#April 03 2021

[alphynix]

April Fools 2024: The Curious Case Of The Chunky-Necked Ceratopsians

Much like the aquatic Compsognathus featured here a couple of years ago, not every novel idea that came out of the Dinosaur Renaissance was a winner.

And one of the oddest examples came from author/illustrator John C. McLoughlin.

His 1979 book Archosauria: A New Look at the Old Dinosaur featured an unusual interpretation of ceratopsian dinosaurs' characteristic bony frills, proposing that they were actually muscle attachment sites for both powerful jaw muscles and enormous back muscles to help hold up their large heavy heads. This would have completely buried the frill under soft tissue, giving the animals massive thick necks and humped shoulders, and resulted in an especially weird reconstruction of Triceratops with a grotesque sort of wrinkly sewn-together appearance.

This concept didn't entirely originate from McLoughlin – three years earlier in 1976 he'd illustrated Ronald Paul Ratkevich's book Dinosaurs of the Southwest, which seems to have been the inspiration for Archosauria's fleshy-frilled ceratopsians. A few paleontologists had also proposed jaw muscles attaching onto the frills during the 1930s and 1950s, and there's even a book from as far back as 1915 that also shows the top of a Triceratops' frill connected to its back! But McLoughlin's Archosauria image is still by far the most extreme and infamous version of the idea.

There were a lot of things in Archosauria that were actually very forward-thinking for the time period, such as putting fuzz and feathers on small theropods and depicting non-avian dinosaurs as active fast-moving animals. The unique ceratopsian reconstructions, however, never caught on for several big reasons:

Firstly, all that hefty muscle tissue would have locked ceratopsians' heads firmly in place, unable to move at all, which just doesn't make sense biomechanically. Then there was the lack of skeletal evidence – muscles that big should have left huge visible attachment scars all over the frill bones, and there was no sign of anything like that on any fossil specimens. Finally, it turns out the ceratopsian head-neck joint was actually highly mobile, suggesting their heads were free to make a wide range of motions in life.

As wrong as they were even at the time, McLoughlin's ceratopsians were still an interesting speculative idea, and notable for advocating for fleshier dinosaur reconstructions at a time when paleoart was trending towards shrinkwrapping.

Further reading under the cut:

A Very Alternative View of Horned Dinosaur Anatomy, Revisited – https://tetzoo.com/blog/2020/11/22/alternative-view-of-horned-dinosaur-anatomy

Trope of the Buffalo-Backed Dinosaur – https://tetzoo.com/blog/2020/11/27/trope-of-the-buffalo-backed-dinosaur

Vintage Dinosaur Art: Archosauria - Part 3 – https://chasmosaurs.blogspot.com/2013/10/vintage-dinosaur-art-archosauria-part-3.html

Vintage Dinosaur Art: Dinosaurs of the Southwest – https://chasmosaurs.blogspot.com/2016/11/vintage-dinosaur-art-dinosaurs-of.html

The Forgotten John C. McLoughlin Book – https://www.manospondylus.com/2021/03/the-forgotten-john-c-mcloughlin-book.html

[anyab]

Via NasAlSudan

December 17 2023. #KeepEyesOnSudan #SudanActionWeek

Swipe through to build a foundational understanding of the war, its origins, and the key players involved. For actionable ways to support those in Sudan, check the link in our bio. Stay tuned for more posts this week.

Transcript:

National:

On April 15, a war broke out in Sudan's capital city of Khartoum between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), and a paramilitary group known as the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

Since then, eight months of conflict has led to major destruction of Khartoum's infrastructure, the most developed region of Sudan, with fighting also spreading to the regions of Darfur in the west and Kordofan in the south.

Civilians in conflict zones have been forcibly displaced, under threat of physical and sexual violence, particularly by the RSF, which has looted, destroyed, and settled in people's homes.

Regional:

In the western region of Darfur, a campaign of ethnic cleansing is being carried out by the RSF targeting the Masalit tribe. Allegations of genocide have been levied against the RSF.

Reports have just emerged that fighting has now spread to Wad Madani in Al Gezira state, which houses nearly 500,000 IDPs from Khartoum.

Key figures:

Abdel Fattah al Burhan Head of SAF

Omar El-Bashir Deposed Dictator of Sudan

Mohamed Dagalo (Hemidti) Head of RSF

Transcript:

Sudan: the war in numbers

A humanitarian "catastrophe"

24.7 million in need of critical humanitarian assistance

70-80% of hospitals out of service in conflict areas

19 million children are out of school

20.3 million people acutely food insecure. 4.9 million facing emergency hunger levels

6.7 million displaced [5.4 million IDPS, 1.3 million refugees]

7,000+ cholera cases an increase of +136% over the past month

Transcript:

FAQ - THE SAF

QUESTION 01: What is the SAF?

Stands for the Sudanese Armed Forces

Is the de-facto government of Sudan

Is headed by Lt. General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan

QUESTION 02 What is their capacity?

Estimated to have ~200,000 personnel and tactical advantage of airforce

Currently control the relative northern and eastern regions of Sudan with functioning capital in Port Sudan (East)

QUESTION 03 Do they have backing and support?

On the international stage, primarily backed by Egypt

Limited weapons supply from allies

Internally, the SAF is ultimately considered the lesser of two evils

Transcript:

FAQ - THE RSF

QUESTION 01 What is the RSF?

Stands for the Rapid Support Forces

Paramilitary group originating from the Janjaweed, Arab tribal militias armed by al-Bashir in 2003 to fight against ethnically African rebel groups in Darfur + carried out 2003 genocide

Is headed by General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (Hemidti)

QUESTION 02 What is their capacity?

Estimated to have 100,000 to 150,000 troops

Winning the ground fight in Khartoum and control 4/5 states in Darfur

QUESTION 03 Do they have backing and support?

On the international stage, primarily backed by the UAE

Have steady weapons supply chain and diversified financial profile with critical assets in UAE and Russia

Transcript:

THE WAR IN SUDAN: CONTEXTUALIZING APRIL 15

(6/1989 - 4/2019) THE BASHIR REGIME

Sudan was under the rule of military dictator Omar Al-Bashir for 30 years, who came to power through an military coup backed by Islamist factions in June of 1989

His time in power was marked by extreme repression, conflict, and economic decline

(12/2018 CURRENT) THE REVOLUTION

In December of 2018, a popular democratic revolution began that eventually unseated al-Bashir on April 11 through the revolt of security sector

Al-Bashir was ultimately replaced by al-Burhan, with Hemidti as his deputy of a Transitional Military Council

Protestors rejected military rule and continued to hold a sit-in outside the military headquarters until its violent dispersal on June 3 of 2019 by the SAF + RSF

Today, the Sudanese people still hope and advocate for freedom from military rule and the transition to democracy

(8/2019-10/2021) TRANSITIONAL GOVERNMENT

Agreement on transitional government signed between civilian forces and Transitional Military Council on August 17, 2019

Led to formation of joint sovereign council with Abdalla Hamdok as Prime Minister

Transcript:

(10/2021 CURRENT)THE OCT 25, 2021 COUP

Burhan and Hemidti carry out military coup overthrowing civilian counterparts

They draw power from international legitimization despite prolonged mass protests in Sudan

(12/2022) THE FRAMEWORK AGREEMENT

In December of 2022, civilians put out a framework agreement signed onto by SAF and RSF + civil society groups and political parties meant to return to a transitional government

Key part of agreement: question of integration of the RSF into the SAF

Parties were to finalize the agreement and sign on April 1; RSF and SAF ultimately disagreed on integration timeline with RSF wanting 10 years and the SAF wanting 2

(12/2022-4/2023) THE LEAD UP TO APRIL 15

As framework agreement negotiations failed, both parties began mobilizing troops in capital of Khartoum in days leading up to April 15

Residents of Khartoum awoke to the sounds of gunfire on April 15 and by noon, the RSF had seized Meroe airport in the Northern state

Conflict today considered a battle for power between the two generals they are too far in to walk back

Transcript:

FRAMING ALLIANCES

Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF):

Egypt

Israel (Foreign Ministry)

Islamists

Iran

Saudi Arabia

Ukraine (SOF)

Armed Groups

Rebel groups that had taken up arms against the central government in the Bashir Era are forced to ally with the SAF due to the RSF's ethnic cleansing campaign. They include:

Justice and Equality Movement (Gibril Ibrahim)

Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (Minni Minawi)

Gathering of Sudan Liberation Forces (Abdallah Yahya)

Rapid Support Forces (RSF):

Israel (Mossad)

Libya (Khalifa Haftar)

United Arab Emirates

Central African Republic

Russia (Wagner Group)

Chad

Arab Tribal Leaders

Arab tribal leaders across the Western region of Darfur have pledged their allegiance and support to the RSF, with members of the tribes across the Sahel crossing into Sudan to join the RSF's assault as well.

