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denimini · 7 months

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What is going on with Jimin, Jungkook and Jikook?

Warning: long post

I've been a BTS fan since early 2017. Back in the day, I ran this blog here, analyzing a lot of Jikook moments, but life sort of took over, and I stopped having the time for it. However, I never stopped being a fan and observing BTS and Jikook through the years. There's a lot said and written already about the supposed video of JK, but here are my two cents.

To me, the most logical explanation for that video is that this really is Jungkook. The layout of the apartment matches (yes, even the position of the security system, if you have ever watched JKs lives, you'd know that it actually is at his shoulder height, just like in the video), the dog looks like Bam, the couch is the same and this definitely looks like JK. There's also another video of the man in this apartment, alone, shirtless, and having a whole tattoo sleeve on his right arm just like JK. Obviously, we don't know for sure, but it looks like it's him. People say it was filmed in late Feb, early March, and I agree. JK had the same hair then, the outfits look warm, like winter clothes and not to forget, that when JK was stalked in his gym (late of February) there were a lot of fuss about a girl being there with him, so it all checks out in my book.

Now, what the video shows isn't that scandalous. A boy hugging a girl from behind and them playfighting/tickling each other or whatever. It isn't overly explicit. It could mean a lot of things, but it's clear the people are at the very least physically comfortable with each other. It's a short video. We don't know if they're even alone, but it looks like it. There are a number of possibilities for whom this person is to JK: a long-time girlfriend, a casual hook-up, a one night stand, or just a friend.

We'll probably never know for sure. What we do know is that this is an unacceptable invasion of privacy, and the person who took those videos should be sued for all they are worth. I hope we all agree on that, yes?

Now, if this girl is someone JK is dating/has dated/has slept with, where does that leave his and JM's relationship?

In my eyes, as someone who's observed them for literal years now, there's no way JM and JK have always had a strictly platonic relationship. Too much just doesn't add up. Sure, technically, they could be bestest friends with great chemistry, but as someone who is now 30 years old, I don't think I've seen this type of chemistry between people ever be just platonic. At times, it looked too much like sexual tension for it to easily be dubbed as "friendly".

My theory is this (keep in mind these are still just assumptions):

In 2017-2020, pre-Covid era, JM and JK spent A LOT of time together, basically all of it. BTS were super active, they didn't have any breaks. They were always working. Always on tour and doing smth else. JM and JK were pretty young back then (20-24) and this is typically the time when someone discovers their sexuality and starts experimenting, and I believe that at some point they did this together. They were best friends but also had this weird tension and air around them and I think they could've started a physical relationship back then. The members teasing them hear and there about being a couple, also kind of supports this, though of course, it doesn't prove anything.

Contrary to other people, I don't belive they only just fucked. It's very hard to have sex with someone who you are very close to otherwise, who you love and admire as a person, and not catch romantic feelings for them, so I think they did more than fucking. Whether they had a serious relationship or decided not to label it much, due to MS coming up, the group being in jeopardy or other reasons, I tend to think that other than sex, they also had feelings.

Side note: In any case, they were figuring thinks out about themselves as individuals, as well as a pair. I think maybe this is the time JM realized he is definitely bisexual (which he proudly expressed in his photobook of last year in my opinion). Idk what Jk figured out for himself, if anything.

Anyhow, by 2020‐2021 it seemed they had some sort of agreement about what/who they were to each other. At times they could have been on and off. There might have been other people/partners in-between, but I think they were mainly together by this point. It even looked like they lived together for some time. The fact they always took the same car and they were together on JKs birthday night when they first had number 1 on hot 100 sort of proves it. JM's birthday live in 2021 was also sus af (the way he was blushing while mentioning JK and their whole convos, very sus).

I think before Covid they had smth somewhat stable but then Covid hit. Their schedules changed, it was a tough period overall. Suddenly, they were not working and traveling so much, they were staying in SK. I think this was the time things started getting much more real and different. MS was also in the near horizon. Maybe one of them wanted a more committed relationship, and the other wasn't ready. Maybe they were both afraid. Maybe they tried and it didn't really work out. Maybe one finally realized his sexuality and the other had doubs. Whatever it was, the feelings of affection were still there. Chemistry as well. Proof: JM bday live in 2021 was just crazy, the way he blushed when JK was mentioned and the way the spoke to each other... man. Also, the way the were at PTD L.A. The way JK answered questions about JM etc.

So , all that connected them as people was still there, but I think their relationship come late 2021-early 2022 was definitely more unstable. Who knows what happened then. Personally, I don't believe in the theory that they opened their relationship, rather I believe by the second half of 2022, due to whatever reasons, things were simple mostly off between them. I believe they stayed this way all through the second half of the year and at least the first 4 months of 2023. They were friends, their families still loved and supported each other (JK's mom made seaweed soup for JM's bday, which one does for family) but that's about it. They weren't living together anymore, as well.

The beginning of 2023 we saw a very busy JM and a very not busy JK. Sure, they still commented on their welives but it seemed they didn't meet each other that often. Jm was working, JK was at home and occasionally with Tae. Yeah, JK watched a lot of JM content and often invited him over, but he also didn't know when his promotions will be over and it seemed they haven't seen each other for some time and JK was missing JM. I think if they truly were a serious couple back then, they would still have found the time to meet each other no matter how busy one or the other was, especially considering they live in the same city, and it wasnt the case. I don't think JK would have to resort to watching hours of JM's content just to satisfy his need-for-JM thirst, if they were a couple back then.

So, yeah, I think they were not more than friends by this point, for sure, which also ties up pretty well with the timing of the recent leaked video (February-March). To me it seems that JK and JM probably saw other people in that period, at least JK, JM was pretty damn busy then. Maybe they had some serious partners even, maybe just hook-ups here and there. Maybe this was JK's time to explore more of his heterosexual side, who knows. I don't think he stopped caring for JM in some capacity. In fact it kind of looked like he longed for his company but for one reason or another, they were simply not that much in each other's lives in the first quarter of 2023.

But then something weird happened around June-July. First JM is all scratched up from something (presumably Bam) indicating he saw JK and spent time with him. Then Seven came out and JM flew to NY. There they spend a long, fun weekend amid promotions. It wasn't a secret but they seemed to want to keep private and didn't really want to talk about it , judging by the way JK answered the question about JM being in NY as well. JM was practically silent. Then they returned and that welive happened. The one where they openly flirted, JM said he could handle JK naked, JK blushed like a school girl and tried everything in his power to get to JM but JM said "I'm not that easy". That welive. Idk about you, but that welive didn't seem platonic to me at all and if I had been JK's partner at the time, I would definitely be very angry with his behaviour. I don't think JK is disrespectful and a cheater, and neither is JM for that matter, so I believe there's no way any of them had a partner when that welive happened. I simply refuse to belive they are that type of people.

So, my conclusion is they were both single then and something definitely happend in July and NY. They returned somewhat different and they still kind of are. Jk posted pics of NY to Twitter for the first time. Jm shared a pic from then for JKs bday (shirtless, as we all know) and then recently another pic from a boat that could have been from back then, as well. The whole way they're acting offline and online strangely reminds me a lot of the time after their trip to Tokyo, actually. The way JM has been posting about JK very much give me nostalgia about the way he used to post Jikook often in 2017-2018 before he withdrew from social media. But maybe that's just me 🤷‍♀️

Anyway, to finish this long post I will say this. I don't know what Jikook were and are to each other and unless, it is explicitly denied the person in the video is JK, I will believe that it's him. But also, unless it is confirmed he currently has a girlfriend, I will have my doubts. The video is old and in any case, it doesn't prove much other than the fact JK is maybe into women (solely or also into them). This video though doesn't automatically negate everything I've seen between Jikook through the years. In some ways, it confirms what I've been thinking for a long time now. Unless JM and JK personally shut down any rumors about them and deny any romantic connection or confirm a relationship with someone else , I still believe that at some point in their lived their relationship crossed the platonic line.

Whether that was in the past or is currently true, I only can guess, but to me there's no way these two were always, all these years, just only friends.

For now, I will observe how JK, JM and Hybe are acting after the leaked videos and go from there. It will also be indicative.

Peace.

#jikook #jungkook #jimin #bts

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vladdyissues · 2 months

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Help I'm losing my mind

Okay, I'm tallying up the last of the #vlad daily screencaps and I'm coming up with 367 days/caps. Which is impossible. There are only 366 days in a leap year.

Details: I began posting Vlad Daily on April Fools' Day 2023 (April 1st). I haven't missed a day—I went through my archive and checked, painstakingly (so can you). Every single month, each day, is accounted for. No doubles.

Now... I number each and every Vlad screencap. I rigorously checked to make sure I didn't skip any numbers (see image below; I have yet to select the final week's caps). 001-366 is what is should be. But I keep coming up with 367 caps.

In my queue, Sunday March 24 is screencap number 360. However, to reach March 31st, I'm going to have 367 screencaps. Observe:

Monday March 25: Cap number 361

Tuesday March 26: Cap number 362

Wednesday March 27: Cap number 363

Thursday March 28: Cap number 364

Friday March 29: Cap number 365

Saturday March 30: Cap number 366

Sunday March 31: Cap number 367

I've gone through and checked it all twice, three times. My queue, everything. My numbers are correct. Dates are all accounted for. But there's an extra day/screencap. THERE SHOULDN'T BE.

I feel like I crossed the event horizon of a black hole and fell out the ass end of an alternate dimension.

blease

#there can't be 367 days in this year—can there???#is this a cosmic joke?#i know i forgot something #i had to've #it has to be a stupid mistake. an oversight. something painfully obvious.#someone please explain it to me #i'm about to have a nervous breakdown #my whole life is numbers and i'm about to go absolutely out of my goddamn mind #what the fuck is going on #HELP ME CARL SAGAN WHERE DID I GO WRONG

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homomenhommes · 6 days

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THIS DAY IN GAY HISTORY

based on: The White Crane Institute's 'Gay Wisdom', Gay Birthdays, Gay For Today, Famous GLBT, glbt-Gay Encylopedia, Today in Gay History, Wikipedia, and more … April 22

Today is EARTH DAY! – Earth Day's a name used for two different observances, both held annually during spring in the northern hemisphere, and autumn in the southern hemisphere. These are intended to inspire awareness of and appreciation for the Earth's environment. The United Nations celebrates Earth Day, which was founded by John McConnell in 1969, each year on the March equinox, while a global observance originated by Gaylord Nelson as an environmental teach-in, also called Earth Day, is celebrated in many countries each year on April 22.

1766 – Madame de Staël, (Anne Louise Germaine de Staël-Holstein) French author (d.1817); When old editions of the staid Encyclopedia Britannica say that someone's sex life is "unconventional," it can sometimes mean little more than the subject enjoyed something other than missionary position with his clothes on and the lights off. When a woman's sex life is even mentioned, no less described as "unconventional," then you had better sit up and take notice.

