#iii 14 predictions

[ajarorworms]

what if in the next episode they keep hearing a soft dinging noise over and over, and then find silver sitting behind a bush and just sadly hitting the crystal trying to get it to sound like it did when candle held it

im just picturing that they ask him wtf he's doing and expect him to get all defensive and embarrassed about it (bc it's silver) but then he just monotonously explains what he's doing while examining the crystal sadly. everyone just assumes it's a bad mood and he'll snap out of it in like an hour or so, but then the challenge comes along and he's still just... completely flat. it just goes on until inevitably silver snaps and lashes out at everyone, then runs off and isn't seen for the rest of the episode, until there's an after credits scene showing him just holding the crystal, alone in the dark.

i just made myself sad-

[gleamingtempest]

DRDT - Death Order + Case Predictions

CW: Descriptions of Death, Murder & Suicide All discussion, analysis & speculation regarding this project would not be possible without the incredible efforts of the Danganronpa: Despair Time creator & his team. Please support the series by watching & enjoying it. This is a compilation of broad, disordered thoughts + predictions I have regarding the progressions of the DRDT story. : ) I hope you find them insightful. There will be spoilers for the released chapters of the story so far. Please be cautious.

Death Order

Chapter One - 14/16 (1)

Chapter Two - 12/16 (1)

Chapter Three - 9/16 (1)

Chapter Four - 7/16 (1)

Chapter Five - 6/16 (1)

Chapter Six - 6/16 (0)

Kill Chart

Min kills Xander

Levi kills Arei

J kills Veronika

Arturo kills Hu

Ace kills Arturo

David kills MonoTV

Foils (Isolated)

Xander - Min

Teruko - Charles

Eden - Arei

Nico - Ace

Hu - Veronika

Rose - J

Arturo - Levi

Whit - David

Chapter One (01 - I)

Major Parties: -> Xander -> Teruko -> Min -> Charles

Case 01 Summary

Motive - Ending the Killing Game

Xander tells Xander to kill Teruko

Xander plans to kill Teruko

Xander shows Teruko kindness

Eden shows Teruko kindness

Xander confides in David

Xander shows David kindness

Xander attempts to kill Teruko.

Xander frames Charles.

Min saves Teruko.

Min kills Xander.

Trial Begin

Teruko breaks down

Min is executed.

Teruko self isolates

Chapter Two (02 - II)

Major Parties: -> Arei -> Eden -> Arturo -> Levi -> David

Case 02 Summary

Motive - Secrets

Arturo exposes J's secret

Arturo harasses J

David suggests Sharing Secrets

Arei shares her secret with David

Arei implodes

David shows Arei kindness

Arturo threatens Eden

Arei saves Eden

Arei confides in Eden

Arei progresses

Levi eavesdrops

Hu attempts to kill Ace

Nico saves Ace

Hu frames Nico

Ace condemns Levi

Levi regresses

Levi plans to kill Arturo

Levi confides in Arei

Arei condemns Levi

Levi kills Arei

Trial Begin

David breaks down

Levi is executed

Arturo self isolates

Ace breaks down

J regresses

David self isolates

Chapter Three (03 - III)

Major Parties: -> Arturo -> Veronika -> Hu -> J -> Rose -> Nico

Case 03 Summary

Motive - Cash

J plans to kill Arturo

Arturo is outcast from Group

Rose self isolates

Veronika harasses Arturo

Arturo condemns Veronika

Veronika is outcast from Group

Nico exposes Hu

Nico condemns Hu

Hu is outcast from Group

Hu confides in Veronika

Veronika shows Hu kindness

Veronika progresses

Hu progresses

J attempts to kill Arturo

J accidentally kills Veronika

J frames Hu

Arturo condemns Hu

Arturo kills Hu

Eden breaks down

Trial Begin

Arturo frames Hu

Arturo is exposed Hu's killer

J frames Rose

J is executed

Arturo is punished

Rose breaks down

Eden self isolates

Chapter Four (04 - IV)

Major Parties: -> Rose -> Nico -> Ace -> Arturo -> David -> Charles

Case 04 Summary

Motive - Traitor

Rose self isolates

Ace is exposed as the Traitor

Killing Arturo is now a Free Exit

Arturo breaks down

Ace is outcast from the Group

Arturo breaks down

Arturo confides in David

David condemns Arturo

Arturo regresses

Arturo plans to kill Everyone

Teruko shows Eden kindness

Charles plans to destroy MonoTV

Charles works with Whit and Nico

Rose confides in Nico

Rose joins the plan

Ace implodes

Nico shows Ace kindness

Ace progresses

Ace finds out about Arturo's plan

Arturo attempts to kill Everyone

Ace kills Arturo

Trial Begin

Ace cannot be Executed

David implodes

Charles, Nico & Rose attempt to destroy MonoTV

Charles' plan fails

Nico is held accountable

MonoTV attempts to executed Nico

Ace saves Nico

MonoTV accidentally executes Ace

Nico breaks down

Charles breaks down

Everyone condemns David

David exposes Teruko's secret

Chapter Five (05 - V)

Major Parties: -> Charles -> Whit -> Teruko -> Eden -> David

Case 05 Summary

Motive - Loved Ones

David plans to kill Charles

Charles self isolates

Whit follows Charles

MonoTV broadcasts the Loved Ones Killing Game

The group remembers Mai Akasaki

Teruko creates an escape plan

Teruko works with Rose & Eden

Eden shows Nico kindness

Rose shows Nico kindness

Teruko shows Nico kindness

Nico progresses

Rose progresses

Nico joins the plan

Eden finds out about David's plan

Eden condemns David

Eden shows David kindness

David progresses

David & Eden plan to destroy MonoTV

David & Eden plan for David to kill Eden

Teruko tries to save Eden

David accidentally kills Teruko

Teruko is revived by Eden

Trial Begin

David & Eden frame Charles

Charles is falsely convicted

MonoTV is forced to end the program early

David destroys MonoTV

The Killing Game attempts to execute David

David dies before the execution ends

Eden implodes

Chapter Two (06 - VI)

Major Parties: -> Teruko -> Eden -> Charles -> Whit -> Xander -> Mai

Case 06 Summary

Motive - Ending the Killing Game

Teruko shows Charles kindness

Charles progresses

Teruko & Charles plans to End the Killing Game

Teruko & Charles work with Whit, Rose & Nico

Teruko shows Eden kindness

Eden rejects Teruko

Trial Begin

Whit is exposed as the "Mastermind"

Whit "kills" the idea of Mai Akasaki

The truth behind the Killing Game Show is revealed

Teruko believes she has to die

Teruko implodes

Everyone implodes

Eden progresses

Eden shows Everyone Kindness

Teruko progresses

Teruko condemns The Audience

Whit condemns himself

Whit attempts to executed himself

Charles stops Whit

Charles condemns Whit

Charles shows Whit kindness

The Killing Game Loop is ended permanently.

Teruko, Eden, Rose, Nico, Charles & Whit survive

Epilogue - Survivors

-> Teruko Tawaki - Ultimate Lucky Student A Person. The Protagonist. She survived the Killing Game, in spite of everything. -> Eden Tobisa - Ultimate Clockmaker A Kind Person. Sharing Grief is what ended the Killing Game. Kindness is strength. -> Rose Lacroix - Ultimate Art Forger A Beautiful Person. To connect with others & share human experience; this is what art is. -> Nico Hakobyan - Ultimate Pet Therapist An Innocent Person. They refused to take responsibility for the actions of others; they are not responsible for anyone other than themself. -> Charles Cuevas - Ultimate Chemist A Pragmatic Person. Letting go of the past is how we move forward; we are not our pasts nor our futures. We are a totality of ourselves. We are real people. -> Whit Young - Ultimate Matchmaker A Broken Person. Grief changes the world, and people are changed by Grief. He will never be the same person he was - but he is still alive.