Key tribes include: Beni Halba, Tarjam, Habaniya, Fallata, Misseriya, Taaysha, Rizeigat

Transcript:

IS THERE AN END IN SIGHT?

THE STATE OF NEGOTIATIONS

Effort: JEDDAH TALKS [MAY]

Parties involved: Externally: United States, Saudi Arabia Internally: SAF, RSF

Outcome: Discussed humanitarian ceasefire; signed Jeddah Declaration of Commitment to Protect the Civilians of Sudan - Failed

Effort: INTERGOVERNMENTAL AUTHORITY ON DEVELOPMENT (IGAD) [JULY]

Parties Involved: Externally: Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti, South Sudan Internally: RSF

Outcome: Proposed peacekeeping troops to ensure humanitarian corridor - Rejected

Effort: CAIRO TALKS (NEIGHBORING COUNTRIES) [JULY]

Parties Involved: Externally: Egypt, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Chad, Eritrea, CAR, Libya Internally: SAF, RSF

Outcome: Discussed lasting ceasefire, safe humanitarian passage, political dialogue framework - Failed

Effort: JEDDAH TALKS [OCTOBER]

Parties Involved: Externally: United States, Saudi Arabia Internally: SAF, RSF

Outcome: Discussed lasting ceasefire, safe humanitarian passage, political dialogue framework - Failed

Effort: IGAD + AFRICAN UNION (AU) [DECEMBER]

Parties Involved: Externally: IGAD, EU, UAE, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, United States Internally: SAF (Burhan in person), RSF

Outcome: Agreed to a face-to-face meeting in late December and ceasefire; SAF later issued a retraction - Ongoing

Transcript:

The conflict in Sudan calls for the collective support of all to raise awareness about the war and aid the Sudanese people on the ground, especially when we live in nations that have been complicit in the oppression of the Sudanese people. Explore the options below and share with others. For more information, check the link in our bio.

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

EDUCATE YOURSELF

Deepen your knowledge about Sudan, empowering yourself with insights into the complexities of the situation.

DONATE

Extend a helping hand to Sudan by generously donating to individuals or grassroots organizations on the ground.

CONTACT YOUR REPS.

Amplify your impact by contacting your representatives, advocating for positive change.

[thankyouforthememoriesworld]

Thank you for all the Gabby/MJ posts. My timeline is flooded with Paige-Azzi to the point I’m almost sick of them 😂 I love how lowkey Gabby and MJ are, do you have a timeline on their relationship?

You're welcome 😊, I love introducing new people to Willannès. They're the introverted French version of Pazzi (if you know some French athletes then you get what I mean).

That's why you shouldn't follow too many accounts or you'll see the same posts 11 times in a row 🤏🏻

Here we go, the Willannès timeline PART ONE:

▪ July 27, 2016: France faced the USA in preparation for the Olympics with Gabby in the stands (baby Jojo played in it). It was this match that made her want to represent France 🇫🇷.

▪ mid-May 2021: Gabby is selected to play the Euro with France and meets the team for the first time. She hit it off with Jojo, Alexia and Iliana but especially Jojo (a journalist asked her how long they'd known each other, given their complicity, and it was a week lol 😏).

Only 2 weeks after meeting, Jojo asked Gabby if she could tattoo her and she told her 'Sure' (the Pac-Man on her thigh, gay idiots).

▪ June, 2021: Willannès being glued to one another during all the friendly games and the Euro.

▪ July 06 - August 08, 2021: Jojo and Gabby became closer and closer as they prepared for and competed in the Tokyo Olympics. Seeing it written is a little crazy because it made me realize that they somehow spent more than 2 months together (no wonder it changed their dynamic).

Gabby's TikTok recap with a tender-eyed Jojo

▪ November 07 to 14, 2021: EuroBasket - Qualifiers

(waiting for Gabby before going into the bus 🥺)

▪ February 03 to 13, 2022: World Cup qualifiers

▪ Early 2022: Stories and rumors are all pointing to them getting together around this time 🥰.

▪ April 2022: Jojo smirking in her Gabby-branded sweater and Gabby's interview about her tattoos.

▪ June 2022: Gabby signed her contract with Asvel for 2 years to be in the same club as Jojo 💖.

[kiwisa]

the harpy ✩ masterlist

F1 Grid x Fem! F1 Driver! OC

IN WHICH... a woman enters formula one's prestigious line-up. chaos inevitably ensues.

how to request?

✩ BASICS !

driver profile・life mosaic ( ➧ instagram )・online diary ( ➧ twitter )・grid dynamics

✩ WRITINGS !

00. dawn

01. genesis ( ➧ the outtakes )

02. nike

03. dionysus

04. harpy

✩ KIOSK !

➥ vanity fair, august 2022

« the illusion of proximity: astrée iraklidis' social media presence »

➥ vogue, april 2021

« 'the harpy,' or how a misogynistic insult became a trademark »

✩ INTERNET !

ᯤ www.spark.com/outrage

6 iconic astrée headlines

✩ BONUSES !

+1. heebie-jeebies

5 times lando was scared of astrée and 1 time the tables turned

+2. the dinner

[fullcoffeemoon-nem]

Timeline Theory

First update: 09-21-23

Second update: 11-14-23

Third update: 05-01-24 (+ S2 Theory link)

Last update: 06-03-24 (+ S2 Theory upload)

——————————————

Hi there!

After another re-watch and the head to pay attention to the small details, perhaps I have reconstructed a possible

Timeline of Helluva Boss

It would be better to define them as hypotheses. First of all, here is an outline of the episodes and their release dates.

I know, I also included the one whose title we know, just for the sake of general overview. The theory for the moment covers 2 seasons out of 4 announced.

Here the synthetic timeline. From the estimate version I have removed the year here, we'll get to the reason.

Here I also report some of my thoughts:

Already from the first episodes there's a strong focus on clocks and time, it is much more striking in Oops, where Asmodeus' clock marks the whole day.

I'm not sure about the year, but also from the analyzes carried out later, 2021 could be the year of the narrative arc that goes from Murder Family to Ozzie's.

(*) The Verosika's tour t-shirt was official and linked to the episode, at the moment I'm undecided on its validity at the year level, althought the date could be very possible.

However, my research started with Seeing Stars because it's the first episode to feature an almost specific date: the 20th of a 30-day month.

In my opinion it could be April chronologically and it's agreed with the information in the subsequent episodes.

The only problem is that the full moon would't coincide with what was marked by Blitz.

Noteworthy:

Blitz's calendar suggests that the full moon that month is the 14th.

Stolas wrote in the Western Energy chat that Blitz was supposed to come that evening and that therefore the full moon was the 20th.