Madame de Staël liked not only men, but women, too. In 1798 the French novelist, separated from her husband, began living with a male lover, and met Juliette Récamier, the most celebrated beauty of her time. Mme. de Staël was 31, Juliette ten years younger.

"She fixed her great eyes upon me," wrote Juliette, "and paid me compliments about my figure which might have seemed exaggerated and too direct had they not seemed to have escaped from her. From that time on I thought only of Mme. de Staël."

They lived together for the next nineteen years, until the novelist died. Her final words to Juliette, to whom she had once written, "I love you with a love that surpasses that of friendship," were "I embrace you with all that remains of me."

Emile Norman with Brooks Clement

1918 – Emile Norman (d.2009) was a California artist known for mosaics, panels, jewelry and sculpture - with a meticulous attention to detail. Emile Norman grew up with a club foot on a San Gabriel Valley walnut farm. From an early age he exhibited artistic talent, carving his first sculpture from a riverside rock at age 11 - ruining his father's chisels, but also gaining his respect.

From 1946, Norman lived and worked at his studio-home in Big Sur on Pfeiffer Ridge with his partner Brooks Clement, until Clement's death in 1973 from cancer.

In 2008, actors Michael Tucker and Jill Eikenberry met Norman, purchased land from him in Big Sur, became his neighbors and his close friends - eventually taking five years to produce a PBS documentary, Emile Norman: By His Own Design. Having moved in with Norman in 2003, long-time friends Jeff Mallory and C. Kevin Smith had discovered movie film shot by Norman's partner Brooks Clement on a hand-cranked 16 mm Bolex, footage that was eventually incorporated in the documentary.

Norman died September 24, 2009 in Monterey, California at age 91, survived by three sisters.

1946 – John Waters was born on April 22. Recognizable by his pencil-thin moustache this American filmmaker, actor, writer, personality, visual artist and art collector, rose to fame in the early 1970s for his transgressive cult films and has, against all intuition and all odds has become the toast of Broadway with not one, but two major musicals based on his cinematic oeuvre.

For his 16th birthday, Waters received an 8mm movie camera from his maternal grandmother, Stella Whitaker. His first movie was Hag in a Black Leather Jacket. According to Waters, the film was shown only once in a "beatnik coffee house" in Baltimore. Waters was a student at New York University (NYU) in New York City.

In January 1966, Waters and some friends were caught smoking marijuana on the grounds; they were soon expelled. Waters returned to Baltimore, where he began work on his next film, Eat Your Makeup, which was filmed that year. Waters' films would become Divine's primary star vehicle. Waters' early films were all shot in the Baltimore area with his company of local actors, the Dreamlanders. In addition to Divine, the group included Mink Stole, Cookie Mueller, Edith Massey, David Lochary, Mary Vivian Pearce, and others. These early films were among the first picked up for distribution by New Line Cinema. Waters' films premiered at the Baltimore Senator Theatre and sometimes at the Charles Theatre.

Waters' early campy movies present filthily lovable characters in outrageous situations with hyperbolic dialogue. His early films, Pink Flamingos, Female Trouble, and Desperate Living, which he labeled the Trash Trilogy, pushed hard at the boundaries of conventional propriety and movie censorship. A particularly notorious final segment of Pink Flamingos, simply added in as a non sequitur to the end of the film, featured, in one take without special effects, a small dog defecating and Divine eating the feces.

His 1981 film Polyester starred Divine opposite closeted, once-teen-idol Tab Hunter. Since then, his films have become less controversial and more mainstream, although works such as Hairspray, Cry- Baby and Serial Mom still retain his trademark inventiveness. The film Hairspray was turned into a hit Broadway musical, which swept the 2003 Tony Awards, and a movie adaptation of the Broadway musical was released in theaters on July 20, 2007.

Waters' most recent film, the NC-17-rated A Dirty Shame, was a move back toward his earlier, more controversial work of the 1970s. He also had a cameo in Jackass: Number Two, which starred Dirty Shame co-star Johnny Knoxville. A Gay American, Waters is an avid supporter of Gay rights and Gay pride.

1953 – Charles Farthing (d.2014) was a New Zealand doctor who specialised in the treatment of AIDS. He was the Medical Director of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation from 2001 to 2007. He later worked at Merck Sharp & Dohme as the Director of medical affairs for infectious diseases in the Asia-Pacific.

Farthing was born on 22 April 1953 in Christchurch, New Zealand. His father was an accountant and his mother was a music teacher. He was educated at Christ's College, Christchurch, an independent boys school. As a child he had considered entering the priesthood. He went on to study medicine at the University of Otago in Dunedin.

Farthing began his medical career in New Zealand where he practiced as a dermatologist. After five years, he moved abroad and worked for a year in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He then moved to England and joined St Stephen's Hospital in Chelsea, London. Between 1985 and 1987, the numbers of AIDS patients treated at St Stephen's rose from a dozen to over 1000. From 1985 to 1988, he was involved in clinical trials for the antiretroviral drugs Thymosin, AZT and foscarnet. In 1987, he helped found the Kobler Center at St Stephen’s Hospital which specialised in the treatment and research of HIV/AIDS. It was one of the first wards in the United Kingdom to specialise in the area. He was Chair of the all-party parliamentary committee on AIDS during the late 1980s, and was instrumental in guiding the governments reaction to the AIDS crisis.

In 1988, he was awarded a Winston Churchill fellowship which allowed him to move to the United States of America where he studied AIDS at the Bellevue Hospital in New York. He later became the Director of the hospital's AIDS treatment program. In 1994, he moved to Los Angeles where he became the principal investigator of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, and in 2001, he was promoted to Medical Director. In 2007, he left the United States for Hong Kong where he joined Merck Sharp & Dohme. At the time of his death, he was Director of medical affairs for infectious diseases in the Asia-Pacific.

In the 1990s, after moving to America, Farthing played a leading role in the introduction of the triple drug therapy that has transformed survival rates and quality of life for those infected with HIV. In 1997, frustrated by the way in which safety concerns were preventing tests of HIV vaccines on live human candidates, he volunteered to try the vaccines himself. "Someone has to go first," he explained. "Medicine has changed. Years ago, people took risks. Now it is as if research cannot expose anyone to risk. That is why this research is going so slowly."

In the event, discouraging results from tests of a similar vaccine in monkeys meant that the trials did not go ahead.

Farthing died of a heart attack in a Hong Kong taxi in 2014.

Farthing was gay. At the time of his death he was in a relationship with Dougie Lui, a hotelier.

1956 – Phill Wilson founded the Black AIDS Institute in 1999 and is a prominent African-American HIV/AIDS activist. Wilson is himself both gay and HIV-positive. His partner, Chris Brownlie, died of HIV-related illness.

Prior to founding the Institute, Wilson served as the AIDS Coordinator for the City of Los Angeles from 1990 to 1993, the Director of Policy and Planning at AIDS Project Los Angeles from 1993 to 1996. He was co-chair of the Los Angeles County HIV Health Commission from 1990 to 1995, and was an appointee to the HRSA AIDS Advisory Committee from 1995 to 1998.

Wilson grew up in Chicago. His parents had moved north from the southern states like many black Americans did after World War II. Both his parents worked outside the home, but they also provided a strong, supportive environment within the family. He grew up learning a commitment to family and to the community too.Wilson was often involved in civil rights activities in the Chicago area, such as Operation PUSH, Operation Breadbasket, and Black Expos, according to Out Magazine. He credits his family with continuing to support him after he came out to them regarding his sexuality. Wilson told Out a story about how he and his former lover, Chris Brownlie, had been to a family reunion and an in-law commented to a cousin about their presence after they had left. "My cousin," said Wilson, "who is a very committed, active, and faithful Jehovah's Witness told this woman, 'that man is my cousin. He is welcome here, and his partner's welcome here. They're a part of our family. You can't come to my house and talk about my cousin and his partner that way. That's not allowed.'"

Phill Wilson has always been busy. He was busy in high school with community activities and still managed to graduate early. He worked hard for American Telephone & Telegraph (AT&T) and was married for a short time. He described himself as naive to his sexuality until he heard a radio interview with a publisher of gay magazines. He then went about trying to locate the gay community in Chicago and met his partner of 10 years Chris Brownlie in 1979.

In 1981 Wilson said he "had enough of the cold weather of Chicago." He and Chris moved to the Los Angeles area. They ran a giftware manufacturing company called Black Is More Than Beautiful. By this time both Phill and his partner had heard of AIDS. Some of their friends had been ill or had died. Wilson said around this time both he and Chris had biopsies of their lymph nodes taken, because they had been swollen for a long time. "No one knew what caused AIDS then," said Wilson. "The doctors told Chris and I that there were abnormalities to the lymph nodes but they couldn't tell us what it meant."

As the years progressed more friends grew ill and people learned a virus caused AIDS. In 1986 California placed Proposition 64 - a proposal calling for the forced quarantine of all people with AIDS - on the election ballot. Both Wilson and Brownlie volunteered to work for a committee opposing the passage of this proposal.

About the time of the November of 1986 election Brownlie became ill. Wilson said Brownlie's illness, plus the amount of time they found themselves working on the ballot proposal led them to close down their giftware business. With their efforts Proposition 64 went down to defeat. In 1986 Wilson also founded a group called the AIDS Prevention Team. This group was started with a small grant Wilson received while volunteering with a social organization called Black and White Men Together.

In early 1987 Wilson and Brownlie were both diagnosed with HIV infection, which nearly always gives way to full blown AIDS, an often sexually transmitted condition in which the body's immune system is depressed, making one susceptible to a host of health problems, usually becoming fatal. In fact, Brownlie's illness was classified as AIDS. This diagnosis just seemed to make Wilson and Brownlie work harder. They also founded the AIDS Health Care Foundation around that time, which has grown into the largest nonprofit HIV medical services provider in Los Angeles County. It now includes the Chris Brownlie Hospice, named for Wilson's late partner.Phill Wilson is realistic in his work with AIDS. He knows the heavy losses of colleagues and friends. His lover Chris died in 1989. He wrote about the grief and anguish in Advocate magazine in 1992. He often speaks of his work as war. But the necessity of the work keeps him going.

"If you don't do any of that long term planning," he told Out, "then you're assuring that it's going to be around another 5, 10, 15, or 20 years."

"By the time we have the infrastructure we have to have," said Wilson in POZ, "I'll probably be dead. But right now I'm doing what I'm doing and living my life as I see it."

1975 – Jónsi (Jón Þór Birgisson) is the guitarist and vocalist for the Icelandic post-rock band Sigur Rós. He is known for his use of a cello bow on guitar and his falsetto voice. He is also blind in his right eye and is openly gay.