Thank you for Reading. : )

I hope this was insightful to someone. Please be well & support the creative team behind Danganronpa: Despair Time. 👋

[theboxfort]

III 14 prediction:

KILL!!!!

[itsyourstarboy]

Freebound

(Redacted Audio fanfic—1247 words)

Summary: Its the moonbound solstice, and Freelancer is freebound. Watch them cause chaos, on accident and on purpose.

Read here on Ao3

—

I.

The sunlight streamed through the curtains above the bed, cascading a golden glow across the room. Gavin, still dazed with sleep, stretched out an arm to pull his deviant close. His outstretched hand met cold sheets, and his brow furrowed as he felt around, cracking an eye open in confusion.

“Deviant?” He softly called.

When he was met with silence, he got up. It wasn’t like them to leave him in bed all alone. Quickly finding his pants that were discarded the night before, he exited their bedroom. Where were they?

As he neared the kitchen, he picked up on their aura. It was bouncing off the walls, feeling strong one minute, and practically nonexistent the next.

“Deviant?” He softly called, again.

They turned to him, a small smile on their face, “g’mornin’.”

The kitchen was… well, it wasn’t a mess, per say. It was… different.

“What are you doing in here, love?” Gavin asked.

“I’m rearranging the cabinets.”

“At 7am?”

Freelancer stared at him for a moment, “yeah.”

Gavin suppressed a chuckle, “may I ask why?”

“Well, I woke up this morning and I felt like I had bees in my bones, so I went to the grocery store down the street to buy six pounds of butter. Then when I got home, I accidentally set the couch on fire. Went shopping for one online, but I think I ordered 20.”

Gavin was speechless. “H-how long have you been awake?”

“1:14 am,” they laughed out in a sigh. They looked so tired.

“When you told me the solstices were often… interesting for you, this is not what I expected.”

“There is never a way to predict what may happen, I am a slave to my core for the remainder of this solstice. I think I just caused the large oak tree outside to become an even larger oak tree.”

At that, the ground shook, and Gavin’s eyes went wide.

“How about we go back to bed for a bit?”

II.

Lasko was doing paperwork on his coffee table. Nothing too strenuous—he was sunbound after all—just some stuff to keep him occupied while he felt like a dry apple slice.

Freelancer walked in the door, “hey, Lasko-babe.”

“Wh- oh. Hi, Freelancer. What are you doing here? And why didn’t you knock? N-not that I’m upset you're here, I mean, I-I’m always happy to see you, it’s just that you’re not exactly the type to just invite yourself into someone’s apartment… At least- at least I think you're n-not… are you?”

They sighed with a tired smile, “yeah I know, m’sorry. I would’ve knocked, but it’s too… too much. Too noise. M- no- that’s not… words.”

Lasko stood as his friend swayed on their feet, “are- are you f-feeling? Alright? Pft- no, what am I saying? Of course you’re not, it’s the solstice. Com- come sit down, how did you even get here, anyway?”

“Mmm,” Freelancer hummed as Lasko forced them to sit on the couch. They immediately sunk into the cushions, “I was feeling up, an’ I wanted to come hang out with you, but halfway here I felt not-up.”

“Not-up?”

“Yeah.”

“I mean- I guess that makes sense? Y-you are a freelancer, so you’re going to feel all kinds of… ‘ups’ and downs. M- Magically, anyway.”

“M’yeah, my magic has been ups and downs,” they mumbled, leaning into Lasko as he sat next to them. “I used psychokinesis to launch my phone into orbit.”

III.

Huxley was laying on his side, his head propped up on his arm, and his fingers threading through Damien’s hair. He was happy taking care of him like this. Right here, in this moment, with his boyfriend curled up next to him.

There was a knock at the front door.

“Are you gonna get that?” Damien mumbled when Huxley made no attempt at getting up.

“No,” he sighed contentedly, “whoever it is can just come back later.”

It would turn out that Huxley wouldn’t need to get the door, as whoever had knocked opened it for themself.

“The heck…?” Huxley said, sitting up slightly.

A familiar voice rang through the house, “Huuuuux? Damiiii?”

The two boys sighed in relief, glad that the home intruder was just Freelancer. Sweet, innocent Freelancer-

“Are either of you here? I think I drained the town's water supply.”

Huxley immediately sat up, telling Dames that he would be right back. The fire elemental could only let out an affirmative hum in response as he tiredly laughed at the freelancer's antics.

Entering the front room, Huxley found Freelancer hovering by a window.

“Freelancer? Dude- why are you all wet??”

They turned to him, panting heavily, “I was walking here from Damien’s place, and the Dahlia Spring decided to start chasing me, so I started running, but that made the water faster, so I jumped into your neighbor's pool to escape.”

Huxley slowly approached the window, “holy shi- Freelancer, the entire street is flooded!”

“I knowww,” they whined, “I’m sorry. I would clean it up but I’m afraid I’ll level the entire neighborhood.”

“Okay, well… let- lets just get you dried off,” Hux said, taking Freelancer’s hand to lead them to the bathroom.

“Wait, wait,” they pulled away, “is Damien here?”

“Uh- yeah, he’s resting in the bedroom.”

Freelancer made their way to the room and peeked their head through the doorway to see Damien all bundled up, “oh god that’s adorable. Is he wearing your sweatshirt??”

“Shut up,” Damien groaned, his voice all muffled from the blankets. “Why are you here?”

Huxley appeared next to them with a towel, “jeez, dude. You’re freezing.”

“It’s the solstice,” Freelancer answered, stubbornly trying to push Huxley’s hands away as he desperately tried to dry them off. “I remembered that you’re sunbound, so I was like ‘Fireboy must be feeling like shit right now, and I, too, feel like shit,’ so here I am, to feel like shit with you.”

Freelancer paused, hissing in disapproval, as Huxley ruffled their hair dry.

“I went to your place first, though. Let myself in. I cleaned everything.”

Damien sat up a little, propping himself against the pillows, “you… cleaned everything?”

“Yeah,” they wavered, leaning against the wall, “and then I remembered I was looking for you, so- oh god-” they keeled over, “I’m gonna throw up-”

Before either of the boys could react, Freelancer had run to the bathroom.

IV.

Damien’s phone buzzed with notifications from the group chat.

Gavin: does anyone happen to know where the freelancer is? I swear I left them alone for five minutes

Lasko: yeah don’t worry they’re here at my place

Lasko: they randomly showed up and eventually passed out on the couch

Lasko: sorry I would have told you but I was doing paperwork

Gavin: it’s alright as long as they’re safe

Damien: Lasko, I think you should check your couch.

Lasko: what?

Lasko: why?

Damien: Just do it.

Lasko: um…

Gavin: ???

Lasko: I’m so sorry

Lasko: they’re not there

Lasko: I lost them

Gavin: how did you lose them!?!?

Lasko: how did you???

Damien: Calm down, they’re here at Hux’s place.

Damien: They showed up a couple minutes ago.

Damien: They’re puking in the toilet.

Gavin: oh thank god

Huxley returned to the room, a sleeping Freelancer in his arms, “Dames, they tried to escape through the window, and when they couldn’t they said, ‘I’m going to stop existing now,’ and passed out.”

Damien looked back at his phone.

Damien: Please come get them.

—

[inspofromancientworld]

Archaeological Dating

Babylonian “Astronomical Diary“ mentioning a lunar eclipse on 13 Ulūlū in the 5th year of Darius III [20 September 331 BCE], ten days before the battle of Gaugamela (British Museum, London; tablet BM 36390)

This post won't talk about relationships among archaeologists, but rather how they figure out when things happened. There are several methods they use, as well as dating systems. We'll go through them from the most recent to the farthest back.

With the advent of writing, people began recording things based on the reign of the current monarch and the calendar they used. Most calendars were lunisolar, combining the lunar month with an added month in irregular years to keep the various holidays in the appointed season. That these cultures were in contact with each other, through war and diplomacy, gives us an interlaced system of knowing when these reigns were. This allows us to figure out when things happened that were recorded that include a reference to the current monarch.