We are certainly either in 2021 or beyond given Moxxie's coin in Seeing Stars.

From the chat we can understand that:

About a month passes between the trio Ozzie's - Queen Bee - The Circus (1 moon)

About 3 months (3 moons) pass between Seeing Stars and Western Energy

Western Energy is placed a week before Oops and among these the week told in Unhappy Campers

From Millie's flyer we know that her and Moxxie's mission ends on Friday July 17th. We know from Blitz that this lasted a week, so it started on Monday 13th July.

According to what Striker says to Crisom, Western Energy should be set around July 11th and Oops around July 18th.

We should be in 2022 though, but in that case July 17th was a Sunday.

In Mammon's magnificent concert Blitz says on the call with Ozzie that it's a weekend.

There are two options:

It could be set on the week parallel (July 21-22th or 28-29th) to the events of Western-Unhappy-Oops.

It could be set on the following month (August).

Here we come to the gap:

(*) The Mammon's official t-shirt is clearly linked to the episode, but the date (2023) and month (October) cause the information to conflict.

So, at this point we have this options:

The official t-shirts are tied exclusively to the release date of the episode.

They are official or at the date level, or at the year level.

They're official and we're actually 2 years removed from Murder Family.

I think it is more canonical to consider a connection with the month of July shown in the episode and maintain the hypothesis.

Seeing Stars -> April

Wester Energy to Oops -> July

Full Moon → September 29th

I'm pretty sure about the Apology Tour

A month of crisis for Blitz seems like the minimum to me and it's also enough for Stolas to enter a phase of rejection.

——————————————

With the LVL UP on April 29th we got a new trailer for the second part of the second season. In addition, we also have a preview of the Stolas and Blitz duet from the next episode.

I dedicated a post for analysis, opinions and spoilers here.

I'm going to integrate the episodes and data into the theory as they come out.

——————————————

In the end, I report here some of the most interesting posts from Blitz and Stolas' Sinstagrams, due to that they're the only two accounts that hide canonical information.

(Thanks @timkontheunsure for the source)

I underlined my opinion, they certainly respect real events but I don't think that in terms of dating they are canonical.

What a mess...

What do you think about it?

Have you noticed any other details that could clarify the mystery? Make me know it and let's solve the mystery together :}

Bye~

[marybeatriceofmodena]

Think of me, think of me fondly...

In honor of the Phantom of the Opera Broadway production closing, here are a few gifts: audios and one video.

(As per usual, if you're the master of one of these and you want me to remove the link, please let me know.)

Audios

Michael Crawford, Patti Cohenour, Steve Barton, Judy Kaye, Nicholas Wyman, Cris Groenendaal, Leila Martin, Elisa Heinsohn, David Romano April 30, 1988 https://www.mediafire.com/file/aybwjye3k647bfy/POTO+Broadway+30-04-1988+-+Crawford,+Cohenour,+Barton.rar/file

Hugh Panaro, Lisa Vroman, John Cudia, Patricia Phillips, Jeff Keller, George Lee Andrews (u/s), Marilyn Caskey, Joelle Gates, Larry Wayne Morbitt May 10, 2003 https://www.mediafire.com/file/834a4sqxgjmsows/POTO+Broadway+10-05-2003+-+Panaro,+Vroman,+Cudia.rar/file

Gary Mauer, Jennifer Hope Wills, Michael Shawn Lewis, Janet Saia (u/s), George Lee Andrews, David Cryer, Marilyn Caskey, Jimmy Smagula (u/s) May 15, 2007 https://www.mediafire.com/file/70690zs3dpyb3dj/POTO+Broadway+15-05-2007+-+Mauer,+Wills,+Lewis.rar/file

Jeremy Stolle (u/s), Samantha Hill, Greg Mills (u/s), Michele McConnell, Richard Poole (u/s), Tim Jerome, Ellen Harvey, Kara Klein, Christian Sebek March 9, 2013 Matinee performance. https://www.mediafire.com/file/zfln9bh0thrg8dx/POTO+Broadway+09-03-2013+-+Stolle,+Hill,+Mills.rar/file

Norm Lewis, Mary Michael Patterson (alt.), Greg Mills (u/s) July 7, 2014 The real 11,000th performance (not the celebration, which was done the next day).  https://www.mediafire.com/file/jei306ekuy0usjj/POTO+Broadway+07-07-2014+-+Lewis,+Patterson,+Hays.rar/file

Laird Mackintosh (u/s), Mary Michael Patterson, Jeremy Hays, Michelle MConnell, Ellen Harvey, Christian Sebek December 13, 2014 Mary Michael Patterson and Ellen Harvey's last matinee performance.  https://www.mediafire.com/file/kt79nevlbc3yexn/POTO+Broadway+13-12-2014+-+Mackintosh,+Patterson,+Hays.rar/file

Ben Crawford, Meghan Picerno, John Riddle, Raquel Suarez Groen, Bradley Dean, Craig Bennett,  Maree Johnson, Sara Esty, Carlton Moe October 22, 2021 Re-opening performance on Broadway. https://www.mediafire.com/file/d4dcjwf9n40yseu/Phantom+of+The+Opera+Broadway+October+22nd+2021+Reopening.mp3/file

Jeremy Stolle (u/s), Kanisha Marie Feliciano (u/s), John Riddle September 17, 2022 https://www.mediafire.com/file/8elrbfv5bsgbfqq/POTO+Broadway+17-09-2022+-+Stolle,+Feliciano,+Riddle.rar/file

Video

Hugh Panaro, Mary Michael Patterson, Jeremy Hays May 3, 2014 Hugh Panaro's last performance, with speeches. https://mega.nz/folder/L6xDgahT#054peSCr8ADIj6aat2MNnA

[southeastasianists]

A deadly stampede outside a passport office that took two lives and unending lines outside embassies - these are just some examples of what has been happening in Myanmar since the announcement of mandatory conscription into the military.

Myanmar's military government is facing increasingly effective opposition to its rule and has lost large areas of the country to armed resistance groups.

On 1 February 2021, the military seized power in a coup, jailing elected leaders and plunging much of the country into a bloody civil war that continues today.

Thousands have been killed and the UN estimates that around 2.6 million people been displaced.

Young Burmese, many of whom have played a leading role protesting and resisting the junta, are now told they will have to fight for the regime.

Many believe that this is a result of the setbacks suffered by the military in recent months, with anti-government groups uniting to defeat them in some key areas.

"It is nonsense to have to serve in the military at this time, because we are not fighting foreign invaders. We are fighting each other. If we serve in the military, we will be contributing to their atrocities," Robert, a 24-year-old activist, told the BBC.

Many of them are seeking to leave the country instead.

"I arrived at 03:30 [20:30 GMT] and there were already about 40 people queuing for the tokens to apply for their visa," recalled a teenage girl who was part of a massive crowd outside the Thai embassy in Yangon earlier in February. Within an hour, the crowd in front of the embassy expanded to more than 300 people, she claims.

"I was scared that if I waited any longer, the embassy would suspend the processing of visas amid the chaos," she told the BBC, adding that some people had to wait for three days before even getting a queue number.

In Mandalay, where the two deaths occurred outside the passport office, the BBC was told that there were also serious injuries - one person broke their leg after falling into a drain while another broke their teeth. Six others reported breathing difficulties.

Justine Chambers, a Myanmar researcher at the Danish Institute of International Studies, says mandatory conscription is a way of removing young civilians leading the revolution.

"We can analyse how the conscription law is a sign of the Myanmar military's weakness, but it is ultimately aimed at destroying lives... Some will manage to escape, but many will become human shields against their compatriots," she said.