Apart from Sigur Rós, Jónsi also performs together with his boyfriend Alex Somers as an art collaboration called Jónsi & Alex. They released their self-titled first book in November 2006, which was an embossed hardcover limited to 1000 copies,along with their first album, Riceboy Sleeps, in July 2009. On December 1, 2009, Jónsi's official website, jonsi.com, was launched in anticipation of his debut solo album, Go, which was released the week of April 5, 2010. After the release of the album, Jónsi promptly started a worldwide tour across North America and Europe, featuring songs from the album plus a few other selections.

1982 – Thomas Bridegroom was born in Knox, Indiana, USA as Thomas Lee Bridegroom. He was an actor, known for The X-Effect (2006), Bridegroom (2013) and The Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency (2006).

Tom was born and raised in Knox, Indiana and finished high school at the prestigious Culver Military Academy. Tom excelled at CMA, winning the Hobie Leadership award, which garnered him a trip to Washington, D.C. to meet with the president. After graduating from CMA Cum Laude, Tom enrolled in Vassar College, where he trained in voice and piano.

Although he was succeeding in his academic career at Vassar, Tom made the decision to leave school early and pursue his true calling: a career in the entertainment industry. Tom co-wrote the powerful and meaningful song, “Lost” with his friend Paige Williams, which attracted attention from the music industry, as well as writing numerous other songs with many other talented musicians, and on his own.

Tom also pursued ambitions of acting and being in front of the camera. Tom gained national recognition at the age of 23 when he was chosen as the Hot Boy Next Door for the popular magazine, Teen People, for the October 2005 issue.In 2005, Tom met his partner, Shane Bitney Crone. Shane and Tom started a social media/public relations company, Bridegroom and Bitney, in 2008.

He died on May 7, 2011 in Los Angeles, California, USA when he accidentally fell off of the roof of his friend's four story building. After his death, Tom's family refused to acknowledge their relationship, and because of this his partner Shane Bitney Crone was prevented from being by Tom's side for several hours as Tom was in the hospital, and was even warned to stay away from the funeral by his family – and even threatened with violence if he were to appear. This is chronicled in the documentary Bridegroom (2013).

1993 – On this date the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum was dedicated in Washington, DC. It marked the first time the United States government inscribed the words "Gay" and "Lesbian" in stone in the museum's exhibit on Gays and Lesbians killed by the Nazis in World War II.

2014 – Harvey Milk is the first openly gay elected official on a U.S. stamp. He was an American politician and the first openly gay elected official in the history of California where he was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977. He fought and defeated the anti-gay Prop 6. Milk was assassinated in 1978 by Supervisor Dan White.

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our-lord-satanas · 25 days

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PAGAN AND SATANIC HOLIDAYS AND CELEBRATIONS

NOTE: ALL IS IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER, LET ME KNOW IF I MISSED ANYTHING.

PAGAN:

IMBOLC (CANDLEMAS): (February 1st) a festival dedicated to the goddess of the new year.

OSTARA (SPRING EQUINOX): (March 19th-23rd) marks the Spring Equinox, which happens between March 19-23. Ostara is a Pagan celebration of the German Goddess Eostre

BELTANE (MAY EVE): (May 1st) the Gaelic May Day festival, marking the beginning of summer. It is traditionally held on 1 May, or about midway between the spring equinox and summer solstice.

SUMMER SOLSTICE (MIDSUMMER/LITHA): (June 21st) Litha occurs during the Summer Solstice between June 19 -22. More commonly referred to as Midsummer's Night, Litha is believed to be a time when faerie folk pass into the human world at Twilight and offer blessings. Litha is a time to celebrate the abundance and beauty of Mother Earth.

LUGHNASADH (LAMMAS): (August 1st) a Pagan holiday and one of the eight Wiccan sabbats during the year. Each sabbat marks a seasonal turning point. The sabbat occurs on August 1st, which is about halfway between the summer solstice (Litha) and the fall equinox (Mabon).

AUTUMN EQUINOX (MABON): (September 21st or 24th-29th) represents the height of nature's abundance and usually falls between September 21 and 24. It is seen as the height of the harvest season and is a time to celebrate nature's bounty. Many also celebrate the balance in nature during Mabon.

SAMHAIN (ALL HALLOWS): (November 1st) a festival dedicated to the dead and a celebration of the New Year.

WINTER SOLSTICE (MIDWINTER/YULE): (December 21st-25th) a winter solstice festival. The longest night of the year followed by the sun's "rebirth" and lengthening of days. In most traditions, Yule is celebrated as the rebirth of the Great God, who is viewed as the newborn solstice sun. Some Pagans consider Yule to be the beginning of the new year

SATANIC:

LUPERCALIA: (February 15th) celebration of bodily autonomy, sexual liberation, and reproduction. Based on the Roman festival of the same name, Lupercalia falls on February 15. In keeping with the ancient tradition, February 13th and 14th are observed as feast days leading up to the actual holiday. What we are translating this to in TST is a "hail yourself" day. This idea offers a parallel to the "others-centered" traditions of Sol Invictus.

HEXENNACHT: (April 30th) occasion honoring those who fell victim to superstition and pseudoscience, whether by. In Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Faust: a Tragedy (1808), Mephisto and Faust attend the Walpurgisnacht revelry atop Mount Brocken. TST's Hexenacht is a solemn holiday to honor those who were victimized by superstition.

UNVEILING DAY: (July 25th) celebration of religious plurality and shedding archaic superstition. A centerpiece of our religious movement and icon of modern Satanism, the Baphomet with Children statue was commissioned by The Satanic Temple in 2014 and created by Mark Porter with "respect for diversity and religious minorities" in mind. On July 25, 2015, The Satanic Temple unveiled Baphomet to a large crowd of devotees in Detroit, signaling the beginning of the new Satanic era. We observe this milestone in Satanic history by celebrating Unveiling Day.

DEVILS NIGHT (MISCHIEF NIGHT): (October 30th-November 4th) an informal holiday on which children, teenagers and adults engage in jokes, pranks, vandalism, or parties. It is known by a variety of names including Devils Night, Gate Night, Goosey Night, Moving Night, Cabbage Night, Mystery Night and Mat Night.

HALLOWEEN: (October 31st) holiday to celebrate indulgence and embrace the darkness and its aesthetic. Halloween is consistently described as evil, demonic, and satanic by those steeped in religious dogma. Costumes, candy, and facing fears are to be embraced.

SOL INVICTUS: (December 25th) a holiday to celebrate indulgence and embracing the darkness and its aesthetic. The cult of Sol existed within Rome since its early days as a republic, and Invictus was an epithet used for Jupiter, Mars, and Apollo (among others). The festival celebrated these Gods and may have also been used to celebrate the winter solstice.

#fyp #fypシ #fypシ゚viral #fypage #fyppage #tumblr fyp #satanism #satanist #satanic #paganism #pagan #holidays #celebration

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ofmdresearch · 5 months

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New Single Chapter Fics Under the OFMD Tag on AO3, comparing 2022 & 2023 / S1 & S2

The number of new single chapter fics under the OFMD tag on AO3 has been under observation since July. It's time to wrap this up and post the finalised graphs:

Weekly new single chapter fics (1 July - 1 December 2022 and 2023)

Daily new single chapter fics (September-November 2022 and 2023)

Daily new single chapter fics (3 weeks during and 5 weeks after S1 & S2)

Multichapter fics were not counted since it's difficult to get that data from AO3. Also, multichapter fics aren't necessarily as good at reflecting the level of "acute inspiration" as single chapter fics.

The data was collected by Tikli on 3 December 2023.

First, let's look at the weekly data during the 22 week observation period (1 July - 1 December 2022 and 2023).

The total number of new fics during the observation period was 5,000 (weekly average 227) in 2022 and 5,272 in 2023 (5.4% more than the previous year; weekly average 240).

In July and August 2022, the number of weekly new fics was clearly higher than in 2023.

In September, the difference between years wasn't as clear; first half of the month had more new fics in 2023 and the second half had more new fics in 2022.

Kinktober caused a spike in the numbers at the beginning of October both years.

In 2022, the numbers declined rapidly after the first week of October and in November, the weekly numbers were below the weekly average. After the first week of October, there were more weekly new fics in 2023 than in 2022.

In 2023, season 2 aired on 5 October and the weekly numbers grew each week during the season. The numbers declined the week after the finale aired, and in November, they were below the lowest week of October. During the last two weeks of November 2023, the weekly numbers were below the weekly average.

Highest weekly number in 2022 was 485 (30 Sep - 6 Oct). In 2023, it was 581 (21-27 Oct, the week when the final episode aired).

Lowest weekly number in 2022 was 142 (25 Nov - 1 Dec). In 2023, it was 84 (1-7 Jul).

Next, let's take a closer look at the daily numbers during September-November 2022 and 2023.

The total number of new fics during the observation period was 2,906 (daily average 32) in 2022 and 4,160 (43% more than the previous year; daily average 46) in 2023.

In September, the lines of both years are overlapping (between 13 and 47, daily average 25 in 2023 and 26 in 2022). After S2 trailer on 14 Sep there’s a noticeable spike in the numbers.

S2 aired between 5-26 October. During the same period in 2022, the number of daily fics was between 27 and 73 (daily average 45). During the airing of S2 the daily number was between 55 and 102 (daily average 72).

After the finale of S2 (27 Oct -30 Nov), the numbers decline rapidly, ranging between 17 and 100 (daily average 45). During the same period in 2022, daily number was between 12 and 45 (daily average 24).

After mid-November, the lines of both years start overlapping again (between 12 and 47, daily average 31 in 2023 and 20 in 2022).

Finally, let's compare the number of daily new single chapter fics during the three weeks when seasons were airing and during the five weeks after the season finale.

Season 1 started streaming on 3 March 2022 and Season 2 on 5 October 2023. New episodes aired weekly on Thursdays and the final episode aired three weeks after the season started.

The total number of new single chapter fics during the observation period was 3,088 in 2022 and 3,164 in 2023 (2.5% more than the previous year)

During the three weeks when the new season was airing (counting the air date of the final episode), the daily average of new fics was 7 in 2022 and 72 in 2023.

During the five weeks after the final episode, the daily average of new fics was 84 in 2022 and 45 in 2023.

The highest daily number in 2022 was 125 fics 17 days after the finale aired. In 2023, the highest daily number was 102 fics on the day the finale aired.

The lowest daily number after the finale of season 1 was 56 fics the next day after the finale. After the finale of season 2, the lowest daily number was 17 fics three weeks after the finale aired.

Five weeks after the final episode, the number of daily new fics was 68 in 2022 and 25 in 2023.