By Ángel M. Felicísimo from Mérida, España - Retrato de Julio César, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=91281949

It wasn't until the Julian calendar was implemented in 46 BCE that a definitive calendar that had a 'leap day' every four years and was 365 day year. That Rome came to control a large portion of the old world and traded with the far East, this calendar was helpful in calibrating other calendars to one we have a definitive date on. However the solar year is 11 minutes less than 365.25 days, leaving the calendar to drift one day off 1 day every 400 years. The Gregorian (our current) calendar corrects for this by skipping the leap day every century not divisible evenly by 4 (for example, 1700, 1800, and 1900 did not have leap days, but 2000 did). This lead to 'skipping' eight days in 1582, when it was initially decreed by Pop Gregory (making the 4th of October the 15th). This calendar was not accepted widely, some countries not adopting it until 1923 and some countries still using their own calendars along within their borders.

From the hoard known as the “Bodmer Papyri,” consisting of nine Greek papyrus scrolls, 22 papyrus codices and seven vellum codices in Greek and Coptic.

Other ways we figure out when things were written is the material it was written on and which writing system. Clay tablets, leather scrolls, papyrus codices (books) all give us clues as to a rough time period when a document was written when they're not dated. How letters are formed in particular writing systems also give us a clue to when things were written, for example, paleo-Hebrew resembled Phoenician until about 400 BCE, when the letters became less prong-shaped and more square.

The growth rings of a tree cut horizontally to the ground can be used to date the tree and wooden objects made from it. Ollikainen / iStock / Getty Images

Before writing, we have a few other ways of figuring out when things happened. One of those is carbon 14 dating. Carbon 14 is a type of carbon that has extra neutrons and gradually loses them and becomes carbon 12 (the 'normal' carbon) at a predictable rate. Carbon 14 is produced by an interaction between the solar winds and our atmosphere, similar to how the auroras are produced, so the rate it's produced is a bit variable, but we have found ways to recreate the 'wiggles' (actual scientific term) of its production. Tree rings let us know how much carbon 14 is in the atmosphere in a given year, letting us figure out these wiggles for 12594 years ago. All living things take in Carbon 14 by the act of breathing and eating other things that breathed. This intake stops when they die. Ice cores also give us a rough level of carbon 14, as well. Carbon 14 lets us date things to about 52800 years before the present, though prior to 13000 years ago, it's difficult to give a more exact level of carbon 14 in the atmosphere, which lets us know how much carbon 14 a living creature would take in. For water-dwelling creatures, which take in dissolved carbon 14, we don't have a solid record, so dates for them are approximated.

The right images shows fluorite glowing after being heated on a hotplate. Mauswiesel / CC BY-SA 3.0 / Wikimedia Commons

For things that can't be dated with radiocarbon dating but have been heated (like pottery), thermoluminesence is a method that can be used to date them. When certain minerals are exposed to the sun, they gather that energy into their crystal matrix. When they're heated (like firing pottery), they lose all this energy. With thermoluminesence, these items are exposed to heat (between 400-500°C), we can measure how much energy is given off and compare that to minerals that have never been heated. We can also tell when these these minerals last were in the sun (such as the interior blocks of walls and buildings that haven't been destroyed [think insides of the pyramids, for example]).

Curator Geoffrey Hargreaves inspects core samples from the Greenland ice sheet. They are stored in a freezer at -33F. The cores are vital to understanding changes in atmospheric carbon levels in the past. Roger Ressmeyer/Corbis/VCG / Getty Images

Other methods we have of dating things is figuring out what layers things are in. This gets complicated because things might have been buried in deeper layers, but we can get a rough date for things left in these layers. Decorations on pottery and how it's made also help us figure out when things were made as different civilizations made their pottery differently and decorated it though there were trade networks from very early in history.

When writing dates, archaeologists use a few systems, depending on what they're dating and where they're writing for. BCE and CE refer to 'before the common era' and 'common era', which is an attempt to be more culturally inclusive than BC and AD, even though they're calibrated to the same change over year. BP is 'before present', which is complicated as the present year changes every year. RCYBP and calBP refer to radiocarbon year before present, though the later refers to the calibrated (accounting for wiggles) date. TLYBP refer to dates calculated by thermoluminesence.

Resources:

What Does cal BP Mean? Accounting for Atmospheric Wiggles in Radiocarbon Dating

BP: How Do Archaeologists Count Backward Into the Past? What Do Archaeologists Mean by BP, and Why Do They Do That?

Introduction to dating documents

How Is the Age of an Ancient Manuscript Determined?

[foggyworksbutbetter]

MORE SILVER SPOON CHARACTER ANALYSIS ‼️

finally making the part 2 i eluded to in my last post, since iii 15 and i have a ton more to add

for context, last post i outlined all of silver spoon’s char development from the first episode up to iii 14, but now that a new episode has come out i have more to say

major spoilers for iii 15 obvi

i had originally seen silver’s devotion to candle after her elimination as a good thing. he was thinking about somebody else for a change, being a better and more selfless person. candle did a complete 180 on me, and i completely agree with her. this episode ultimately showed that despite this confident persona he puts on, silver is a follower. without candle’s direction, he was suddenly lost. he thought that by “keeping her flame alive” she could still guide him through the competition in spirit. as though her tuning fork and crystal were an extension of her inner flame, something he had never truly understood throughout the series. at the end of the episode, it finally clicks.

candle says, “and now, you can tend to your inner flame.” as in allowing him to focus on himself. allowing him to be selfish like he once had, but in a completely different way. in a very indirect way, she is telling him that it is okay to think of yourself for once, that he isn’t who he once was. i think he might have been afraid to do so in fear of losing his growth and regressing to who he once was. candle’s patience with him is what allowed him to grow into himself, but he isn’t using it. he only wants to rely on her direction, as though he doesn’t trust himself to make the right decisions. but, she assures him he can continue on without her. even the most selfless people must think of their own needs too.

silver finally letting go of candle will allow him to completely focus on the competition. i think this has secured him a spot in the final two. and, as a side note, i think cabby will be alongside him. it makes the most narrative sense considering how much attention they’ve both gotten and how much character development they’ve gone through.

this is my prediction for the final 5 eliminations:

iii16-17: balloon and nickel (they set up for nickel to finally apologize and have the two make up, finishing their arcs and ending in their eliminations. i could even see this being a double elimination as a parallel to their season 2 elimination.)

iii18: blueberry (it will be close because of his new competitive spirit, but without allies he will be easily ganged up on by the two more experienced contestants)

iii19: who knows? i could genuinely see either silver or cabby winning this. they’ve both fought so so hard to get where they are, and grown so much. although, i’m leaning towards cabby since she has allies in the indefinites, bot, and likely test tube as well.

please give me your thoughts and additions if you have any ! and if you’d like more clarification on any of my statements you can always go to my ask box, stay safe yall 🫶🫶

oh also !! im double-posting this to the r/inanimateinsanity reddit! if you want to support me or look at the discussion over there, head over! itll probably be titled “thoughts on silver after iii15?” or smth idk

[poly-lights]

PART 2 TO MY II PREDICTIONS/WISHES/QUESTIONS (technically) SINCE YALL ACTUALLY KINDA LIKED THOSE?? and i have more!

please note btw that most, if not all, of this is not gonna happen bc they can't pack EVERYTHING into a 30 minute or so episode and not gonna lie some of these are my fixation talking and me being delusional. it's good to theorize though!!

lots of bias. let's get into it

i told my gf this BUT it'd be cool if there was a scene of trees changing, to represent seasons passing because it has to have been a year at most right

more lightbulb using her electrokinesis scenes plspls?????? like. she can just casually DO THAT....maybe have her use it for evil/J IM KIDDING. don't have her kill anyone