Myanmar's conscription law was first introduced in 2010 but had not been enforced until on 10 February the junta said it would mandate at least two years of military service for all men aged 18 to 35 and women aged 18 to 27.

Maj-Gen Zaw Min Tun, the spokesperson for the military government, said in a statement that about a quarter of the country's 56 million population were eligible for military service under the law.

The regime later said it did not plan to include women in the conscript pool "at present" but did not specify what that meant.

The government spokesperson told BBC Burmese that call-ups would start after the Thingyan festival marking the Burmese New Year in mid-April, with an initial batch of 5,000 recruits.

The regime's announcement has dealt yet another blow to Myanmar's young people.

Many had their education disrupted by the coup, which came on top of school closures at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.

In 2021, the junta suspended 145,000 teachers and university staff over their support for the opposition, according to the Myanmar Teachers' Federation, and some schools in opposition-held areas have been destroyed by the fighting or by air strikes.

Then there are those who have fled across borders seeking refuge, among them young people looking for jobs to support their families.

In response to the conscription law, some have said on social media that they would enter the monkhood or get married early to dodge military service.

The junta says permanent exemptions will be given to members of religious orders, married women, people with disabilities, those assessed to be unfit for military service and "those who are exempted by the conscription board". For everyone else, evading conscription is punishable by three to five years in prison and a fine.

But Robert doubts the regime will honour these exemptions. "The junta can arrest and abduct anyone they want. There is no rule of law and they do not have to be accountable to anyone," he said.

Wealthier families are considering moving their families abroad - Thailand and Singapore being popular options, but some are even looking as far afield as Iceland - with the hope that their children would get permanent residency or citizenship there by the time they are of conscription age.

Others have instead joined the resistance forces, said Aung Sett, from the All Burma Federation of Student Unions, which has a long history of fighting military rule.

"When I heard the news that I would have to serve in the military, I felt really disappointed and at the same time devastated for the people, especially for those who are young like me. Many young people have now registered themselves to fight against the junta," the 23-year-old told the BBC from exile.

Some observers say the enforcement of the law now reveals the junta's diminishing grip on the country.

Last October, the regime suffered its most serious setback since the coup. An alliance of ethnic insurgents overran dozens of military outposts along the border with India and China. It has also lost large areas of territory to insurgents along the Bangladesh and Indian borders.

According to the National Unity Government, which calls itself Myanmar's government in exile, more than 60% of Myanmar's territory is now under the control of resistance forces.

"By initiating forced conscription following a series of devastating and humiliating defeats to ethnic armed organisations, the military is publicly demonstrating just how desperate it has become," said Jason Tower, country director for the Burma programme at the United States' Institute of Peace.

Mr Tower expects the move to fail because of growing resentment against the junta.

"Many youth dodging conscription will have no choice but to escape into neighbouring countries, intensifying regional humanitarian and refugee crises. This could result in frustration growing in Thailand, India, China and Bangladesh, all of which could tilt away from what remains of their support for the junta," he said.

Even if the military does manage to increase troop numbers by force, this will do little to address collapsing morale in the ranks. It will also take months to train up the new troops, he said.

The junta had a long history of "forced recruitment" even before the law was enacted, said Ye Myo Hein, a global fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.

"So the law may merely serve as a facade for forcibly conscripting new recruits into the military. With a severe shortage of manpower, there is no time to wait for the lengthy and gradual process of recruiting new soldiers, prompting [officials] to exploit the law to swiftly coerce people into service," he said.

Even for those who will manage to escape, many will carry injuries and emotional pain for the rest of their lives.

"It has been really difficult for young people in Myanmar, both physically and mentally. We've lost our dreams, our hopes and our youth. It just can't be the same like before," said Aung Sett, the student leader.

"These three years have gone away like nothing. We've lost our friends and colleagues during the fight against the junta and many families have lost their loved ones. It has been a nightmare for this country. We are witnessing the atrocities committed by the junta on a daily basis. I just can't express it in words."

[randomshipperhere]

Ai Mikaze Song Rant

!!🧹CLEANING OUT DRAFTS WRITTEN IN LIKE 2021. Posted as is last written🧹!!

that may or may not be an essay but since its structure is completely off, I opted to call it a rant.

Also Ai looks mighty fine in that outfit. Ver. A has him sticking his tongue out. So cute!!

Note: this is a long overdue post that was made prior to the release of the album, I have not changed anything within this because dammit my past self worked her ass off on this and just left it on the backburner for so long.

Before the next batch of Quartet Night Solo Songs get released this year (oh my god its been 3-4 years since the last ones) I wanted to write down the charm of Ai's songs and I hope the trend somewhat continues.

There are a total of 6 songs released since 2012 and each song also has it's own take on love.

There are a total of 6 songs released since 2012 and each song also has it's own take on love.

Winter Blossom: Parting of a loved one

A.I: Being and feeling loved

Futari no Monogram: Understanding oneself

Innocent Wind: The Warmth of Love

Mune no Kodou: Understanding Love

Synchronism: Playful, and a smidge bit sensual. Looks like the love arc is complete if you catch my drift

And now let's look at the song list:

うたの☆プリンスさまっ♪ アイドルソング嶺二＆藍

Uta no☆Purinsu-sama♪ Aidoru Songu Reiji & Ai

Track 02: Winter Blossom

August 22, 2012

Idol Song: Mikaze Ai

01: A. I

02: Futari no Monogram

June 25, 2014

マジLOVEレボリューションズアイドルソング 美風 藍

Maji LOVE Reboryuushonzu Aidoru Songu Mikaze Ai

01: Innocent Wind

02: Mune no Kodou

April 29, 2015

うたの☆プリンスさまっ♪ アイドルソング蘭丸＆藍

Uta no☆Purinsu-sama♪ Aidoru Songu Ranmaru & Ai

03: Synchronism

May 24, 2017

Now why does the second part matter? Well to me, if you put them together. Arrange by release date and track number, it almost sounds like a story on its own.

A person who has lost a loved one and forgot what the feeling felt like (Winter Blossom) until they discovered someone who could possibly mend their broken heart and understand the concept of "Ai" (A. I).

After finding this someone, they want to better themselves, become more reliable, someone who could be deserving of that love (Futari no Monogram). That love is returned to them and it feels a bit too much, but they're grateful that this person continues to stay by their side, despite being "broken" (Innocent Wind).

Like any relationship though, it was not just meant to be a sunshine filled story, they got into fights and arguements but that never deterred them from loving each other. Even during the moments they felt down or when he was scared of the passage of time, still uncertain about love, they still stuck with each other through thick and thin. And to understand these overflowing emotions, he wrote it into a song, a ballad, that sung the wishes of normal lovers and how with them, he can understand love. That he too, has that "something" on his chest (Mune no Kodou).

This emotional beat is followed by a happy and relaxing, definitely no underlying desires song about love (Synchronism).

being vague about the last one since I'll explain in each solo segment.

I think you guys get what I mean about the songs tying together to form a story by now right? Which is amazing to me, even if they most likely didn't do it on purpose, it gives a new meaning to listening to Ai's songs. Which make it even more fun to listen to.

So now onto each song and it's significance.

Winter Blossom

The first song by Ai is still as sad and beautiful as the first time I read the english translation~ I cried. This is a very straightforward song. They shared their last moments in winter.

To hide our kiss, we draw closer together to share warmth

and he wishes to God that he could feel the same emotions as her. She's about to go and he knows this, and he doesn't want to forget so he tries to stop his tears. He wants to remember this. Timeskip and he's all alone now with these memories. He doesn't think it's bad, no matter how sad it was, and yet he could only think about what else he could've done. He feels like he understands now, and he tells the words "I love you" even if she wasn't there, and his voice is only heard by the wind. He remembers the moment one last time, and makes a promise.