#ofmd #ao3 #fanfic #statistics #fandom studies #fandom #fandom research #our flag means death

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mariacallous · 2 months

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Moscow CNN — Two years ago, when Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, I was among the many long-time observers of the Kremlin who got it wrong.

Few could fathom why Vladimir Putin, Russia’s calculating leader, would embark on such a risky military adventure, especially when the mere threat of a Russian invasion was already yielding results.

In June the previous year, as Russian forces massed near Ukraine, US President Joe Biden met Putin at a superpower-style summit, describing the US and Russia as “two great powers” elevating the Russian leader after previous US administrations had sought to downplay Russia’s influence.

In the days before the 2022 invasion, Washington offered a “pragmatic evaluation” of Moscow’s security concerns, signalling openness to compromise.

Pitching Russian forces against one of the region’s biggest standing armies seemed uncharacteristically reckless and, therefore, unlikely.

There were others, though, who rightly saw the invasion as inevitable, better reading the Kremlin’s intentions, and confidently predicting a swift Russian victory at the hands of Moscow’s vastly superior forces.

Two years on, I like to think that those of us who doubted the Kremlin’s resolve were wrong for the right reasons.

What Moscow still euphemistically calls a Special Military Operation has been a bloodbath of catastrophic proportions, unseen in Europe for generations. Even conservative estimates put the number of dead and injured at hundreds of thousands of people on each side. Small gains, such as the recent capture of Avdiivka, have come at enormous cost.

Russia’s once revered military has shown itself painfully unprepared and vulnerable to modern weapons in the hands of a determined Ukrainian resistance. Even if the war ends tomorrow, it is likely to take many years for its strength and numbers to recover.

And the past two years of brutal war have twisted and distorted Russia internally too.

Hundreds of thousands of its citizens have fled abroad to avoid conscription. Frustrations with the way the war was being fought provoked an armed uprising in which gun-toting Wagner mercenaries marched on Moscow, posing an unprecedented challenge to the Kremlin’s authority.

International disdain has made Russia the most heavily sanctioned country in the world. Even President Putin has been indicted for war crimes at the Hague.

And now Putin’s most vocal critic – Alexey Navalny – is dead. Amid a broader crackdown on dissent, this country has plunged further into isolation and darkness.

Take a longer view, and the direction of travel seems tragically clear.

I was in Chechnya when, in 2000, a newly installed President Putin brought that rebellious Russian region to heel, unleashing a relentless Russian military. We will bomb them in the outhouse, he remarked, in a crude but popular refrain.

In 2006, a leading Russia journalist, Anna Politikovskaya, was murdered, on Putin’s birthday. Her brave dispatches from Chechnya struck a chord. Other critics were silenced at home and abroad.

By 2008, Putin was intervening in neighbouring Georgia, carving out pro-Russian regions from the Georgian state. Before the territory of Crimea was annexed from Ukraine in 2014, Russian forces had for years successfully propped up the Syrian regime in that country’s own brutal crackdown on rebellion, despite international condemnation.

But February 24, 2022, was a watershed.

It’s not just that Putin miscalculated in his ambition to conquer Ukraine, although what was meant as a limited campaign is very much now an open-ended war.

Rather, his full-scale invasion of Ukraine was the moment Putin finally abandoned all semblance of cooperation with the West, and all pretence that dissent and criticism inside this great nation would be tolerated.

And there is currently little sign of any change in course.

In fact, two years into his Special Military Operation, Putin is tightening his grip on power with opponents silenced and elections in March set to confirm his fifth presidential term.

Privately, many Russians remain quietly hopeful that there will, one day, be a change in course. But few believe it is unlikely to be now or even soon.

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stuckinthewrongworld · 6 months

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Name

Bermuda Marin

Crew Name

The Brass-Knuckle Pirates

Affiliation

The Straw Hat Pirates

The Heart Pirates

The Red Hair Pirates

Occupation(s)

Scout

Nicknames

Wave Rider

Water Baby

Mizu

Origin

The North Blue

Residence

N/A

Alias(es)

N/A

Epithet

“Wave Rider” Marin

Status

Alive

Age

PreTime Skip: 22

Post Time Skip: 24

Birthday

March 2nd

Height

5’ 8”

Bounty

1,000,000

Eye Color

Aqua Blue

Hair Color

Dirty Blonde

Body Type

Average, but broad

Sexuality

Straight

Species

Human

Alignment

Chaotic Good

Appearance

Marin is built bigger than most girls, being on the broader side, but is somewhat in shape. Marin’s skin is always tanned from spending time out in the sun and she has freckles crossing her face and shoulders. Her hair is curly and dirty blonde in color. Pre-time skip her hair is around her shoulder blade in length. Post time skip she cuts her hair to right under her shoulder length and pulls it half up in a messy bun. She keeps a slid cut in her left eyebrow. Marin’s eyes are turquoise blue, just like the sea waters she is named after. During the time skip Marin gauges her ears to a size 4.

Marin has several scars. Pre-time skip, she has a large scar running the majority of the length of her right shin. Marin obtained this scar when she was running away from home and she slipped on some sharp rocks. She also has a small scar on the inside of her left middle finger, but she can’t remember what caused this scar. Post-time skip Marin has a roundish scar on the top of her left hand from where she was punctured during a fight before she could activate her Devil Fruit Power. She also obtains a new scar that goes the opposite way across her right shin from banging her leg into a box on the ship.

Personality

Marin is on the quiet side, especially around new people. Once you’re friends with her though, she will do anything for you. Marin is usually the friend that is left hanging towards the back, but she uses this to be observant to things going on around her. Marin tries her hardest to be nice to everyone, but once you screw her over, she’s done with you. Marin is honest to a fault, sometimes more than she should be, but you’ll never have to guess where you stand with her.

Friends/Allies

The Straw Hat Pirates

The Heart Pirates

The-Red Haired Pirates

The Kid Pirates

Enemies

The Marines/ The Navy

The World Government

Love Interest

Trafalgar D. Water Law

Love Status

Crushing on each other, but both too nervous to make the first move.

Powers and Abilities:

Devil Fruit

The Jabu Jabu No Mi/ The Splash-Splash Fruit

Devil Fruit Type

Logia

Description of Fruit

The Jabu Jabu No Mi or Splash Splash Fruit is bright blue in color and covered in multiple swirls. In the right light, the color seems to change like the colors of the ocean. The stem somewhat resembles a faucet spout.

Being a Logia Type, this allows Marin to literally become water. Marin can also control water. Post-time skip, she has figured out how to heal with water as well. One of her more deadly attacks is creating water and surrounding her enemy’s head so they cannot breathe. She doesn't like to use this maneuver, but she will as a last ditch attack.

Haki Type(s)

None

Weapons/Accessories

-Marin does not have any weapons, but she has a water pouch that she carries extra water in.

-The necklace Marin wears was made by her best friend, Kelpie (a mermaid), The mermaids around the island where Marin grew up were able to make beautiful ocean colored stones, adorning their bodies with them.

-Duing the 2 year time skip, Marin runs into Kelpie again and she makes her a pair of gauges to match her necklace.

Likes

-Marin loves to swim and loves the water in general. Before eating her Devil Fruit, Marin spent more time in water than on land.

-Pickles. Will take anyone’s pickles that do not want them.

-Laying out on the beach.

-Napping.

-Kickboxing.

-Reading.

Dislikes

-Early mornings/ waking up.

-Fish/ Seafood.

-Running.

History

Marin grew up on a small island in the North Blue that was famous for their agriculture. Marin’s family owned a prominent farm that her father and younger brother were heavily involved in. Marin had more interest in swimming and spending time in the gorgeous waters that surrounded the area. Marin became an excellent swimmer, rivaling even some of the mermaids that lived in the surrounding waters. When she was young, Marin made friends with a mermaid named Kelpie and they would play together all the time. Marin’s parents were not happy about this, being lowkey racist towards any race that was not human. People on this particular island were not fans of spending time on the water, as their livelihood came from the land. Once her parents found out that Marin’s best friend was a mermaid, they did whatever they could to keep Marin away from the waters and away from Kelpie. Marin would sneak out to swim and play with Kelpie. Marin’s parents found her sneaking out one day and threw her in a locked room with no windows. Marin would only be let out to use the restroom.

Rumors began to spread that Marin had to be half-Fishman or half-mermaid for as much as she loved the water. This pissed Marin’s mother off, causing her father to accuse her of cheating, even though that was not the case. Marin’s mother and father fought constantly and ended up taking it out on Marin, especially after these rumors came out. Marin’s parents heard about Devil Fruits one day and how people who consumed them could not be in the water. Marin’s mother and father sought out a Devil Fruit and were able to find a vendor who was trying to get rid of one. Once they found this Devil Fruit, they stopped feeding Marin and only put the Devil Fruit in the room with her. Her parents jested at her that she could only come out once she ate the Devil Fruit. Marin had heard about how Devil Fruit users could no longer swim, so she held out for as long as she could before finally caving and eating the Splash Splash Fruit. Marin was so hungry, she did not care how awful it tasted and ate the whole fruit. Marin’s mother and father laughed the entire time they were letting her out of the room.

As soon as she was released, Marin ran to the sea to find Kelpie. Marin cried as she told Kelpie what had happened to her and how she could no longer swim. Marin was so depressed knowing that she could never swim she tried to throw herself into the water. Kepie stopped her and said that she would always save her, no matter how many times Marin tried to get into the water. Kelpie made Marin one of her clan’s famed necklaces that looked like the sea, that way she would always have a piece of the ocean with her, even though she could no longer swim like she wanted.

The next few years were torture. Marin’s parents and brother would taunt her about no longer being able to swim. Marin eventually figured out what her Devil Fruit power was and was happy that it still connected her to water. In secret, Marin would practice honing her skills down at a hidden spot on the beach with Kelpie. Marin eventually learned how to manipulate water to be able to walk on and surf on it. Marin’s parents never figured out what her Devil Fruit abilities were until the night she ran away, not being able to take their torment anymore. Her mother and father tried to hold Marin back but she was able to slip through their fingers by turning into water. Cussing her, her father pulled a gun. Scared, Marin manipulated water to surround both her mother and father’s heads, submerging them and keeping them from breathing. Panic coated their faces, especially her mother, as her mother hated even getting her head wet while bathing. Marin said she would let them live if they let her leave and never looked for her. Her parents finally agreed, so Marin dropped the water and ran. Marin ran to the beach and surfed over the water and away from the island. Kelpie accompanied Marin until she ran into the Baratie, where she passed out from exhaustion.

Zeff found Marin and Kelpie explained to him what had happened. When Marin came to, Sanji offered Marin food to help her get her energy back. Marin thanked Sanji and he tried to flirt with both her and Kelpie, moreso Kelpie. Zeff told Marin that Kelpie explained her story and asked what her plan was. Marin explained that she had nowhere to go and no money. Zeff offered Marin a job on the Baratie and she happily accepted, doing odd jobs around the restaurant.