............................yet

another knife and suitcase scene, elaborating on the "making your presence known", how suitcase took it a different way, just a conversation if that makes sense

yknow. what was that roboarm in the gemory cave. and is it Still working after lightbulb powered it on.

unrelated but still.more so a question have we or will we ever get the full roommate list drop?? unless they're gonna wait for when s2 is done to not spoil anything

baseball and lightbulb friendship scene :] team captain style!

i think it's gonna release on OR near the anniversary, if the iii finale is so soon early into 2024 it gives slight time

can we get parent lore drop??? like hello?????? they cant just said what they said in iii ep 14 and never expand on it, so i have a heavy feeling its gonna get mentioned in s2 if not ep 15 specifically

im just hoping for lb centric, even if her lore doesn't match up well with the slams. pls im so autism abt her at this point its anything BUT funny

now here's some iii 18 predictions!! for fun :] and also me just rambling abt it (spoilers for iii 17!!!!)

those who left to the hotel come back for jury voting!! more importantly fan and pb please💥

bot and springy and gonna be near each other again next episode. springy may still try to pull some shit with bot, and, assuming so, if TEST TUBE IS BY BOT'S SIDE......

springy made that suitcase bot, so clearly he knows about season 2

we may just get ii 14 tt again. which i am HOPING for. idk i love seeing test tube ENRAGED for the people she cares about she's so fun and unique bc MAN that girl is angry. she's holding grudges against Two People

also. fan meeting bot? he is going to have such a big and hopefully impactful reaction!! pls he has his patterns and the sudden changes make him uncomfortable they need to mention this

if he knows about season 2......could he make, or has he made, toys of the other final four? again im just gripping at straws for an iis2 final four appearance

think abt it though. it's the iii finale. you think they won't do something big? considering mephone knows he has to go back? springy could easily torment him w that considering the whole "facing your past" theming

also walkie talkie is Totally associated with meeple. ik we've all figured that out but i just had to say something. very heavily focused on using electronics to better the future? implying robots taking over others positions?

also??? past contestants coming back SEEING the toys?? maybe. Maybe.

the entire episode could also just be a discussion and play on the ethics of ai and how it's affecting the writing industry by putting people out of jobs due to its advancement and im reading way too much into it but hey im putting my hard hat on and channeling my inner matpat for this stupid show about objects with limbs (/pos btw)

also. are they gonna leave floor behind??? or will they scoop him into a terrarium, then plant him into inanimate island?

can he teleport that far?? how far is paradise?????????? ae drop the map pls/silly

ALSO ALSO. WHAT ARE THE INANI-MATES?? IS N/A THE LAST OF THEIR KIND??????? i doubt it but STILL everyone else in that group died

hey. why is the background of the recap song the background used when the gemories formed the silhouette of cobs. hey now.

[spacetimewithstuartgary]

Tracking a newly discovered hypervelocity star spotted by citizen scientists

by W. M. Keck Observatory

It may seem like the sun is stationary while the planets in its orbit are moving, but the sun is actually orbiting around the Milky Way galaxy at an impressive rate of about 220 kilometers per second—almost half a million miles per hour.

As swift as that may seem, when a faint red star was discovered moving even faster across the sky, clocking in at a speed of about 1.3 million miles per hour (600 kilometers per second), scientists took notice.

This rare stellar speedster is the first "hypervelocity" very low mass star found, thanks to the efforts of citizen scientists and a team of astronomers from around the country using several telescopes, including two in Hawaiʻi—W. M. Keck Observatory on Maunakea, Hawaiʻi Island and the University of Hawaiʻi Institute for Astronomy Pan-STARRS on Haleakalā, Maui. Located just 400 light-years from Earth, it is the nearest known hypervelocity star to us.

More remarkably, this star may be on an unusual trajectory that could cause it to leave the Milky Way altogether.

The research, led by University of California (UC) San Diego Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics Adam Burgasser, has recently been accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal Letters and is available in preprint format on arXiv.

The star, named CWISE J124909+362116.0 (or "J1249+36" for short), was first spotted by some of the over 80,000 citizen science volunteers participating in the Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 project, who comb through enormous reams of data collected over the past 14 years by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) mission.

This project capitalizes on the keen ability of humans, who are evolutionarily programmed to look for patterns and spot anomalies in a way that is unmatched by computer technology. Volunteers tag moving objects in data files and when enough volunteers tag the same object, astronomers investigate.

J1249+36 immediately stood out because it was moving at about .1% the speed of light.

"This is where the source became very interesting, as its speed and trajectory showed that it was moving fast enough to potentially escape the Milky Way," says Burgasser.

To better understand the nature of this object, Burgasser turned to Keck Observatory's Near-Infrared Echellette Spectrograph (NIRES) and measured its infrared spectrum. The data revealed the object was an L subdwarf—a class of stars with very low masses and cooler temperatures than our sun. Subdwarfs represent the oldest stars in the Milky Way.

The team compared Keck Observatory's insight into J1249+36's composition with a new set of atmosphere models created by UC San Diego alumnus Roman Gerasimov, who worked with UC LEADS scholar Efrain Alvarado III to generate models specifically tuned to study L subdwarfs.

"It was exciting to see that our models were able to accurately match the spectrum obtained with Keck's NIRES," says Alvarado.

The spectral data, along with imaging data from Pan-STARRS and several other ground-based telescopes, allowed the team to accurately measure J1249+36's position and velocity in space, and thereby predict its orbit through the Milky Way.

What gave this star a kick?

Researchers focused on two possible scenarios to explain J1249+36's unusual trajectory.

In the first scenario, J1249+36 was originally the low-mass companion of a white dwarf. White dwarfs are the remnant cores of stars that have depleted their nuclear fuel and died out. When a stellar companion is in a very close orbit with a white dwarf, it can transfer mass, resulting in periodic outbursts called novae. If the white dwarf collects too much mass, it can collapse and explode as a supernova.

"In this kind of supernova, the white dwarf is completely destroyed, so its companion is released and flies off at whatever orbital speed it was originally moving, plus a little bit of a kick from the supernova explosion as well," says Burgasser.

"Our calculations show this scenario works. However, the white dwarf isn't there anymore and the remnants of the explosion, which likely happened several million years ago, have already dissipated, so we don't have definitive proof that this is its origin."

In the second scenario, J1249+36 was originally a member of a globular cluster, a tightly bound cluster of stars, immediately recognizable by its distinct spherical shape. The centers of these clusters are predicted to contain black holes of a wide range of masses. These black holes can also form binaries, and such systems turn out to be great catapults for any stars that happen to wander too close to them.

"When a star encounters a black hole binary, the complex dynamics of this three-body interaction can toss that star right out of the globular cluster," says Kyle Kremer, incoming Assistant Professor in UC San Diego's Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics.

Kremer ran a series of simulations and found that on rare occasions these kinds of interactions can kick a low-mass subdwarf out of a globular cluster and on a trajectory similar to that observed for J1249+36.

"It demonstrates a proof of concept," says Kremer, "but we don't actually know what globular cluster this star is from." Tracing J1249+36 back in time puts it in a very crowded part of the sky that may hide undiscovered clusters.

To determine whether either of these scenarios, or some other mechanism, can explain J1249+36's trajectory, Burgasser said the team hopes to look more closely at its elemental composition. For example, when a white dwarf explodes, it creates heavy elements that could have "polluted" the atmosphere of J1249+36 as it was escaping. The stars in globular clusters and satellite galaxies of the Milky Way also have distinct element abundance patterns that may reveal the origin of J1249+36.

"We're essentially looking for a chemical fingerprint that would pinpoint what system this star is from," said Gerasimov, whose modeling work has enabled him to measure the element abundances of cool stars in several globular clusters.

Whether J1249+36's speedy journey was because of a supernova, a chance encounter with a black hole binary, or some other scenario, its discovery provides a new opportunity for astronomers to learn more about the history and dynamics of the Milky Way.