It's a tragedy that he only figured out what love is after she died. The song really moves me to tears. The hopeful message at the end is really nice and gives the listener a sense of encouragement.

A. I

Just lovers out on a vacation by the seaside. It starts off with him asking

“At what percentage does it become ‘love’?”

The night grows nearer, as you two get closer, and yet all he can feel is uncertainty. Unsure whether his feelings would reach or if he could ever truly express what he feels. Insecure about his own name, one he even called poor, you show him that there is a meaning to "AI". This fills him with happiness and he sees you as someone he can turn to, his warmth. He gives you a kiss. For now, in this moment, you will enjoy the time spent together, even if in the future you may fight. For now, even if he can't express to you all his feelings, the one word you taught him is enough. I love you.

I've always loved the play on words for A.I (artificial intelligence), Ai (love), and Ai (name) used for the song. See I don't understand Japanese writing much but I really wish I did. From what little I know it's amazing to see that Ai uses katakana アイ throughout the song. Katakana is used for loan words or when you want to emphasize something. So him using アイ instead of 愛 emphasizes that he REALLY doesn't understand "Ai". If you look through the wiki, there are like, 5 instances of the katakana being used. First is in the line highlighted above. Another is in "I want to confirm it, this thing you call ‘love’/tashikametai yo kimi no iu 'ai'" and the most important one. The last line of the song.

I ‘love’ you… I love you

AI shiteru... aishiteru

アイしてる…[[愛]]してる

He actually learns what it means you guys. I'm proud of him. Another line that really got me in this song is when he keeps peppering you kisses because he was anxious. Baby, no, I won't leave you. I swear! Even if it takes time for you to understand, I won't let go!

Futari no Monogram

Innocent Wind

Mune no Kodou

Synchronism

Actually, while I was writing this down, I realized that most of his songs have an emphasis on warmth and the sun.

Winter Blossom

To hide our kiss, we draw closer together to share warmth

These memories aren’t bad, they transform into warmth

A. I

Your hand held in mine is so warm

Your warmth, this tender sunny spot is my gentle place to return to

Innocent Wind

By the tenderness of your warmth

This warmth is beyond even words…

Also the word embrace

(Winter Blossom, Futari no Monogram, Innocent Wind)

and hand holding

he's cold you guys

.

Rant over!

Waaaaa I'm not sure I even did him justice since half the time I couldn't word out what I want to say but hopefully it made some sort of sense???? I just really love him and his songs that I just kinda word vomitted everything.

Also was it super obvious that I adore Mune no Kodou to bits?! I could talk about how that's my favorite song all day because FUCK it's just THAT good.

[kunamaibintangitunamamu]

My WHV Timeline

I got that WHV with my name on it!

This post is going to be super long! Jadi, karena aku termasuk tipe yang suka menceritakan semua hal secara detail dan memang sudah niat juga sih, aku pengen tulis ini sebagai kenang-kenangan karena aku berhasil mendapatkan WHV!

Here’s my timeline, each moment a small but sweet step toward the dream: 12-02-2024: The day I made a quiet but powerful promise to myself—to see my name on that WHV, no matter what. 02-03-2024: Took my visa photos. Just one tiny step, but it felt like a step toward something big. 23-04-2024: Got my SKCK done at Mabes Polri. A little closer, a little more real. 22-05-2024: Took the PTE test, butterflies in my stomach, but my sights set firmly on the goal. 08-10-2024: Prepared my bank reference letter, and then—out of nowhere—the SDUWHV opening was announced! My heart raced; it was really happening. 10-10-2024: Received that precious SDUWHV letter. Holding it felt surreal, like I was holding a piece of my future. 25-10-2024: Lodged my visa application, sending off all my hopes and dreams along with it. 27-10-2024: Completed my Medical Check-Up (MCU), feeling both excitement and calm; the finish line was in sight. 12-11-2024: The day that made everything worth it—Visa granted! I felt pure joy, knowing the adventure of a lifetime was now just around the corner.

Jadi, aku sudah mengincar program WHV ini dari tahun lalu, gara-gara orang-orang di sekitarku tiba-tiba banyak yang berangkat ke Australia. Honestly, back in 2021, aku juga sempat berandai-andai, "Asyik juga ya kalau bisa ke Melbourne," waktu itu mikirnya pengen lanjut kuliah lagi, sih. Plus, one of my bucket list items is to work abroad, dan rasanya negara yang paling potensial buat goal itu adalah Australia. Banyak orang Pontianak juga yang hijrah ke sana, jadi makin kebayang, deh. Impian itu aku pendam, sambil terus cari kesempatan dan peluang, supaya bisa mewujudkan one of my ultimate dreams.

Ternyata, di tahun 2024, aku merasakan dorongan yang kuat untuk mengejar visa ini. Aku mulai mencari tahu semua persyaratannya, dan langkah pertama yang harus diambil adalah mendapatkan surat sakti SDUWHV. Nah, untuk bisa mendapatkan SDUWHV, ternyata ada beberapa persyaratan lagi yang harus dipenuhi. Waktu itu, aku masih berpatokan pada persyaratan tahun 2023, yaitu: foto, KTP, paspor, sertifikat bahasa Inggris, SKCK, ijazah, surat keterangan bank, dan surat keabsahan dokumen. Jadi, pelan-pelan aku mulai melengkapi semua dokumen yang bisa dicicil dulu sebelum pembukaan SDUWHV.

02 Maret 2024 Sore ini, aku pergi ke studio foto untuk ambil pas foto visa. Sempat bingung karena belum pernah foto visa sebelumnya, tapi untungnya studio tersebut sudah paham ketentuannya. Mereka mengarahkan dan membantu pengambilan foto serta pencetakan sesuai kebutuhan. Aku juga sekalian print ekstra untuk bikin SKCK.

28 Maret 2024 Setelah mendaftar antre online lewat aplikasi, pagi ini aku melakukan rekam sidik jari di Polda Kalbar. Aku datang pagi-pagi sekali agar bisa mendapat antrean pertama. Staff di sana dengan cekatan membantu dan sempat bertanya, "Apa tujuannya?" Aku jawab, "Untuk ke Australia, Pak." Mereka sangat mendukung dan turut mendoakan semoga prosesku lancar hingga mendapatkan visanya.

Perekaman sidik jari ini adalah salah satu syarat untuk membuat SKCK. Awalnya, aku pikir masih bisa membuat SKCK dengan tujuan WHV di Polda Kalbar, tapi ternyata sekarang ketentuannya sudah berubah dan harus diurus di Mabes Polri. Sempat bingung juga kalau harus ke Jakarta untuk mengurus SKCK. Beruntungnya, temanku bisa pergi ke Jakarta dan mewakilkan aku untuk membuat SKCK, dan pada 23 April 2024, SKCK-ku akhirnya terbit.

22 Mei 2024 Lanjut, dokumen-dokumen yang mudah sudah berhasil aku kumpulkan. Sekarang tantangan berikutnya adalah lolos tes Bahasa Inggris. Ada beberapa pilihan tes yang bisa diambil, dan dua yang paling populer adalah IELTS dan PTE. Kebetulan di Pontianak tersedia tes PTE, jadi aku memilih PTE saja. Jadwal tesnya juga lebih fleksibel. Sebenarnya, aku sudah mulai persiapan IELTS dari awal tahun, tapi H-2 bulan ini aku mulai intens belajar untuk PTE setiap malam dari YouTube dan website PTE Study, agar skorku tidak hanya lolos, tapi juga memuaskan. Sudah lama aku tidak merasakan sensasi belajar sambil menunggu-nunggu hari ujian.