#One Piece #One Piece OC #OP #OP OC #devil fruit #devil fruit user #logia #logia devil fruit #mermaid #oc #original character #One Piece OC story

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cutiedwaekki · 10 months

Text

PUPPYM DETECTIVE

Chapter 3 & 4 : investigation (full)

So I drew up my list of suspects, the most suspicious of whom were also on it and therefore a priority for interrogation. Thanks to Jisung, I at least knew who to expect, although I still hadn't got over the fact that he'd slept with Minho.

Seriously, what else did he have besides being a chaebol?

Anyway, small aside ... Back to the subject, so I finished my list, making a slight sound of victory that prompted Jisung to look over and rest his head on my shoulder:

Suspect list:

Lee Minho / Yang Jeongin

Hwang Hyunjin / Bahng Chan

Seo-Lee Changbin / Seo-Lee Felix

-What about me? Jisung exclaimed with a pout, making me chuckle.

-What? You want me to put you on the list of suspects?

-I was also with Wooyoung in the last 24 hours before his death, and yet you don't question me?

Pff, it's amazing how Jisung loved to ask for attention even in such serious situations. But I got used to the game, I put on a false air of seriousness and turned to face him before asking "Mr Han, did you kill Jung Wooyoung?

Jisung then looked guilty before looking me in the eyes with a glint, an indescribable glint, he was really starting to scare me... he had nothing to do with it right? Right? Please let him be innocent so that at least he doesn't play an important role in this crime.

-No sir and I have an alibi! I was with my hot roommate" he replied with an amused air, striking various poses to look cute.

Damn, he gave me a fright... I almost thought for a moment he had something to reproach himself for... You're pathetic Seungmin, pull yourself together. You know how Jisung loves to joke around!

After all, that's how it's always been between us: he teases me and I react.

-You're an idiot, come on, let's go now" I said, giving him a pat on the shoulder before entering the LeeBit's cock cafe to question the first suspects.

- "Welcome, settle in, I'm coming!" cried a voice from afar as the little bell on the front door rang as soon as anyone opened it.

It wasn't long before Lee Minho came in, surprised at first, and ended up talking to Jisung as if I weren't there.

-Sungie, it's been a long time! Seems thzt you've been eating well, I see" he said before hugging Jisung as if they hadn't seen each other for years.

-Oh, you know, being interim city councillor here makes me eat a lot," he joked, shaking his belly.

As long as I've known Jisung, I've known he wasn't the type to work out 24 hours a day, in fact he was very lazy. When we were teenagers, he had that slim body that everyone dreamed of, but in recent years laziness had got the better of him, and although it was only a few extras kilos, since he became a xity councillor I'd seen him eating more and more, rubbing his belly or suck in while he have to put on his clothes.

Here too, I'm not judging, just observing. And then when he comes to cuddle me it's nice

But enough about that, let's get back to the main topic.

I coughed loudly enough to remind Minho of my presence, and he disinterestedly turned his gaze on me.

-Oh, you came with him... what's his name again?"

- "Seung-"

- "Thank you for talking about me as if I weren't here, but that's not why we're here. Lee Minho I'm asking you to please answer my questions."

- "What about?"

-About the murder of city councilor Jung Wooyoung. It seems that you were among those who were with him in the last 24 hours before his death. Could you tell me what you were doing on March 24 between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m.?"

I sat him down on one of the tables, and Jisung did the same, although he was just following suit. So Minho was the only one left standing, and he seemed rather surprised by the turn of events.

-What? Am I really being interrogated? Why am I under suspicion, eh? And why shouldn't it be Jisung hm? They always say assistants have things to hide."

Minho offered to help and seemed to be holding back, while Jisung didn't know where to put himself. The poor guy had tried to be nice to him and all he could come up with were false accusations.

-And accusing someone else instead is just as suspicious. After all, a chaebol's son could very well have killed or begged to kill the councilman on his father's orders."

I'd hit the nail on the head. He crossed his arms and walked away, mumbling something so sincere he was so far away.

But I didn't give up, I got up and walked towards him, grabbing him by the arm before he pushed me away and wrote

-I've done nothing! I had nothing to do with this! All I want here is a peaceful life in a peaceful town! If even in the most peaceful corner I get judged then where do I go?" He shouted as tears began to well up in his eyes.

Jisung also decided to stand up and handed Minho a handkerchief to wipe his eyes. But I didn't believe in his sobs, which seemed too fake to be true.

You had to look to see the bottle of samine eye solution he was clutching in his left hand.

-At worst, if running a cafe doesn't work out, you can always go into film", I said, smiling broadly before chuckling.

Minho quickly stopped his fake sobbing, looked at me contemptuously and sighed heavily.

-Pff, what you don't have to do to get some peace and quiet ... on March 24th at 6pm I closed the café, you only have to look at the surveillance camera outside and at 8pm I was at home watching a mukbang show".

I then took note of this information "What program?"

-Bonggil and I watched one of his videos from 3 weeks ago. Should I also give the title or have I clarified enough for you?"

At that moment, I felt like punching him in the face, but I stayed calm and finished writing.

-That'll be all for you, and where can I find your brother?

-Ah no, that's enough, you're not going to piss off my brother with your bullshit! The poor guy can barely sleep because of his college classes, so if I see you bothering him with your questions because you're just an unemployed guy who flunked out of police school, then I'm really going to commit murder.

The rage in his eyes, his clenched fist, the vein popping out of his throat. He was definitely angry with me... or maybe I'd struck a chord.

Without realizing it, he had helped me greatly in this investigation. After all, if Jeongin was in college, all I had to do was call Brian and ask him if he'd seen Mr Yang that day.

Ah, it's always good to have a big brother as school secretary.

- "Very well thank you for everything, sorry for the disturbance goodbye"

I tilted my hat at him and walked out with Jisung, who still looked as lost as ever.

- "So... ?"

- "so what?

- "Is he guilty or not?"

- "Sungie investigations don't work like that! And calm down, you look like you're going to faint any minute", he said, patting her shoulder. The poor guy looked as white as a sheet

-I probably haven't eaten enough ... where should we go this time? Jinrinet Bowl, right?"

- "That's right.

Hyung can I go out now?" Young Yang asked a few minutes after Seungmin and Jisung left the cafe.

-Yes, of course! Let me help you!"

Minho ran over to the cupboard where Jeongin was, opened it and helped his half-brother out.

- "Ouch, you're heavier than last time, Innie!" complained the oldest before putting the youngest back on the floor.

Jeongin rolled his eyes at him before crossing his arms "Don't say that! I must have put on a pound or two.

Minho cast a sidelong glance, showing that he was quite dubious. After all, if one or two kilos for Jeongin meant six or seven kilos ...

But he had a share of the responsibility, he loved feeding and taking care of his younger brother, it had been like that since they were little!

-I really thought I was going to die inside !

- "Sorry Innie, but I really didn't want that idiot to come and talk to you!

-Why? Are you afraid I'll tell them about Dad? Or about his Stayville project?

- "Ssh not so loud he could hear you!

- "Sorry, it was louder than me"

The youngest then began to whisper and the two brothers discussed this mysterious project, case 143: All in project.

- "But if Seungmin finds out, is it serious?

- "I think so ... especially if his father's a cop, then we'll be in trouble.

- "I understand hyung ...

- "So if he or Jisung ever comes to question you you just deny everything! You know what, just act like you hate me!

- "Hate you? That won't be any different from the usual" plaisanta le youngest

- "In the meantime, I'm the one who cooks for you, so show some respect!"

- "Yes, sir.

So with Jisung nius enter the second store: jinrinet bowl. I had a feeling it was going to be hectic. Ever since Hyunhin's arrival in town, I hadn't had a good feeling about it, and let's not even talk about the bad blood between him and Jisung, the reason for which I didn't even know!

As soon as we entered, Hyunjin almost blocked our path. His shirt was badly buttoned up, an eyeful of lip gloss was at the corner of his lip and his hair was a mess. Great, I wanted to talk to Mayor Bahng too.

-Sorry, the café's about to close", he declared haughtily.

-I'm here to ask you and the mayor some questions... he's here, I suppose?

Hyunjin frowned before crossing his arms in a disinterested manner. Pff, he could be such a jerk!

-Sorry, I'm not answering any questions, you'll have to drink my coffee first.

What a scam! At least Jisung could make the most of his hunger.

-Very well ... Jisung take a cheesecake-

- "Is Jisung going to interogate me?"

- "No, it's-

- "Then it's not working! You have to order food yourself, Kim Songmin".

Is it a serious kid, already paying for it, then I have to change clothes and they get my first name wrong? He was definitely doing it on purpose

-Very well, bring me a croissant

-right away".

He smiled falsely and came back with a small croissant barely larger than the palm of my hand, almost throwing it on the table.

Breathe in, breathe out Seungmin, you'll be fine.

-So I was saying-

- "I only answer to questions if the order is at least 90 000 won ... sorry

Nothing was sincere and Jisung, who was sometimes a little candid, also seemed on the verge of wanting to strike.

-Very well, bring me everything I need to eat for 90,000 won".

- "Right away, Mr Kim ~"

He returned later with a huge tray filled with various pastries and sweets. This time, he set it down delicately before looking him up and down and laughing.

- "I'm not surprised you're eating so much anyway, considering your body!

I beg your pardon? I hadn't put anything in my mouth and Jisung had held back, but if this keeps up, I'll be leaving without interrogate him .

... unless that's what he wants ...

Well, I was going to have to resist his viper's tongue and eat a kilo of food now.

Besides, why was he talking like that about my body? I mean, I know I'm not muscular rr athletic, but to call me fat?

Okay, maybe I had a little trouble getting my pants on this morning and I think my cheeks rounded out, but was it that easy to notice?

I had a long drink and started to eat with Jisung, who looked at me sadly. After all, he wasn't allowed to eat even a crumb of all that food at the risk of Mr. Bitch deciding to institute a new rules.

-So ... can we start the interview?

Hyunjin uncrossed his arms and took a seat at our table, "with pleasure, but not for too long, I've got more interesting things to do.

Make a little effort

-So ... Hwang hyunjin, where were you on March 24th between 5pm and 8pm?

-At home drinking wine

- "Can anyone prove it?

- "My fuck buddy aka Mr Mayor Bahng but you already know that, asshole" he said with a wink

In the meantime I shouted that Jisung had escaped after glowering at Hyunjin and fled to the toilet.

-And who can prove that the two of you were there?

-"Oh my but you eat well, don't you! It looks like a double chin is starting to appear!"