[tomorrowusa]

Britain goes to the polls in July. If things go as expected, this July 4th will be Independence Day for TWO countries. ;)

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced a snap general election for July 4 in a statement outside Downing Street on Wednesday evening, as his Conservative Party faces an uphill struggle to extend its 14 years in power. Sunak said outside Downing Street that he had informed King Charles III of the rare summer poll, firing the starting gun on a six-week campaign that is almost universally expected to conclude in the demise of his Conservative government. Soaked by a downpour as he spoke, Sunak said: “Now is the moment for Britain to choose its future.” He also attacked his opponents, saying that by voting for the Labour Party, Britain would “risk going back to square one.” But he admitted: “I cannot and will not claim that we have got everything right.” Sunak was required to hold a vote by January 2025, and had long resisted calls to be specific about his plans. But a fall in inflation rates, announced earlier Wednesday, provided the backdrop for his announcement.

Like most people, I was surprised by the timing. General elections between June 15th and September 1st have not gone well for the party in power since World War II ended.

The post VE-Day election of 05 July 1945 saw Conservative Winston Churchill himself tossed out of power.

The 18 June 1970 election was a shock defeat for Labour which was defending a strong majority in the previous Parliament.

Labour is currently leading the Conservatives by over 20 points in the polls.

Electoral Calculus last month predicted a Labour majority of 294 seats over the Conservatives. Even a best case scenario for Rishi would be 211 seats out of a total of 650 – or 115 seats short of a majority.

^^^ FYI: Because of various by-election losses and defections, the Conservatives were down to 344 seats early Wednesday from the 2019 results.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's announcement of the upcoming general election did not go very well.

Sunak, for whatever reason, decided to make the announcement outside in pouring rain and without an umbrella. By the time he finished his remarks he looked like he was wearing a wet suit.

And as he was making the announcement, everybody near the soaking Sunak could hear a loudspeaker down the street blasting Labour's 1997 theme song, "Things Can Only Get Better" by D:Ream – thanks to Steve Bray.

Various headline writers and commenters could not resist the temptation to refer to Rishi's announcement as "things can only get wetter". 🌧

This is a 3-minute Labour ad from 1997 featuring that song. (BTW: the information at the end about voting procedures is now out of date)

The '97 election turned out to be a landslide for Labour in which they won 418 seats – an increase of 146.

[superposeblog]

SUPERPOSE UPDATE [2 pages]

. 　 　 ˚  　　  　 * 　  　    ˚ ✵   .  .  *  ✦     　　  ˚ 　 　　 ˚ 　   · 　　    　　 * . 　 　　 ⋆ 　　 　　 ✦ 　 　  ˚ 　　  　 　　 ⬤ 　 　 　　 　　　　　  *

SUPERPOSE is a sweeping trans + queer sci-fi story from 198X about glitches, black holes, and love: three young adults, struggling and desperate, team up in Port City to build a physics-breaking machine that will alter reality beyond all prediction.

a comic for adults by Anka & Seosamh

⭑✶ Arc III Chapter XI | 13-14 ✶⭑

Read: HOME | TAPAS

New readers start here

PRISM won & IGNATZ nominated | this blog is for related updates, fullsize pages are on the home site. please check for content warnings, character info, and mysteries. gif pages are marked as such in the archive. If you enjoy the comic, please consider supporting us. Thanks for reading!

[head-post]

Voting under way in UK general election

Rishi Sunak will remain leader of Britain’s Conservative Party if he loses today’s election to ensure an “orderly transition” of power to Labour. There had been fears in the country that the party would descend into an internal struggle for the party chief’s chair. The Cabinet has already directly asked the prime minister to stay on as party leader until September, The Times reports. (Updated at 11:12 a.m.)

British voters go to the polls Thursday for a crucial general election seen as a referendum on 14 years of Conservative rule.

The snap vote, called by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, is being held months earlier than necessary and has caught most of his Conservative Party members by surprise. The opposition Labour Party suffered its biggest defeat since 1935 in the last general election but has since recovered under the leadership of Keir Starmer.

Thursday’s vote comes after a six-week campaign that has seen all the main parties scour the country for votes. Much of the debate has centred on the economy, the cost of living, the state of Britain’s public services, tax and immigration.

Polls of Brits

A YouGov poll, the latest in the UK before today’s election, has revealed that Labour will achieve its highest representation in the UK since 1832, breaking Tony Blair’s 1997 record.

According to the poll, the Labour Party will win 431 of the 650 seats in Parliament, a mono-majority. A number of other opinion polls show that the gap will be huge at all, Labour could take 484 seats.

For the Conservatives the polls show an unfavourable picture – about 20%, and the Reform UK Party could take about 16%.

Candidates’ positions on the Ukraine issue

The positions of the first two parties on Ukraine are not particularly different: Sunak promises to support Ukraine “whatever it takes”, Labour leader K. Starmer says their support is “ironclad.” Labour is also prepared to work “to create a path to Ukraine’s NATO membership” and to “diplomatically isolate Russia”.

Meanwhile, Reform UK Party Leader Nigel Farage believes Ukraine and Russia should begin negotiations through mediators. He also criticises NATO’s eastward expansion, believing that Ukraine should be a buffer state.

As early as Friday morning, the leader of the winning party is due to appear at Buckingham Palace in front of King Charles III, ready to form a Government.

Predictions of the election outcome are already coming true and opinion polls are confirming them. The Conservatives are losing the trust of voters and unfulfilled promises on Brexit could cost the party the general election.

Read more HERE

[onearmedlegend]

Top Gun: Maverick Notes Part 1!

Tagging: @crooked-jes @merieltla

1. Opening Image (technically)-planes flying (a past sequence for the audience to be nostalgic for).

2. Opening Image (officially): Maverick walking out of a door with his food. He is alone.

3. Maverick in his ‘natural habitat’: fixing planes, room swarmed with awards, pictures of friends/family.

a. Focuses for 3 seconds longer on the picture of young Bradley, and shifts to a picture of older Bradley.

4. Long pan left/right/zoom in of Maverick traveling (stays consistent)

a. Color grading stays consistent with monochrome in every shot.

5. Admiral Cain reveals with black, tinted windows. (Looks amazing.)

a. Continuity error with Cain’s hand; not on his face, the next shot it is under his chin.

6. Golden ratio of the plane circling around.

7. Kid has to say the “Earth,” line; kids look up to Maverick for the same reason the Navy hates him.

8. Cain says, “The future is coming, and you’re not in it.”

a. Shows that Maverick is still stuck on Top Gun, Goose + Carole, and Bradley.

i. This goes double for Iceman saving him all the time.

ii. Goose and Rooster look a lot alike.

iii. Penny comes back (another reference to the first movie)

b. Predicts F-14 subtly. (something good from his past is returning). This is the answer to the major problem in Act Three.

9. 15-minute mark: Maverick is called back to Top Gun.

10. “Just want to manage expectations.” – reference to how Maverick must exceed expectations (100 ft flight).

11. “Old relics.” – predicting again.

12. The steepness of the hill is resembling Maverick and Rooster; they have to move on faster than the both of them think for this mission to work.

13. “Someone’s not coming back from this.” – shows that Maverick wanted to go on this mission to go out with a bang.

a. PTSD + suicidal tendencies (?)

14. 20-minute mark: “Fly this mission or never fly again.”

a. “I think this is it.” – suicidal tendency again

15. Penny says, “It always ends the same with us, let’s not start.” – reference to past, but that there is hope for it to end better.

16. “You look good.” – Maverick to Penny

a. Exes.

17. “Hangman, you look…good.” – Rooster to Hangman

a. *16 + 17 are basically in the same scene, not a coincidence.

17. Phoenix references Hangman’s ‘easy’ kill, this will come back later. (if he learns to stop leaving people hanging.)

18. Screenplay throws names at the audience quick; it will help the audience to remember them by understanding who likes who and who hates who.