Hari itu akhirnya tiba: hari tes PTE-ku. Lokasi tes di gedung PTE Academic, Universitas Tanjungpura, persis di depan fakultas kampusku dulu—nostalgia, hehe. Jadwal tesku jam 11. Pagi itu aku terbangun dengan deg-degan, rasanya seperti menghadapi ujian akhir semester lagi. Ada skor minimal yang harus aku capai (minimal 30), dan kalau tidak lolos, berarti harus mengulang tes—yang berarti keluar biaya lagi.

Jam 8.30, aku pergi ke kafe sendirian untuk sarapan sambil mengulas tips dan trik dari setiap bagian tes. Setelah itu, aku pasrahkan semuanya pada usahaku sejauh ini. Jam 10.00 aku berangkat ke gedung ujian. Setibanya di sana, aku melakukan registrasi. Ujiannya terasa cukup formal, mungkin karena ini tes internasional. Setiap sesi hanya bisa diikuti oleh 6 orang, jadi jadwalnya memang terbatas. Aku duduk di komputer nomor 1, dan semua tes dilakukan secara komputerisasi. Jawaban kita direkam dan disimpan dalam sistem. Menurutku, bagian yang paling sulit adalah writing, haha, karena temanya tidak diketahui sebelumnya dan mendadak aku merasa blank harus menyusun kata-kata seperti apa.

Dua jam berlalu, dan tes akhirnya selesai. Kata petugasnya, hasilnya bisa keluar dalam waktu 2 jam dan akan dikirim melalui email. Setidaknya, salah satu tahapan sudah kulewati, dan aku hanya bisa berdoa semoga hasilnya sesuai harapan! Seusai ujian, aku pergi makan ramen bersama teman yang juga ikut tes. Kami sempat berandai-andai seolah-olah sudah siap berangkat ke Australia dan visa sudah di tangan—padahal waktu itu, jadwal pembukaan SDUWHV saja belum pasti.

Sore itu aku lalui dengan harap-harap cemas menunggu skor. Dan… akhirnya, malamnya, hasilnya keluar! Skorku jeng jeng jeng… 81/90! Not bad! Aku langsung merasa lega. Satu langkah lebih dekat. Salah satu dokumen penting sudah ada di tangan, dan malam itu aku bisa tidur dengan tenang.

01 Juli 2024 Jujur, di tanggal ini aku sempat deg-degan banget. Soalnya, aku pernah lihat di IG Kedubes Australia yang memposting bahwa pendaftaran program WHV tahun 2023 sudah ditutup, dan pendaftaran WHV untuk tahun 2024 akan dibuka pada 1 Juli 2024. Kupikir itu adalah hari “war” untuk SDUWHV. Ternyata, itu adalah tanggal pembukaan kembali untuk lodge visa WHV. Waktu itu aku masih belum paham, haha, jadi aku sudah ngebut mempersiapkan segalanya dari awal. Pas tanggal 1 Juli tiba, ternyata tidak ada info apa pun dari Ditjen Imigrasi.

Sebulan… dua bulan berlalu…

Tidak ada kabar dari MIDO soal pembukaan SDUWHV. Hingga akhirnya, tanggal 02 September 2024, muncul pengumuman dari MIDO yang membawa kabar gembira: pembukaan kuota SDUWHV akan segera dilaksanakan! Deg-degan makin terasa! Lalu, pada 27 September 2024, MIDO mengumumkan bahwa untuk tahun 2024 hanya akan ada satu batch SDUWHV. That means, hanya ada satu kesempatan untuk “war”—jika tidak berhasil, berarti harus coba lagi tahun depan.

Overthinking dan kalut semakin terasa. Ada ketakutan terselubung, “What if aku nggak dapat?” Pasti akan sangat kecewa, karena ini adalah impian yang sudah lama aku nantikan—satu kesempatan berharga untuk explore dunia luar, bekerja di luar negeri, dan melalang buana, melihat dunia dari perspektif yang berbeda.

08 Oktober 2024 Siang itu, aku sedang santai-santai mengurus surat keterangan bank di BCA. Ini kali ketiga aku datang ke CS untuk minta surat tersebut, sampai-sampai CS-nya masih ingat dan bilang, “Lho, Cece lagi, bikin surat referensi bank lagi ya, Ce? Kapan buka kuotanya? Btw, tadi sebelum Cece juga ada yang minta surat keterangan bank, lho.” Aku cuma bisa tertawa kecil, ini sudah ketiga kalinya aku minta surat yang sama, haha.

Di saat yang hampir bersamaan, aku melihat postingan di IG Ditjen Imigrasi yang menyatakan bahwa tanggal pembukaan kuota SDUWHV adalah 10 Oktober 2024—which is lusa ini! Hatiku langsung berdetak tidak karuan! Malam itu, aku bahkan tidak bisa tidur dengan tenang, memikirkan semua persiapan untuk “war” yang harus semaksimal mungkin. Aku cek berulang-ulang file dokumen yang perlu diunggah, membaca kembali semua ketentuan agar tidak ada informasi sekecil apa pun yang terlewat.

Untungnya, aku sudah membuat akun di website-nya sebelumnya, jadi tidak perlu repot di tahap ini. Banyak pengaju lain yang mengalami error karena terlalu banyak orang yang membuat akun di waktu bersamaan.

10 Oktober 2024 Hari war dimulai! Pagi ini aku bangun lebih awal dari biasanya. Jujur, semalaman aku hampir tidak bisa tidur. Yang ada di pikiranku hanya satu: aku ingin bisa melewati hari ini dengan tenang dan lega. Banyak cerita dari tahun lalu tentang war SDUWHV yang katanya menegangkan dan “hidup-mati”—hanya ada satu kesempatan, dan kalau tidak berhasil, harus menunggu batch berikutnya yang entah kapan diadakan lagi. Jadi, hari ini, no matter what, aku harus mendapatkan surat sakti itu.

Jam 9 teng war dimulai. Laptop sudah siap, Wi-Fi aman, website sudah dibuka, dan akun sudah login. Masih menunjukkan pukul 08.45, tapi hatiku sudah dag-dig-dug, dan waktu terasa lambat. Detik demi detik berlalu sampai jam 9 tiba. Aku berpikir, Pasti bisa kok, sudah doa dan yakin. Tapi… tiba-tiba website down, dan aku ter-logout sendiri. Panik! Aku coba login lagi, hasilnya nihil, hanya muncul pesan error! Semakin panik, aku baca di grup, ternyata banyak yang mengalami hal yang sama. Temanku juga mengatakan hal yang sama, semua orang kesulitan login ke website.

Jam 9.11 aku berhasil masuk. Pengaju sudah terisi 423 dari kuota 4.796. Panik lagi! Aku coba segala cara—refresh browser, buka incognito, buka berbagai jenis browser—supaya bisa klik tab permohonan. Jika tombol “Ajukan Permohonan” berwarna biru, artinya kita bisa masuk ke halaman pendaftaran. Setelah beberapa waktu, tombol itu akhirnya berwarna biru. Aku langsung bersujud syukur, segera mengisi biodata dengan cepat karena waktu yang diberikan hanya 15 menit. Halaman 1 lancar, halaman 2 lancar, tapi di halaman 3, tersendat! Panik lagi! Setiap file yang aku coba unggah gagal. Waktu semakin habis. Aku coba ganti Wi-Fi ke tethering HP, tapi tetap gagal. Hingga waktu benar-benar habis, dan permohonanku terpental. Aku pun ter-logout sendiri.

Lemas… Rasanya mau nangis.

Usahaku seketika runtuh. Aku coba login lagi ke website tapi tidak bisa!