I know I shouldn't have listened to him, but out of curiosity, after swallowing the double doughnut I ran my hand over my chin, and although it wasn't as smooth as before, there was no double chin yet.

It seemed to be a humiliating sight for hyunjin, who laughed and added "The only thing worse than that is that you believe it!

- "Do you ever fatsham people or is it your annorexic model side that comes out?"

- "Only with people I don't like

-" Why do you dislike me then ?

-You've hurt someone who means a lot to me in order to satisfy your overblown ego. So if I were you, I'd get rid of it all, give up and lock myself in my house so as not to piss anyone off", he shouted, tapping my chest with the tip of his finger.

I thought I'd heard enough. I wanted to leave just like that without paying, but the food was too good to stop, and my mother had raised her in such a way as to never spoil the food.

Miraculously, I had finished everything in record time. Once upon a time I'd have been full by the third croissant, but now I'd eaten it all.

And maybe I was still a little hungry

-Nothing more to add ?" I asked, wiping the few crumbs from my face.

-I'd have so much to say, but I promised to keep it a secret" he said hopefully.

What was he talking about? I think I've reached an interesting point here too...

-What secret are you talking about?

- "I don't want to say, otherwise it wouldn't be a secret after all!"

Pff, I knew that wasn't going to work.

- "Who did you promise to keep this secret from?"

- "I could tell you, but..." he then turned his head towards the backstage area of the café, where the toilets were and the safe way up to his house. He was staring at something or someone, but who? " It's 90,000 won extra food because it's really crisp news".

I sighed, about to accept, and then, as if out of nowhere, Jisung came and took my arm.

-Don't listen to him Minnie, I'm sure he's just doing it to rip you off!

- "To rip you off? I thought you knew me better than that Sungie ~"

- "Shut the fuck up we didn't talk to you"

Wow, seeing Jisung swear was common, but insulting someone was new! But I can understand him, he was more easy-going and irritable than me, and I can't imagine what he could have said to make Sungie hate him so much.

I mean, everybody loved Jisung and Jisung loved everybody! This guy must have been a total scumbag for Jisung to hate him!

-You're right, let's go, I think I've had enough proof from him!

I got to my feet with difficulty after all the food I'd just swallowed, my belly poking at my shirt hanger, it was a truly unpleasant feeling and Jisung seemed to understand my case as he helped me to my feet before tenderly caressing my shoulder with a gentle smile.

- "How sweet, two pigs helping each other ~" declared Hyunjin.

It's as if he's just broken a moment of silence between Jisung and me. It's weird what I'm going to say but I hope he's not guilty because I have a feeling the next time I saw him I'm going to punch him.

-Come on Minnie, let's go!

We then head for the exit before Hyunjin noisily clears his throat to attract our attention.

- "Aren't you forgetting something?

- "Hit you? We might break you, since you've got skin on your bones" spat Jisung as Hyunjin put on an offended expression.

- "That's a good one, but no. I was talking about the bill, I don't feed or talk for free!"

That's right, I'd forgotten. So frustrated I grabbed my wallet, and tossed a few bills in the air before they fell to the ground.

-Keep the change, it'll buy you some respect" I said before walking out the door.

- "Well said Seungmin, I'm proud of you for standing up to him! Jisung exclaimed as he put his arm around me.

My heart was pounding, I missed seeing him so clingy and tactile with me, I'd so much liked it to have worked out between us, but friendship isn't one of my priorities and Jisung understood that. Yet I hate to think of him being with someone else, or of him not being so tactile and clingy with me.

I love him but I hate it.

Unknown :

Idiot I heard everything you almost blew it!

Hyunjin:

What? I told the truth. I remind you that between you and me it's simply because we have a common enemy. If I can sell the information for money, I'm in.

Unknown:

You're so easily corruptible it disgusts me

Hyunjin:

That's why I hook up with the mayor :D

Unknown:

And that you were an accomplice in the murder of the general councillor?

Hyunjin:

He had compromising things about me. But I remind you that you're just as guilty as I am!

Unknown:

It's a good thing none of us killed him. Yang is so easily manipulated

Hyunjin:

What about the other stupid detective?

Unknown:

Don't say that, he's a lot smarter than we think.

Hyunjin:

If you say so

unknown :

I'll take care of him.

I know an excellent way of taking care of him so that he doesn't interfere with our plans.

Hyunjin:

Wow, you're scary, man.

Unknown:

Shut up you idiot

I'll leave you to it, he's about to enter the last bakery.

- "So hyung you think Hyunjin has something to hide?"

-I'd say he's protecting someone. I'm almost not surprised.

- "Maybe it's Mayor Bahng," suggested Jisung.

-Why not ... how about ...someone with influence! Like Minho and Jeongin's father!"

- "You've gone too far, Minnie. If this turns out to be true, this whole investigation is just a misunderstanding, and Wooyoung really did die of a heart attack!

-Are you kidding me, Jisung? I'll bet you anything that there's murder behind all this!

- "If you say so, but promise me one thing, if things get too hard, please stop... I don't like it when you go to such lengths for mysteries that sometimes will never be solved!

I sighed but nodded all the same. True, I had a list of investigations I'd solved, but I also had a very long list of unsolved mysteries. I didn't want anything to do with it, I loved this thirst for mystery, even if it meant losing myself in it.

That's where I live, that's where I triumph!

-Shall we go to the last store now?

- "Yes, but I think we'll be fine, especially if you and Felix are friends.

Jisung chuckled before I stepped in front of the last sign, "BbokAri & Dwaekki Bakery".

Right away, the atmosphere was pink and colorful compared to the other two, which were more sober and cold.

No sooner had we entered than Felix came to greet us with a big smile.

-Ah Jisung, you've finally come with Seungmin! I've been looking forward to seeing you in person for so long, all this talk about you and how you love our pastries", said the blond man, shaking my hand with a gentle grip given his small hands.

-Thank you, but we've already met a few times, you know" I said almost shyly. I felt confident, so I dropped the formalities with him.

-Yes but it's been at least months if not a year! Come on I just made a batch of brownies!"

He then walked away, leaving me and Jisung alone as we sat down at one of the empty tables. At last I thought we were alone until I spotted Changbin from a distance at the counter, looking like he was taking a nap. He must have been a heavy sleeper, because Felix was talking normally, not to mention the music in the background of the bakery, which, although semi-inaudible, would have disturbed anyone.

Then the more I detailed him, the more I noticed how much bigger he'd gotten since the last time I saw him. Okay, I know that he and his husband are into this kind of strange fetish, but here he's bloated like a blimp! His clothes barely fit him. Then now he just looked like a huge ball of fat, it was both strange and ... fascinating.

-Hey, stop looking at him! Look at me instead" commented Jisung, bringing him out of my thoughts as I turned to him and smiled.

-Don't I give you enough of my time already?

- "Yes, you do, but lately I've had less time to spend with my Minnie and I'm really mad about it, you know?

- "Yah, I always offer to come and see you, but you always refuse!

- "Because I have to show that I'm not corruptible! Everyone knows about your investigation at the town hall, so I have to be discreet so that no one notices that I'm your spy" he said, miming a few amusing poses that made me burst out laughing.

It was then that Femix arrived with his tray full of brownies, well, I'd say olutot brownie mountains, which he placed on this tiny table: "Oh, you're both so mig on! How long have you been darting?"

Silence.

Jisung and I were silent, not that the question was awkward because we were just friends and roommates, but ... because we knew how we felt about each other, but we'd never gone further than that night ...

-Oh no, did I say something wrong? I'm sorry, I tend to talk too much! Normally Binnie would be there to calm me down, but my love sleeps soundly after working so hard" he said before sniggering.

-It's nothing, I admit that if I were him, I'd take as many naps as necessary! Said Jisung as he took some brownies and devoured them.

-Ah yes, I can imagine that being a town councillor is no easy".

-My days are all about working, eating and sleeping!

- "It was the same as before" I said before chuckling. "By the way, Felix, take a seat, I'd like to ask you a few questions.

Felix hesitantly took a chair and sat down beside us while Jisung devoured the mountain of brownies. I let him have them, seeing how well I'd eaten before. "What are the questions about?"

- "The murder of Jung Wooyoung, I'm ingerogeing the last people he saw in the last 24 hours, so can you tell me what you were doing on March 24th between 5pm and 8pm?

-Oh, it's so simple! It was Changbin and I's wedding anniversary! At 4.50pm we closed the bakery and went home without getting ready. We left at 7:30 p.m. for the restaurant I'd booked at the Hall of Fame restaurant! I've got the ticket to prove it!"

-Nah, it'll be fine. Keep going.

- "So then I think around 9pm we went for a walk in the streets with Binnie ... well we tried because he had eaten so much that we quickly went home and ... the details after that are rather confidential I hope you don't mind" he said blushing, making Jisung almost choke as I coughed nervously understanding what they had done after eating.

-Hmm, I see. Did Mr. Jung say anything in particular to you that day?

- "Let me think again... I think he told us about a case he was working on that was very important and could upset the whole city.

-So there is a file like this in my office !" exclaimed Jisung, who then shouted so loudly that Changbin was startled out of his sleep.

-Oh no Binnie you're fine go back to sleep ~" said Felix with a honeyed voice as she approached his husband to cuddle him, while Changbin kissed him tenderly, blurring the line between dreams and reality.

I glanced awkwardly at Jisung, who seemed just as embarrassed as I was.

Then the exchange seemed to become more fiery and conretised from the moment Fleix sat on her husband.

-W-We should go ... now" murmured Jisung as I nodded and we left the room, not ready to put the image out of our minds.

- "It's okay they're gone you can stop now!"

- "What really? Who would have thought it would have worked?"

- "You're such a good actor Binnie they didn't even see you were pretending to sleep!"

- "I did the right thing because I had a really bad idea about that Seungmin. He's too eager to find out", he declared with a touch animosity .

- "It turns me on when you're serious like that jagi ~

- "The bakery is still open.

- "It's going to close early today so that means everything here is for you!"

He then analyzed the almost entirely filled window and swallowed hard at the sheer quantity.

-I guess it's snack time".

Once home, Seungmin and Jisung collapsed on their sofa and sighed together.

-What a long day," cried Seungmin.

- "I hope at least you have the evidence you need now"

- "I've put it all together in this little notepad, now we just have to check that it's true! And then, Sungie, if you could toruvert this famous important file that Felix was talking about, that would be perfect!

-Sure counts on me Minnie ~ But now I'm hungry, let's order something!

- "Are you hungry after all you've eaten?"

-:Dare to tell me that your belly doesn't growl either

Seungmin was about to retort, but her belly replied instead, making Jisung laugh and the younger man blush.

-Mystery solved! Let's order some rameyon with... tteokboki ... and why no rice cakes?"

