take place in a short time. I think I told you enough. I must go.

Previously, officials said that at least some of the calls featured a voice disguised by a pitch-changing program that sounds female and could be a recording (or robocall).

Kent Gibson, a freelance forensic audio analyst who works with authorities in the Los Angeles area, was able to elaborate.

After a quick analysis of the recording, Gibson said the caller was likely male, possibly with an accent from Brooklyn or the surrounding New York area, and used a downloadable application to disguise his or her voice. Its unclear whether the call was recorded or made live.

Its interesting that this person never mentions the name of an establishment you could use that recording anywhere, Gibson said. If somebody had a beef with a particular center, they would probably say, Im gonna blow up this center on this date.

Gibsons analysis hasnt been verified by police, but it provides a window into an otherwise opaque investigation.

What different things do investigators consider?

After a bomb threat, investigators first identify whether the threat is credible, according to Tod Burke, a professor of Criminal Justice at Radford University and a former Maryland police officer.

None of the calls made to Jewish community centers have been deemed credible so far, but that doesnt necessarily mean theyre lower on the FBIs priority list, he said. Investigating a serial hoaxer is a balancing act.

If you put it on the shelf, youre allowing it to keep going and encouraging people to continue with their anti-Semitic rants and threats, he said. But the longer this goes on, the more problematic it becomes because youre also using resources to investigate.

Just like the JCCA, Burke also worries about copycats and the idea that a suspect can use panic to garner more attention.

How do authorities find a suspect?

Its difficult, but far from impossible, to identify an anonymous caller. Cell phones and internet-connected calls can make it harder to track a phone number, so good old fashioned police work is still your best bet, Burke said.

Authorities will be looking at the length of each call and what time zone it likely came from, and will dig for clues like accents or background noise. Theyll seek out disgruntled employees or other motives for the crime. They can also delay an arrest to surveil a suspect and see if theyre working with anyone else.

Some suspects are just easier to nail down than others.

Late last year, a man named Norman Lamar Truss allegedly sent an email to a news station claiming that bombs would go off in county courthouses surrounding Houston. The Precinct 1 Constables Office immediately used Truss IP address to track him down, noting that the criminals werent too bright for using email. Truss was eventually charged with marijuana possession and may yet be charged with terroristic threats, an office spokesman told HuffPost.

Its hard to imagine that authorities arent close to arresting someone for the bomb threats, given how many calls were made. But callers like these can slip through the cracks.

Police have yet to identify a suspect who was sending threatening letters to U.S. mosques late last year, for example, even after the Los Angeles Police Department said it was days away from tracking down a culprit in December. The LAPD didnt immediately return calls for comment on Friday.

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/bomb-threat-jewish-centers-recording_us_5894a130e4b09bd304bae0de?ncid=inblnkushpmg00000009

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