Aku pikir itu satu-satunya kesempatan, dan kalau sudah terpental berarti kesempatan itu hangus. Dunia rasanya runtuh. Tapi aku baca di grup lagi untuk mencari solusi. Mereka bilang coba terus masuk lagi dan ulangi dari awal. Akhirnya, meskipun panik, aku tetap mencoba. Ter-logout hingga ratusan kali kualami saat itu. Sampai akhirnya aku mendapat kesempatan kedua. Cepat-cepat aku isi lagi dan cek semuanya, tapi lagi-lagi terkendala di halaman ketiga untuk unggah file. Dan kembali lagi terpental sama seperti sebelumnya. Rasanya dunia runtuh untuk kedua kalinya. Kesempatan berharga yang kedua kali terbuang begitu saja. Kupikir semesta belum berpihak padaku.

Namun, aku tetap mencoba lagi dan lagi hingga masuk kesempatan ketiga. Kuota sudah terisi 3.000-an orang. Angka terus bertambah, mungkin karena banyak peminat dari seluruh Indonesia. Di IG MIDO, banyak yang protes dan mengeluh, hingga MIDO memberi pernyataan resmi bahwa pemohon mencapai 12.000 orang, sementara kuota hanya 4.796. Tidak heran jika website down. Tapi aku tetap berdoa. Aku yakin, surat sakti itu akan ada di tanganku hari ini! Akhirnya, aku berhasil masuk untuk ketiga kalinya, dan entah keajaiban dari mana aku bisa unggah semua file dengan bantuan tetheringHP. Aku langsung submit tanpa memikirkan sisa waktu, berserah. Yang penting aku sudah berusaha maksimal dan mengikuti semua prosedur.

Ternyata, untuk tahun ini, SDUWHV akan terbit di hari yang sama sekitar 1 jam setelah pengajuan diterima dan diverifikasi. Meski sudah lega karena berhasil submit, aku masih harus menunggu terbitnya SDUWHV. Dua jam berlalu tanpa kabar, membuatku cemas. Aku selesai submit jam 11.59, seharusnya jam 1 siang sudah terbit, tapi belum juga. Jujur, aku takut kalau ada dokumen yang terverifikasi gagal atau ada halangan lain, bahkan takut ditolak. Overthinking semakin menjadi-jadi. Aku hanya bisa duduk diam di depan laptop, menunggu status berubah ke penerbitan SDUWHV.

Tidak ada mood untuk makan sejak pagi hingga jam 14.40 sore, saat surat sakti itu akhirnya terbit!

Mau nangis bahagia! Tidak tahu lagi bagaimana mengekspresikan perasaanku. Ini adalah langkah awal untuk bisa apply WHV. Saat aku buka dan baca SDUWHV itu, rasanya seperti mimpi. Dari bulan Februari aku memimpikan ini, dan ini hari dimana aku benaar-benar mendapatkan surat berharga ini. Terima kasih banyak, Tuhan!

13 Oktober 2024 Hari Minggu yang cerah, aku memutuskan untuk fokus lodge visa. Karena ini pertama kalinya aku lodge visa, rasanya cukup deg-degan. Untungnya, aku punya banyak panduan yang bisa diikuti. Tapi tetap saja, aku sempat bingung—gimana caranya lodge visa kalau aku belum MCU? Kebingungan pertamaku: apa itu HAP ID, dan gimana caranya daftar MCU? Blank total. Untungnya, temanku mengirimkan link YouTube yang menjelaskan langkah-langkahnya. Baru deh aku paham prosesnya, termasuk cara mendapatkan HAP ID dan daftar MCU.

Aku segera menghubungi rumah sakit yang khusus untuk MCU Visa Australia, yaitu RS Premier Jatinegara. Aku memilih jadwal MCU hari Minggu, 27 Oktober 2024. Awalnya, aku berencana MCU pada 20 Oktober 2024, tapi karena suatu alasan, aku mau rescheduleke RS Bintaro. Sayangnya, RS Bintaro tidak melayani MCU pada hari Minggu. Akhirnya, aku kembali ke jadwal awal di RS Jatinegara. Namun, karena aku sudah mengajukan reschedule, jadwalku tanggal 20 Oktober hangus, jadi aku harus mundur jadwal MCU-ku ke tanggal 27 Oktober 2024.

23 Oktober 2024 Karena belum MCU, aku memutuskan untuk save dulu permohonan lodgement visa-ku. Alurnya memang bisa lodge visa dulu baru MCU, tapi aku belum punya dokumen yang di-translate, jadi rasanya lebih baik MCU dulu. Aku pun mulai mencari penerjemah tersumpah untuk menerjemahkan beberapa dokumen pendukung, seperti akta lahir dan kartu keluarga. Sayangnya, jadwal penerjemah penuh! Aku jadi menyesal kenapa tidak mengurus terjemahan lebih awal. Tapi, sudahlah. Aku terus menghubungi beberapa penerjemah tersumpah yang menerima layanan express. Untungnya, aku dapat Pak Joseph yang menyediakan layanan express dengan waktu pengerjaan 2 hari kerja. Dokumenku selesai diterjemahkan pada tanggal 23 Oktober 2024.

Saat aku mengecek hasil terjemahan dokumen—FYI, aku hanya menerjemahkan akta lahir dan kartu keluarga karena dokumen lainnya sudah bilingual—aku baru sadar kalau nama orangtuaku berbeda antara akta lahir dan KK. Wah, ini bikin aku galau berat. Seharusnya, aku lebih teliti sebelumnya untuk memastikan dokumen-dokumenku tidak ada masalah kecil seperti ini yang bisa menghambat proses visaku. Sebagai tambahan kekhawatiranku, SKCK-ku juga expired tepat tanggal 23 Oktober 2024. Aku tahu, SKCK adalah dokumen opsional untuk visa ini, tapi semakin banyak dokumen pendukung yang diunggah, kemungkinan visa granted akan lebih besar. Sayangnya, aku tidak punya waktu untuk memperpanjang SKCK karena harus mengurusnya langsung di Mabes Polri.

Aku bertanya di grup, dan mereka memastikan bahwa SKCK tidak wajib diunggah. Tapi tetap saja, aku merasa was-was. Tidak ada jaminan pasti apakah visaku akan grantedtanpa SKCK. Di tengah drama ini, muncul lagi kabar kalau ada masalah di immiaccount—katanya banyak yang tidak bisa lodge visa karena website error. Bahkan, beberapa orang menyebarkan rumor bahwa pendaftaran visa akan ditutup sampai tahun depan. Wah, ini benar-benar bikin panik dan overthinking.

Benar saja, malam itu, setelah aku mendapatkan hasil terjemahan dokumen, aku mencoba lodge visa. Tapi ternyata, immiaccount benar-benar tidak bisa diakses. Memang, aku sudah menyimpan semua data sejak 13 Oktober 2024, tapi halaman tersebut tidak bisa dilanjutkan. Yang muncul hanya notifikasi maintenance, dan itu membuatku semakin galau karena tidak bisa memproses visaku. Padahal, aku hanya tinggal lodge dan membayar biaya permohonan visa. Rasanya frustrasi karena sudah begitu dekat, tapi masih terhalang masalah teknis.

Hari itu, pikiranku penuh dengan kekhawatiran: soal nama orangtua yang tidak sinkron, SKCK expired, masalah immiaccount, dan waktu yang terus berjalan.

Rasanya seperti drama tak berujung.

Tiap jam aku terus refresh immiaccount, berharap ada perubahan. Aku juga rajin cek grup, siapa tahu ada teman-teman yang berbagi info kalau maintenance sudah selesai. Tapi tetap saja, hasilnya nihil—selalu gagal. Mungkin karena terlalu banyak orang yang mencoba lodge WHV ini, jadi aksesnya dibatasi. Aku mulai merasa menyesal, kenapa aku tidak lebih cekatan dan mengamankan lodge visa lebih awal. Overthinking pun muncul. Bagaimana kalau benar-benar kuota tahunan ditutup dan baru dibuka tahun depan? Kalau itu terjadi, perjuangan war SDUWHV-ku jadi sia-sia. Pikiran-pikiran itu membuatku tidak bisa tidur, hati gelisah, benar-benar galau.