Jisung seemed lost in thought about the food while Seungmin seems thoughtful

-Sungie, do you think I've put on weight?

- "What? You're hardly my sexy detective! what makes you think that?"

- "Duh, can't you see how tight my pants are on me? And look at my belly sticking out! It's because of you and all your carvings!"

Seungmin laughed as an outraged jisung came to stand against him.

-Shall we swap bodies then? Because believe me, if you gain weight, then I swelled up! Look at my thighs!"

They began to compare their thighs, then their stomachs, their legs, their arms. In short, every part of their body that could store fat!

In the end, they ended up ordering three large pizzas with extra cheese.

No sooner had the order been placed than there was a knock on the door. Who could it be at this hour? Definitely not the delivery man they'd just ordered.

- "I get it i'll go and open it" said the youngest, rising to his feet before walking to the front door and opening it.

He gasped as he saw the person in front of him. They lived in the same town and had not spoken or seen each other for almost five years.

- "Dad?!"

-Can I come in? Mr Kim asked coldly.

- "Yes yes come in"

Seungmin worked great carrying her then letting his father in before considering an important factor... jisung was there

- "Who was Minnie?"

-Minnie? Wow, I still can't get used to that... good evening Jisung" ajiura Mr Kim

- "It's your father. ... shit Good evening Mr Kim. . Euhm I'm going to go now I had swimming lessons in a few minutes ... yes that's it

Jisung left immediately, leaving Mr. Kim and his son alone.

-So what are you doing here?

- "I suppose you're investigating Jung Wooyoung's death?"

-Yes, so what? I may not be a cop, but I know how to investigate!

- "It's a tricky business, you know? It's a real Pandora's box ... once you've opened it, the evil is already there.

-What are you trying to say?

- "I'm also investigating this death and I've discovered some things that you'd better keep away from, for your own good and for Jisung's sake.

-So you're interested in me now? Didn't you find it annoying to kick him out just because I'd slept with Jisung?"

- "I was just afraid you'd ruin your life by ...

-By what? By dating a farmer's son? By deciding to become a policeman despite your refusal? And congratulations because apart from that I didn't do either one!

Seungmin then unwittingly sobbed while his father, rigid, didn't know what to do.

-I ... I'm sorry Seungmin

- "It's not enough" he said as he cried

- "If there's anything I can do for you ... or for jisung ...

-"... no, it's all right ... my father died years ago so I don't need you or your help".

Mr. Kim, obviously disappointed, didn't know what else to say. Seungmin was crying all the time and her father didn't know what to do.

-I... I'll be off then...

- "Go ahead, my door's wide open.

- "If you take my advice, I want to protect you

- "if you say so... now go away

And so the father left, leaving his son alone ... crying loudly but mostly alone .

Nothing could calm him down, he became uncontrollable when the subject of his mother was opened. The poor boy cried and cried and cried.

-Why am I so alone?

He cried again before a piece of information made him realize something

- "What if it's not one but many guilty parties? Maybe, in the end, they're all involved in one way or another!"

He then wiped away his tears and headed for his desk to write this idea down on his big board, where he was gathering all the information he'd known so far.

-"Seungmin? Is it me , can i to go home now?"

Now tell me

#weight gain #my fic #my fics #skz chubby

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anotherhumaninthisworld · 1 year

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Frev friendships — Lucile Desmoulins and Marie Marguerite Françoise Hébert

A few days later we saw her arrive, [Desmoulins’] widow so lovely and so gentle, she was still inside the vertigo and pain, she walked and watched like Nina. Oh what bizarre a game revolutions are! The widow Hébert and the widow Camille Desmoulins, who’s husbands had just been sent to the scaffold, often sat together on the same stone in the heart of the Conciergerie and cried together. They would soon join them. Mémoires sur les prisons (1823) by Honoré Jean Riouffe, page 66. Marie was arrested on March 14, Lucile on April 4.

I saw at the registry of the Conciergerie, the day after their appearance at the hearing, and the very day of their trial, the wives of Hébert and Camille together. Hébert’s wife said to Camille’s wife: ”You are real lucky, you, there was not a single statement against you yesterday; no shadow of suspicion cast upon your conduct; you are no doubt going to go out by the main staircase, while I will be sent to the scaffold.” The wife of Camille, no doubt imbued with the atrocity of her judges, did not raise her eyes, showed neither fear nor hope, but modestly awaited her judgment. She went up a few minutes later; the debates had been closed the day before; the hearing was held only for the pronunciation of the judgment; she was condemned like the others and executed. I recall this conversation as precious, because in coming from the mouth of the wife of Hébert, in the presence of several people, it has a character of truth which gives an idea of the innocence of the wife of Camille, and of the barbarism of the court. A witness during the trial of Fouquier-Tinville 1795. Cited in Histoire parlementaire de la Révolution française… volume 34, page 427

22 people were led to the scaffold around six o'clock through a prodigious crowd. Chaumette next to Gobres led the way. Chaumette replied with a smile of rage to the sarcasms which people threw at him, especially the reproach of atheism ... Gobel was gloomy, silent, dejected. Dillon, pale, was next to Simon, the comedian Grammone with his son. In the third tumbril were the widow Hébert and that of Camille Desmoulins, chatting together. The widow of Camille Desmoulins fixed the gaze, both by the singularity of her costume, and by a piquant face which the approach of death has little altered. The others revealed a rather sad countenance: they did not show that kind of audacity which most of the great conspirators have shown until the present day. The two women were executed first; Gobel and Chaumette were the last. We will give the rest of the judgment tomorrow. Suite du Journal de Perlet, number 569 (April 14 1794)

The conspirators condemned by the Revolutionary Tribunal were executed yesterday [sic] at a quarter to seven (in the evening). Chaumette, sitting next to Gobel, replied with a smile of rage to the reproaches of atheism that were made against him; Gobel was gloomy, silent, downcast; Pale Dillon sat beside Simon; the actor Grammont next to his son; the widow of Hébert and that of Camille Desmoulins, elegantly dressed and maintaining composure, were chatting together. Gobel and Chaumette were the last to suffer their ordeal. Chaumette's head was shown to the people, to the sound of applause and cries of "Vive la République.” The wife of Hébert and the wife of Camille Desmoulins were the first to climb the scaffold, they embraced each other before dying. Nouvelles politiques et étrangères, number 146 (April 15 1794), cited in Annales révolutionnaires, volume 14, number 2, page 161 (1922)

Other observations

Marie was as much as 14 years older (38 years) than Lucile (24 years).

Did the two talk about how, were they to be condemned to death, they were both leaving a very young child orphaned (Marie a daughter a little more than one year old, Lucile a son a little younger than two years old)? Marie might also have been three months pregnant with her second child by the time of the execution…

#heard you forgot to take your depression pills today #no need to thank me #lucile desmoulins #hébert #desmoulins #marie hébert #if marie even was her real firstname…#frev #french revolution #i like how the girls kept a cooler head than their husbands on the way to the guillotine…#frev friendships

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spacetimewithstuartgary · 1 month

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SMOS and Swarm team up to spot huge solar storm

The sun erupted over the weekend, flinging electromagnetic radiation towards Earth, even illuminating skies with spectacular aurora borealis. For the first time, ESA's unlikely space weather duo of SMOS and Swarm tracked the severe solar storm—which warped Earth's magnetic field.

Space weather—electromagnetic radiation and particles emitted by the sun in the form of solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs)—can both dazzle and destroy. It can cause awe-inspiring auroras, but can also take out satellites, communications and even power grids.

Early on Saturday 23 March 2024, the sun released a strong X1.1 solar flare, the most powerful possible type, from a particularly active region pointing directly towards Earth.

The news of an associated coronal mass ejection (CME), heading right at us, put aurora-chasers and space weather scientists alike on high alert.

For Swarm scientists monitoring Earth's magnetic field, it was the perfect chance to put the three-satellite constellation's new near-real time data to good use.

Each Swarm satellite carries a magnetometer to measure the strength of Earth's magnetic field. This magnetic field is constantly changing and responds particularly strongly to space weather events.

The CME arrived far sooner than expected, causing a geomagnetic storm reaching severe levels on the afternoon of sunday 24 March.

As the data quickly became available, Swarm Alpha was the first of the low Earth orbiting satellites to measure changes in Earth's magnetic field, as reported by Eelco Doornbos from the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI).

Swarm Bravo soon provided another perspective, showing large changes to Earth's magnetic field which reached lower latitudes during its peak.

While the storm was relatively short-lived, the disturbance to Earth's magnetic field was incredibly strong, and the impacts are still being analyzed.

According to ESA's Space Weather office, the active region of the sun responsible has been releasing further M-class flares, not quite as strong, ever since—and there's a 40% chance of a further X-class flare in the coming days.

SMOS flaring up

Surprisingly, ESA's Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) satellite was among the first in line to capture the solar radio burst associated with the solar flare.

The main instrument of SMOS is an interferometer radiometer known as Miras, which normally detects "L-band" radio waves emitted from Earth. This allows us to measure geophysical parameters like soil moisture, sea surface salinity and sea ice thickness.

Due to its position in orbit, however, SMOS's antenna also has the sun in its field of view—and solar flares also release radio waves.

For Earth observation, these signals are removed as noise. But space weather scientists had other ideas. With almost 24-hour near-real time monitoring of the sun, SMOS can detect effects of solar flares on the global navigation satellite system (GNSS), as well as flight radar and L-band communications.

Having this near-real time information is very useful. Following a particularly strong solar flare in December 2023, a number of satellites lost GPS contact with ground stations in South America. SMOS was able to narrow down the cause, linking it to the solar event.

"After 14 years, SMOS still has plenty more tricks up its sleeve," says Klaus Scipal, SMOS Mission Manager. "Its versatility, like that of all the Earth Explorers, is hugely impressive and its continued potential for space weather monitoring is very exciting indeed."

Swarm hot on the lead

When a CME hits Earth's magnetosphere, we can see the effects as auroras lighting up the polar skies. The Swarm satellites, meanwhile, register the warping of Earth's magnetic field. We tend to see a much stronger magnetic field high above the poles, and a significant weakening at the equator.

While the solar flare of 23 March—and the associated solar storm on 24 March—was a strong one, it's not always the case that there will be a big geomagnetic storm on Earth.

Not every large solar flare is associated with a significant CME, not every CME will hit Earth directly, and even when they do, the effects vary.

What the Swarm satellites detect depends on many factors, such as energy, solar magnetic field orientation, and how many charged particles enter Earth's atmosphere over the poles.

It's something we still have a lot to learn about—and why this new space weather duo is handy for scientists working to understand what goes on between the sun and Earth.

"It is great that we can now see –in near-real time– the merged information from SMOS and Swarm," says Swarm Mission Manager Anja Strømme. "It's exciting, particularly during the most active part of the solar cycle, to see what we might discover thanks to these complementary observations."