19. Rooster makes a jarring appearance (cut from warm lighting in bar to purple lighting outdoors). He’s already made an impression on the audience by just this + his outfit. (We don’t need to see his face.)

a. Everyone knows him, almost everyone loves him, Maverick looks away. (establishing relationships for later again.)

20. Hangman presses 8 + 6 on the jukebox. Reference to release date of the first movie.

a. ‘Slow Ride’ – foreshadows the development of Rooster having to change flying technique.

b. This gives us an insight into much of an asshole Hangman is. (He thinks that he will be appointed leader; irony: Hangman = leaving people hanging again.)

c. “Special detachment,” Payback says.

i. Rooster and Hangman hinted at being exes again (?)

ii. Shared weird looks among the Daggers

iii. Something unsaid (deeper meaning) behind Rooster and Hangman’s exchange.

21. “Who are they going to get to teach us?” Phoenix says. This shot is an answering quick shot to Maverick, who will be their teacher.

a. “It’s been declined,” says Penny. Meaning nobody is going to like Maverick here soon.

i. When he gets thrown out of the bar.

ii. His teaching methods later.

22. When Maverick is thrown out of the bar, there is a shot of Coyote, Payback, and Hangman.

a. Background is yellow, they are tinted blue.

23. ‘Great Balls of Fire’ triggers PTSD for Maverick. (Used to sing inside the bar alongside Goose, now he is on the outside watching Rooster, who doesn’t even know he’s there.)

a. Maverick is worried for Rooster, too. (That he will end up exactly like his father.)

24. Contrast of red/white on the American flag.

a. Red = hardiness, valor

i. Maverick

b. White = purity, innocence

i. The Dagger squad.

25. They are all wearing green.

a. Green = new beginnings, growth

i. Maverick + Rooster

ii. Rooster + Hangman

iii. Hangman + new Daggers

iv. Maverick + teaching instead of being a pilot.

26. “You going to wash me out?” “That’ll be up to you, not me.”

a. Washing out – to deplete the strength in someone.

b. Rooster only responds to Lieutenant, not his name (Bradley), this is his way of staying ‘strong’.

c. He and Maverick both wear sunglasses because they are literally not seeing eye to eye.

i. “Am I dismissed?” – keeping the ranking instead of it being personal.

27. Hangman and Phoenix are the only two that the camera shows the reaction of.

a. Hangman being the ‘antagonist’.

b. Phoenix being his best friend.

28. ‘Won’t Get Fooled Again’ – Rooster’s song for not making the same mistake Goose did, or Maverick towards the Navy about being a teacher.

a. Rooster: trusting Maverick.

b. Maverick: getting fired.

i. “Easy, Maverick. Let’s try not to get fired on the first day.”

29. “This guy needs an ego check.” – Irony for Hangman.

30. Dog fight sequence shows that Rooster will die for his friends. (good leadership)

a. Maverick says, “It’s going to cost him.” Rooster says, “Not this time.” – still holding onto the grudge, obviously.

31. “Watch your back, Phoenix.” – Rooster knows that Hangman will ditch, and so does Phoenix.

a. According to the screenplay, Bradley gave Jake the callsign ‘Hangman’.

b. Bob wonders where Hangman went, and Phoenix answers for the audience of why they call him Hangman.

32. Maverick flying upside down – a reference to the first film.

a. Top Gun: Goose flipped him off as a joke because they were friends.

b. Top Gun Maverick: Rooster is looking at Maverick because he’s pissed.

i. This is how the scenes differ.

33. How low can the two go, triple meaning:

a. how low can the planes fly?

i. foreshadowing height for the mission.

b. How far will Maverick go to push his pilots.

i. Proof Maverick can be a teacher.

c. Rooster holding onto something in his past that was not Maverick’s fault, as the audience assumes (Goose’s death).

i. Secretly something else; foreshadowing.

34. “Don’t think, just do.” – Theme of Bradley’s development arc.

35. “It’s too low.” – double meaning, also a foreshadow (but it is also the answer.)

a. Both went too far for the other’s liking, emotional-wise.

b. It is how they will have to fly and pull up.

i. Rooster proves that he can do it, but he didn’t see; Maverick proved it because he knew Rooster’s potential.

36. We finally understand the real reason Rooster despises Maverick: pulling his papers and sending him back 4 years.

a. We didn’t know this as the audience, so Maverick is an unreliable narrator.

i. “Why would he do that?” – Now we must find this out, whether Maverick says it, or it is revealed to him that someone else knows.

37. Maverick explains why he pulled the maneuver (not just for personal reasons) + permission to request to lower the hard deck.

a. Teaching the Daggers how to come home.

i. PTSD from Goose, again.

38. Maverick’s theme: Time.

a. “You could learn a thing or two about timing, Captain.”

i. The next scene: Hangman looking at a picture of Maverick and Goose (+ Iceman, foreshadowing an appearance.)

b. Now, Hangman and Coyote (Bradley’s ‘antagonists’) know inside information on Maverick and Rooster’s ‘problem’.

i. Callback: “Bradshaw. As I live and breathe.”

1. First time was cocky, second time is intimidating and calculated.

39. Theo + Amelia: another sign that time is passing Maverick by.

a. “Captain? Still?”

40. Boat scene: to build the relationship that Maverick and Penny lost/could have had, now they can.

a. “Now you’re in the Navy.”

i. Foreshadowing that Maverick can still be in the Navy elsewhere if it isn’t flying.

41. Maverick states his own theme: Time.

a. “Time is your greatest enemy.”

i. Reference to how everything in their past will tear the mission apart, if they don’t move on.

b. “This makes time your greatest adversary.”

i. Reference to people’s relationships (Maverick/Rooster, Maverick/Daggers, Rooster/Daggers, Hangman/Daggers, Rooster/Hangman) will have to be one mind, same page.

42. Maverick talks about the 100 feet maximum height, everyone is shocked.

a. But some have proven they can already do it. (Rooster)

43. Maverick makes sure that the team starts communicating + thinking about not only each other, but the other Daggers’ families.

a. PTSD again

b. Hangman is still hanging onto the idea he needs to be leader and everyone else is behind him.

c. Rooster is late instead of increasing speed.

i. ‘Slow Ride’.

44. “It’s not the plane, sir. It’s the pilot.” “Exactly!” – triple meaning

a. To not think too much for this mission to go well.

b. Rooster won’t stop pushing back on Maverick, when for once he needs to listen.

c. Maverick won’t stop pushing back against Rooster because Maverick really means himself.

i. Suicidal tendency.

45. “It’s no time to be thinking about the past.” – Hangman to Rooster.

a. Now Hangman has Rooster where he wants him; enraged and vulnerable.

i. This is how Hangman thinks he can prove he’s the better leader.

1. “He’s not cut out for this mission. You know I’m right.”

46. Midpoint: Iceman, the B Story, arrives in person finally.

a. Movie is 2 hours, 10 minutes. Midpoint is around 55-65 minutes in. Iceman is in shot at 55:25.

47. “It’s come back.” Reference to something bad will happen to the last piece of Maverick’s past.

48. “How’s my wingman?” – Maverick wanting to talk about the past. Iceman wants to talk about work. They talk about Rooster holding onto the past.

a. Iceman types, ‘There’s still time.’

i. Maverick’s theme.

b. “Send me.”

i. Suicidal tendency.

c. Iceman types what needs to be said to Maverick, that nobody has told him yet. We see their reactions before reading the screen; because we know, we just want to see how Maverick reacts to Ice—his guardian angel of the past—telling him.

49. “It’s time to let go.” “I don’t know how.”

a. He needs to let go of his guilt of Goose dying and pulling Bradley’s papers.

b. But he also needs to let go of Top Gun after this mission.

50. “The only reason I’m here is you.”

a. True, but we as the audience know that there is a clock on Ice.

b. Time. Things are moving past Maverick again. He needs to become a teacher, not stay an aviator pilot.