Earth Explorers show their versatility

The SMOS and Swarm missions are part of ESA's Earth Explorer family. These satellites are flying laboratories that test out groundbreaking new Earth observation technologies.

Both missions have lasted far beyond their initial brief, with data continuing to prove integral to daily life. SMOS data, for example, are used in hurricane forecasting, while Swarm data help your smartphone pinpoint north.

This latest advancement marks another impressive, and timely, addition to the portfolio of both missions.

The sun, which goes through peaks and troughs of activity, is currently ramping up to its 'solar maximum' in 2025. That means we're likely to see stronger solar flares, and more regular bouts of space weather in the months to come.

With SMOS directly detecting what happens on the sun, giving advance warning of GNSS disruption, and Swarm providing complementary data about what happens closer to home, we have a unique new perspective on the effect of space weather on Earth.

"Space weather may well originate outside our planet, but outages to navigation and power show it can have potentially hazardous effects here on Earth," says ESA's Director of Earth Observation Programs, Simonetta Cheli.

"It's exciting therefore to see two of our Earth Explorer missions combining to monitor solar events and to better understand how they affect our planet. It once again demonstrates the versatility and excellence of Europe's Earth observation programs."

Staying vigilant

Monitoring space weather is a key activity of ESA's Space Safety Program, which is soon to be bolstered by ESA's Vigil mission.

Vigil, which is due for launch in 2031, will monitor the side of the sun, spotting areas of potentially hazardous solar activity before they rotate into view of Earth.

Vigil provides the first 24/7 operational data from deep space by ESA, increasing the advance warning of key space weather effects from 12–18 hours up to four to five days in advance. It will allow us to be much more prepared for hazardous solar events, including potentially destructive geomagnetic storms.

It will also give us a lot more information about just what may be heading our way.

We might have to wait a while for the results to come in. As Vigil is taking up a position 150 million km behind Earth, it'll take 26 months after launch for any data to start coming in.

But when it does, along with the information gleaned from Swarm and SMOS, we'll be better equipped than ever to understand the effects of space weather on Earth's system.

TOP IMAGE....This graph shows that at the time of the X1.1 solar flare emitted at 02:31 CET (01.31 UTC) on 23 March 2024, ESA's Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) satellite recorded a large increase in solar flux—measured as radio waves in the L-band by its Miras instrument. Credit: European Space Agency

LOWER IMAGE....On 24 March 2024, a severe geomagnetic storm occurred following the eruption of a coronal mass ejection from the sun early on 23 March 2024. The three Swarm satellites "feel" Earth's magnetic field changing as space weather interacts with the magnetosphere. Here, Swarm Bravo measured Earth's magnetic field as it warps in response to space weather. This is represented by deep reds near the poles, which indicate the magnetic field is stronger than the baseline. At the equator, meanwhile, deeper blues show how the magnetic field becomes weaker, indicative of the overall warping of the magnetic field that occurs when a strong coronal mass ejection hits home. Credit: ESA/E Qamili

#science #space #astronomy #physics #news #esa #astrophysics #SPACE WEATHER

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springfieldpublicschoolambala · 1 month

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Holi 2024: Date, Timings, History, Food & Celebration, and All You Need to Know

Holi 2024: Date, Timings, History, Food &Celebration, and All You Need to Know

Holi Hai!'' Listening to this, some of us will 'Rewynd' back to a time when colors weren't just shades of pixels for us but the essence of joy itself.

A time when every wall, every road, and every single person is a canvas, and we are free to paint it the way we like. The time of Holi and Dhuleti!

Picture this: every small village in India, every town, every city, buzzing with excitement as the full moon of Phalguna brightens the sky, signaling the arrival of Holi. With the laughter and playful shouts, there's an old tale being told. A tale of love, courage, and the triumph of good over evil, reminding us why we gather every year to splash colors, share sweets, and celebrate life's beautiful moments. So, grab your colors and let's dive into this vibrant story of Holi together.

What is Holi, and Why Do People Celebrate It?

Holi is a Hindu festival that celebrates the beginning of spring, good harvests, and fertility. It's also known as the Festival of Colors, Love, and Spring.

Holi, or the 'festival of colors', symbolizes the rich tapestry of Indian culture, celebrating the onset of spring, the victory of good over evil, and the enduring spirit of community. Rooted in ancient legends, like the story of Prahlad and Holika, Holi symbolizes the triumph of faith and goodness.

It also celebrates the divine love of Radha and Krishna, showcasing the playful and delicate aspects of devotion. Beyond the mythology, Holi brings together people from all walks of life, dissolving social barriers in a shared experience of joy, forgiveness, and renewal.

This festival reflects the essence of Indian tradition, where life is a colorful mosaic of moments shared with loved ones, celebrated with enthusiasm and open hearts.

Holi 2024 date and time:-

In 2024, Holi will be celebrated with its usual pomp and grandeur, aligning with the full moon day (Purnima) in the Hindu month of Phalguna. The exact date and the auspicious time for Holika Dahan are determined by the Hindu lunar calendar, which represents the essence of tradition and astronomical significance.

Holi and Dhuleti will be observed on March 24th and March 25th, respectively, in 2024.

The auspicious time, or muhurat, for celebrating Holi falls between 7:19 PM and 9:38 PM on March 24. Following this, on March 25, people can joyously play Holi by sharing colors and spreading cheer amongst friends and family members.

The auspicious time (muhurat) of Holika Dahan is from 23.15.58 minutes to 24.23.27 minutes. That means the duration of Holika Dahan will last for 1 hour and 7 minutes.

Fastival

Date

Timings

Holika Dahan

(Chhoti Holi)

Sunday

March 24, 2024

Start at 07:19 PM on March 24th (Evening).

End 09:38 PM, March 24th (Evening)

Holi/Dhuleti (Badi Holi)

Monday

March 25, 2024

Start 12:24 AM on March 24th (Midnight)

End 02:59 AM 25th March (Mid Night)

What is Dhuleti (Rangwali Holi)?

“Dhuleti” is another term commonly used to refer to the celebration of Holi, particularly in regions of India like Gujarat and Maharashtra.

It usually occurs on the day after the main day of Holi (Badi Holi).

During Dhuleti, people come together to play with colors, spray colored water (known as "abeer" or "gulal") on each other, dance to music, enjoy festive foods, and exchange greetings and sweets.

It's a vibrant and joyful occasion that symbolizes the triumph of good over evil and the arrival of spring.

How is Holi celebrated in different parts of India?

Fundamentally, Holi is a festival that has a celebration spread across two days. The first day is Holika Dahan, which takes place in the evening. The following day is Dhuleti, where people play with colors, flowers, and water in the morning.

Holi is celebrated with distinct traditions across different regions of India, each adding its own unique cultural flavor to the festivities.

North India (Mathura and Vrindavan):

The birthplace of Lord Krishna, these cities observe Holi with exceptional zeal. The festivities here include the famous Lathmar Holi, where women playfully hit men with sticks, and the tradition is filled with singing and dancing.

West India (Rajasthan and Gujarat):

In Rajasthan, royal processions and folk dances add to the Holi charm. Gujarat celebrates with the pot-breaking ritual, where men form human pyramids to reach and break pots of buttermilk.

East India (West Bengal and Odisha):

In West Bengal, Holi, known as Dol Jatra, is celebrated with musical instruments, singing, and dancing. Idols of Radha and Krishna are placed on swings and worshipped.

South India (Karnataka and Tamil Nadu):

While Holi is less prominent here, communities come together to celebrate with music, dance, and the exchange of sweets. The focus is more on religious aspects and temple rituals.

Where can I celebrate Holi in India?

Holi can be celebrated in any household, community, residential setting, or hotel in India, as it is a very widely celebrated festival, and you will find everyone celebrating it.

However, to get the true sense of the Holi and Dhuleti celebrations, you must consider some special regions that take the whole celebration to the next level.

In Delhi, the festival is a musical extravaganza marked by tilak-adorned foreheads and spontaneous street parties. Varanasi's sacred ambience is heightened with colorful powders and riverside festivities. Anandpur Sahib offers a spiritual experience with martial parades and devotional music. Jaipur dazzles with elephant parades and palace events, while Goa's Shigmo brings folklore to life through parades and art. Vrindavan and Mathura draw devotees with their religious fervor, temple rituals, and less-crowded celebrations, truly showcasing India's diverse and rich festival culture.

Safety tips for Holi 2024:

Celebrating Holi safely enhances the joy of the festival. Here are some tips to ensure a safe and vibrant Holi:

Use natural colors:

Opt for organic and natural colors that are skin-friendly and easy to wash off. Chemical colors can be harmful to the skin and hair.

Protect Your Skin and Hair:

Apply oil to your skin and hair before playing Holi. This acts as a barrier and makes it easier to remove colors later.

Wear protective clothing.

Long sleeves and pants can protect your skin from harsh colors and the sun.

Keep Hydrated:

Drink plenty of water to stay hydrated, as Holi celebrations often mean being outdoors for extended periods.

Eye Care:

Wear sunglasses to protect your eyes from colors, and if color gets into your eyes, rinse them with clean water immediately.

Respect Consent:

Always ensure that you play Holi with those who are willing to participate. Respect personal space and consent.

Safe Eating:

Enjoy Holi delicacies, but be cautious about consuming anything offered by strangers.

First Aid and Emergency Preparedness:

Keep a first-aid kit handy for any accidental injuries, and know the emergency contact numbers.

These safety measures will help everyone enjoy Holi while keeping health and well-being in mind.

Holi is more than just a festival; it's a day that brings hearts closer, mends broken bonds, and blankets the world in a spectrum of colors. It's a time when we can all let go of our inhibitions and truly revel in the joy of being together. So, this Holi, let's spread love, joy, and the vibrant colors of togetherness.

FAQs

1. When is Holi in 2024?

Holi will be celebrated on the 24th and 25th of March 2024, i.e., the full moon day of the Hindu month Phalguna.

2. Is Holi celebrated outside of India?

Yes, Holi is celebrated in many countries around the world, wherever there is a significant Indian diaspora.

3. What are the traditional foods prepared and enjoyed during Holi?

Traditional foods include gujiya, mathri, malpua, and thandai, among others.

4. What are the tasty dishes prepared for Holi?

Dishes like gujiya, dahi bhalla, chhole, and various sweets and savouries are prepared to mark the occasion.

5. What is the timing of the Holi celebration (Holika Dahan) in 2024?

The auspicious time for Holika Dahan is from 11:15:58 PM to 12:23:27 AM. This means that the duration of Holika Dahan will last for 1 hour and 7 minutes.

Springfield Public School Ambala No-1 Boarding School In India wishing You Very Happy Holi 2024

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