51. “The Navy needs Maverick. The kid needs Maverick. That’s why you’re here. That’s why I fought for you.”

a. Iceman gives Maverick the last bit of his strength to move on. It’s all him now.

52. ‘I Ain’t Worried’

a. “Time is running out. […] I ain’t worried about it right now.” The song is about taking things slow for a bit.

i. Taking a break. The beach scene is the fun and games scene.

ii. Also about making sure everyone is playing on the same team.

1. “You said to build a team. There’s your team.”

53. Maverick + Penny love scene.

a. Top Gun: blue

i. Blue = harmony, unity

b. Top Gun Maverick: yellow

i. Yellow = power, ambition

c. Shows that he found the right person.

54. Penny + Amelia

a. Amelia reminds Penny of herself and doesn’t want her to make the same mistakes.

i. She must let her daughter grow up.

ii. Theme: Learning from the Past

55. “Not an easy choice.”

a. Penny: letting Amelia make her own decisions.

b. Maverick: Letting Rooster hate him for a promise he made to Carole.

[gloogapropaganda]

Weapon Predictions Part 3 - Chargers

One of my favorite weapon classes, chargers! Currently there are 5 (or 6) chargers without second kits, so here are some of my predictions for what we might see in the future.

New Squiffer

Sparkles like new! Did you know the Squiffer is a product of the Dolphin brand? I used that logo here as the kit builder did not have the "New" sticker and I couldn't find an image of it on its own, so just pretend. Perhaps this is wishful thinking, but S2's New Squiffer was a favorite of mine and while I'd love for the Suction Bomb/Inkjet combo to return, I think it's unlikely. Inkjet is so nice on the Squiffer because it gives it a temporary boost in range, something desirable even more now that we don't have MPU boosting it.

Custom E-liter 4K/Scope

I just can't really fathom giving this weapon something other than Ink Storm and Beakons. Maybe Tacticooler but that might be a bit too busted. As a veteran E-liter player it's hard to imagine many other sub/special combinations that feel right with its hyperspecific role as the ultimate anchor. They could give it Big Bubbler or Super Chump maybe but I feel like that is a disservice to the E-liter and may hinder it more than help it.

Bamboozler 14 Mk II

I've mentioned this kit before on this blog and I'll do it again. I will chew someone's leg of for this weapon. I would LOVE for the og Curling Bomb+Missiles combo to make a comeback but as I said, the devs seem to really not want to repeat old kits... so, Fizzy!! It's a poor man's Curling Bomb and the Mk III also had it! This is probably wishful thinking as well... but losing MPU was basically an indirect nerf for the Bamboozler and it's supposed to be annoying. Craig is watching you, Nintendo.

Custom Goo Tuber

Honestly, they gave the vanilla Goober such a wack kit in S3 it caught me super off guard. This... admittedly is sort of random. Curling Bombs make a return but what special to give it had me stumped... chumped? Super Chump... It is 3:52 AM I may be losing my mind. I figured Super Chump was equally bizarre and Goober mains are freaks enough that I think they'd make good use of it.

Snipewriter 5H Nouveau

Not much to say about this one. I'm really not a fan of this thing nor do I know how to use it well. I'll take a Bamboozler over it any day. I gave it Angle Shooter because... wait they buffed that didn't they. One hit after that and it kills hmmmm... I do not care. Maybe ink mine instead? Big Bubbler so it gets bullied *slightly* less.

Boy howdy this is taking longer than I thought. I can't sleep though and I have nothing else to do lol. Next will be buckets!

Masterpost

[siglai]

Michael Holbrook Penniman Jr.[6][7][8] (born 18 August 1983), known by his stage name Mika (/ˈmiːkə/ MEE-kə, stylised as MIKA), is a Lebanese-born British singer-songwriter.

After recording his first extended play, Dodgy Holiday, Mika was named the number-one predicted breakthrough act of 2007 in an annual BBC poll of music critics, Sound of 2007.[9] Mika released his first full-length studio album, Life in Cartoon Motion, on Island Records in 2007, which sold more than 5.6 million copies worldwide and helped Mika win a Brit Award—winning Best British Breakthrough act—and receive a Grammy Award nomination.[10] He topped the UK Singles Chart in January 2007 with "Grace Kelly". He has since gone on to record four more studio albums (most recently My Name is Michael Holbrook released in October 2019), as well as serve as judge/mentor on both the French version of The Voice and the Italian version of X Factor. Mika has also starred in his own television variety show in Italy, Stasera Casa Mika [it], which won the 2017 Rose d'Or Award for Entertainment, and co-hosted the Eurovision Song Contest 2022.

Contents

1Life and career

1.11983–2006: Childhood and early career

1.22007–2008: Life in Cartoon Motion

1.32009–2010: The Boy Who Knew Too Much

1.42010–2014: The Origin of Love, X Factor Italy and Songbook Vol.1

1.52015–2018: No Place in Heaven

1.62019–2020: My Name Is Michael Holbrook

1.72021–present

2Personal life

3Discography

4Filmography

5Tours

6Awards and nominations

7References

8External links

Life and career

1983–2006: Childhood and early career

Mika was born in Beirut, the third of five children (three sisters Yasmine, Paloma and Zuleika and one brother Fortuné), to an American-born Lebanese mother and an Israeli-born American father, Mary Joan "Joannie" (née Mouakad, daughter of John Mouakad and Odette Farah) and Michael Holbrook Penniman (son of William Frederick Penniman III and Dorothy Dyar). His father was a banker[7][11] and was born in Jerusalem, where his own father – Mika's paternal grandfather William Frederick Penniman III – was a diplomat.[11][12] Mika's maternal grandfather John Mouakad was Syrian (from Damascus).[13][14]

When Mika was a year old, his family was forced to leave war-torn Lebanon and moved to Paris, France.[12][15] The first piano piece he learned to play was "Les Champs-Élysées", by Joe Dassin.[12] At the age of 7, he wrote his first song, a piano instrumental called "Angry", which he describes as "awful".[7] The family moved to London when he was 9 years old. There, he attended the Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle, where he experienced severe bullying. He also had problems with dyslexia. In response to these experiences Mika was home-schooled by his mother at the age of 12, for six to eight months.[7] He then attended St Philip's School in Kensington, where he was the head of the Schola Cantorum (the St. Philip's Choir). Later he attended Westminster School and the Royal College of Music, which he left to record his first album at Casablanca Records.[16] As a child Mika was trained by Alla Ardakov (Ablaberdyeva), a Russian opera professional.

Mika's first single was a limited 7"/download release called "Relax, Take It Easy" (2006). It was play-listed by UK's BBC Radio 1 and was made Record of the Week by DJ Scott Mills. The Dodgy Holiday EP also became available for download. The song "Billy Brown" was available for free download for a week from the iTunes Store. A song titled 'Over-rated', which was recorded in 2004, was "unofficially" released online. His debut radio appearance was on Dermot O'Leary's BBC Radio 2 show in September 2006.

2007–2008: Life in Cartoon Motion

WHO

[baxtersworld]

OPHIR DECODED, PHILIPPINES IMPRINTED IN THE SCRIPTURE, May 15, 2026

Ophir is a famous Biblical land because of its wealth in terms of natural resources particularly of gold.

Over centuries, there have been many theories pertaining to the exact geographical location of Ophir, the source of gold overlaid in King Solomon's temple.

Biblically, King Solomon had a navy that constantly brought gold from the land of Ophir once every 3 years for the construction of the temple.

1 KINGS 9:27, 28

(27) And Hiram sent in the navy his servants, shipmen… with the servants of Solomon.

(28) And they came to OPHIR, and fetched from thence GOLD… and brought it to king Solomon.

1 KINGS 10:14, 11, 22

(14) …of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred threescore and six talents of gold,

(11) And the navy also of Hiram, that brought GOLD from OPHIR…

(22) …once in three years came the navy of Tharshish, bringing GOLD, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks.

The scripture describes the garden of Eden as being in the land of Havilah, where there is an abundance of gold.

GENESIS 2:8, 10-11

(8) And the LORD God planted a garden EASTWARD in EDEN…

(10) And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted…

(11) The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole land of HAVILAH, where there is GOLD;

Havilah is the brother of Ophir, and their dwelling is located at Sephar, a mount in the east.

GENESIS 10:29, 30

(29) And OPHIR, and HAVILAH, and Jobab: all these were the sons of Joktan.

(30) And their DWELLING was from Mesha, as thou goest unto Sephar a mount of the EAST.

The word “Ophir” in Strong’s Hebrew #211 means “the name of a son of Joktan, and of a gold region in the east.”

Christ has been portrayed as a ravenous bird that is coming from the east, which also refers to God's people, or His church (Colossians 1:18).

ISAIAH 41:2, 4

(2) Who raised up the RIGHTEOUS MAN from the EAST…

(4) …I the LORD, the first, and with the last; I am he.

ISAIAH 46:10, 11

(10) DECLARING the END from the BEGINNING, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done…

(11) Calling a ravenous bird from the EAST, the man that executeth my counsel from a FAR COUNTRY…

Philippines is one of the far-eastern countries of Asia as being recorded in the World Atlas.

In Tomo III (1519–1522), pages 112–138, of the book Colección general de documentos relativos a las Islas Filipinas existentes en el Archivo de Indias de Sevilla, found in the General Archive of the Indies in Spain, Document No. 98 describes how to locate the land of OPHIR.

The navigational guide starts from the Cape of Good Hope in Africa to India, Burma, Sumatra, the Maluku Islands, Borneo, Sulu, China, then finally OPHIR, which is the Philippines.

As an archipelago, Philippines is comprised of around 7,000 islands.

The triangular number of 7 is 28.

2 + 8 = 10

Taking the cube of numbers 1-10 as per digit will give a sum of 2026, the exact year of Christ’s return.

Historically, on March 16, 1521, the Philippines was rediscovered by a Portuguese navigator who led a Spanish expedition to the East Indies.

MARCH (3rd month) 16, 1521

3 x 16 x 15 x 3 = 2160

3 + 1 + 6 + 1 + 5 + 2 + 1 = 19 (1 + 9 = 10)

216(0) + 10 = 2260 (flipped figure of 2026)

Formerly, the country code for the Philippines was “PHI,” which was later changed to “PHL” in 1976.

Thus, the word “OPHIR” is a prophetic acronym for the “REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES.”

#fypシ #fbreelsfypシ゚ #fbviral #reelsviralシ #reelsfbシ #viralshorts #EternalLife #endtimes #Rapture #ophir #jubilee #Jerusalem #apostolic #apocalypse #Armageddon #revelation #bible #prophecy ##predictions #SignsOfTheTimes #Yeshua #savedbygrace #doomsday

[douxlen]

Why the U.S. Military Needs to Imitate Ukraine’s Drone Force

New Post has been published on https://douxle.com/2024/08/14/why-the-u-s-military-needs-to-imitate-ukraines-drone-force/

Why the U.S. Military Needs to Imitate Ukraine’s Drone Force

Imagine it is 2028 and there is a coordinated parallel attack executed by Russia on one of the Baltic states and by China on Taiwan. Under such a scenario, Russia would attempt to seize NATO territory and China would blockade Taiwan as a fait accompli to undermine alliance cohesion.

As things stand, NATO’s conventional forces would struggle to withstand such a Russian assault. And it would take weeks, if not months, to deploy American troops to the Indo-Pacific region. 

The Cold War solution to this kind of problem involved the threat of using tactical nuclear weapons. Small tactical nuclear weapons made it highly risky to mass mechanized formations for a large-scale assault, as they would become a perfect target for such nukes. They were crucial to the official NATO plan to defend against a Soviet onslaught through the so-called Fulda Gap in western Germany. 

Such an onslaught from the East is once again possible. Russia is now building up two new armies larger than the armies of half of NATO combined. Soon, armchair strategists will have to learn about the Suwalki Gap—the area around the Lithuanian-Polish border, which would be the shortest route from Belarus to the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad. 

Meanwhile, China is building roll-on, roll-off ferries that are nominally civilian, but have started to take part in military exercises. They are part of a sustained effort to amass the naval assets necessary for a prolonged blockade of Taiwan—and if necessary a war at sea.

But would whoever is U.S. President in 2028 be willing to meet such challenges with tactical nuclear weapons and all the associated risks of escalation to World War III? Have we no better deterrent than the old threat of Armageddon? 

The good news is that we do now.

In contrast to nearly all predictions, when Russia’s offensive was launched in February 2022, Ukraine not only thwarted the initial assault, but drove back and then held what was once considered the number two army in the world. It has stemmed the Russian tide not only through the heroism of its own troops but also by employing drones in the hundreds of thousands. 

Ukraine is the first nation to have created a new military branch, the Unmanned Systems Forces of Ukraine. This is a pivotal moment akin to the creation of the world’s first air force, the Royal Air Force, formed on April 1, 1918, seven months before Britain’s victory in World War I. Ukraine’s use of drones is transforming warfare as fundamentally as airplanes once did.

NATO forces have, in comparison, small drone arsenals in the hundreds or low thousands. But that is changing. Earlier this summer, U.S. Indo-pacific Command revealed its ”hellscape” strategy to fill the waters around Taiwan with tens of thousands of unmanned boats, submarines and drones in the event of a Chinese move against the island. 

The Replicator Initiative, announced by Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks a year ago, is intended to provide the manufacturing base that will enable hellscape. Six NATO countries recently announced their own version of hellscape to deter Russia: the European drone wall.

Unlike large standing armies, drones that are being held in reserve do not take up a lot of space, do not need to be fed, and are not drawing salaries. Unlike tactical nukes, drones do not produce fallout. But they can provide a comparable level of tactical deterrence.

An arsenal of millions of autonomous drones is a credible threat to a mechanized assault or a flotilla of ships. A state-of-the-art drone swarm could halt a Russian invasion or a Chinese blockade. Ukraine has proven this by blunting large-scale Russian mechanized attacks and crippling Russia’s Black Sea fleet. Kyiv’s expert use of drones is the reason it has been able to launch a surprise offensive deep into the Russian region of Kursk.

More from TIME

The implications for legacy military hardware are profound. Interestingly, the debate on tanks versus drones today echoes the one on battleships versus airplanes a century ago. Today’s drones are the equivalent of the barn-built biplanes of World War I, which barely resemble their modern jet-powered counterparts. Far more formidable unmanned munitions are coming. We are already seeing so-called “deep-strike” drones: Iranian Shahed drones used by Russia and the long-range drones built by Ukrainian startups. En masse, such drones can overwhelm even advanced air defenses. It remains to be seen if Iran and its proxies have enough such weapons to overwhelm Israel’s defenses in the coming days. If not, their recent threats will prove empty. 

A similar revolution is underway in naval warfare. As Elliot Ackerman and James Stavridis have argued, and as Ukraine has shown in the Black Sea, deep-strike drones can also be used against naval targets. Like tanks, large surface ships, including aircraft carriers, are at risk of obsolescence.

This year, for the first time in history, Ukraine and Russia are building drones on an industrial scale. The evolution is from one operator directing a single drone to one operator directing whole flocks. By the end of 2024, we shall see for the first time what we call autonomous mass—swarms of drones in the thousands being directed by a handful of operators, relying less and less on ground control. 

The shift to unmanned warfare is unstoppable. That is the lesson we have learned from Ukraine. For the United States, however, the Replicator Initiative and hellscape plan are just a start. What we need now is to build the Unmanned Systems of America. 

The alternative could be a catastrophic failure of deterrence on the watch of the next President.