Sampai akhirnya, 25 Oktober 2024, sekitar jam 12 siang, aku coba login ke immiaccount lagi, dan ternyata BISA! Tanpa pikir panjang, aku langsung lodge visa dan melakukan pembayaran. Untungnya, semua dokumen sudah aku unggah dan simpan sebelumnya, jadi begitu maintenance selesai, aku tinggal klik submit. Syukurlah, pada 25 Oktober 2024, jam 12.29, visaku tersubmit dan status berubah menjadi received.

Lega banget rasanya!

Tapi, tidak lama kemudian muncul kekhawatiran baru. Aku sudah punya HAP ID yang aku request sendiri sebelumnya, tapi aku lodge visa-nya dulu sebelum MCU. Saat lodge, ada pertanyaan apakah sudah pernah MCU sebelumnya. Kalau sudah, aku tinggal memasukkan HAP ID-ku. Masalahnya, aku belum MCU, tapi HAP ID-ku sudah ada. Kalau aku tidak memasukkan HAP ID, nanti malah dapat HAP ID baru dari imigrasi, yang berarti bisa jadi double. Bingung banget! Akhirnya, aku tetap nekat lodge visa dengan menyertakan HAP ID-ku yang aku request di awal, meskipun aku belum MCU. Aku hanya bisa berdoa semoga tidak ada masalah besar karena keputusan ini.

27 Oktober 2024 Aku berangkat ke Jakarta malam Minggu, 26 Oktober 2024, dengan penerbangan sore jam 6. Pesawat sempat sedikit delay, tapi aku tetap tenang karena Sabtu sore setelah pulang kerja aku tidak perlu terburu-buru mengejar ke bandara. Untungnya, proses MCU tidak lama, jadi aku tidak perlu mengajukan cuti. Tapi tentu saja, muncul lagi kekhawatiran baru. Malam sebelum MCU, aku haid! Panik lagi, karena salah satu persyaratan MCU adalah tes urin. Kenapa ya rasanya selalu ada saja masalah bertubi-tubi?

Sabtu pagi, aku benar-benar galau. Aku langsung memastikan ke pihak RS apakah aku masih bisa lanjut MCU dengan kondisi haid. Kalau tidak, aku harus reschedule tiket pesawat dan jadwal MCU, yang mana saat ini MCU sedang penuh-penuhnya karena banyak pengaju visa yang daftar. Kebayang antrean panjang dan waktu tunggu yang makin lama, dan itu bikin aku khawatir proses visaku jadi semakin tertunda. Untungnya, pihak RS mengonfirmasi bahwa tes urin sudah tidak lagi menjadi bagian dari MCU untuk visa ini. Lega banget!!! Setidaknya, aku tidak perlu reschedule, dan proses MCU bisa tetap berjalan sesuai jadwal.

Pagi itu, aku sampai di RS Premier Jatinegara sekitar jam 6.30 pagi dan langsung menuju tempat MCU di lantai 7. Meskipun pelayanannya baru buka jam 8, sekitar jam 7 lebih aku sudah diperbolehkan masuk untuk pengisian administrasi oleh stafnya. Estimasi awal, aku dapat giliran jam 9.05, tapi karena aku datang pertama, aku langsung dapat antrean pertama.

Jam 8.30, aku dipanggil untuk cek fisik dan mata. Dokternya melakukan sedikit wawancara tentang riwayat kesehatan dan menanyakan beberapa hal seputar diri kita. Setelah itu, dilakukan pemeriksaan fisik seperti cek nafas, detak jantung, dan refleks tubuh. Kemudian, lanjut ke tes mata seperti membaca huruf-huruf pada papan optik.

Selanjutnya, aku diarahkan ke ruangan kedua untuk timbang berat badan, cek tinggi badan, dan tensi. Di sini, aku juga diberitahu bahwa hasil MCU akan dikirimkan langsung ke imigrasi Australia dalam 3 hari kerja. Hasilnya bisa mulai ditanyakan pada H+1 setelah selesai. Setelah itu, aku diarahkan ke ruangan lain untuk pengambilan darah. Sebelum tes, aku sempat disarankan untuk banyak minum air agar hasilnya lebih baik. Oh ya, seminggu sebelum MCU, aku sampai nyetok susu Bear Brand dan minum rutin karena katanya itu bagus untuk kesehatan, terutama paru-paru. Did it work? Aku nggak tahu pasti, tapi aku tetap mengikuti saran orang-orang, siapa tahu memang ada manfaatnya.

Setelah selesai di lantai 7, aku lanjut ke kasir untuk melakukan pembayaran, kemudian diarahkan ke radiologi untuk Chest X-Ray. Proses Chest X-Ray cukup cepat ternyata. Saat tes, kita diminta mengikuti arahan staf, seperti cara bernapas yang sesuai prosedur. Di ruangan ini, kita hanya diperbolehkan memakai baju luar tanpa aksesoris seperti kalung, agar tidak mengganggu hasil foto. Seluruh proses MCU telah dipenuhi. Malamnya, aku pun langsung terbang kembali ke Pontianak.

MCU selesai! Berarti, aku tinggal menunggu hasilnya di-submit oleh pihak RS dan difinalisasi oleh imigrasi Australia.

Keesokan harinya setelah MCU, status Health Assessment di immiaccount-ku berubah menjadi finalised. Artinya, hasil MCU-ku bagus, dan pihak RS juga mengonfirmasi bahwa semua hasil normal. Lega rasanya! At least, aku tidak perlu MCU ulang, dan peluangku untuk granted semakin besar.

Tapi, apakah aku bisa menunggu dengan tenang? Oh, tentu tidak!

Masih ingat kekhawatiranku sebelumnya? Soal SKCK, aku sudah tidak terlalu cemas karena membaca banyak pengalaman orang yang tetap granted meskipun tanpa SKCK. Kalau pun nanti diminta, aku pikir aku bisa memperpanjang SKCK lagi.

Namun, yang benar-benar jadi sumber overthinking setiap hari adalah perbedaan nama orang tua di akta lahir dan kartu keluarga. Tiap hari aku kepikiran, apalagi setelah membaca case di Facebook tentang orang-orang yang kena random check karena masalah data ini. Ada yang harus bikin surat pernyataan kalau nama itu mengacu pada orang yang sama, ada juga yang diminta update KK, yang jelas itu semua butuh waktu dan proses yang tidak cepat, belum lagi harus di-translate lagi. Banyak juga yang bilang kalau tahu data ada perbedaan seperti ini, jangan coba-coba unggah KK karena bisa jadi malah bikin posisi kita lebih sulit kalau terkena random check. Rasanya, setiap hari aku tidak bisa tidur tenang, hanya bisa berdoa agar prosesku berjalan mulus dan visaku tidak menemui hambatan.

12 November 2024 18 hari berlalu sejak lodge visa dan selesai MCU. Setiap hari, aku rajin login ke immiaccount, berharap status visaku berubah dari received menjadi finalised dan granted. Tapi, nihil. Aku juga cek email berkali-kali, namun tidak ada notifikasi baru. Sementara itu, di grup, banyak pejuang WHV lain yang visanya sudah granted, dan aku mulai memperhatikan polanya—ternyata waktu lodge sangat berpengaruh. Semakin cepat kita lodge, semakin cepat visanya diproses. Karena aku lodge pada 25 Oktober 2024, berarti aku harus menunggu giliran teman-teman yang lodge pada 23 Oktober 2024 selesai granted terlebih dahulu sebelum giliranku. Setiap kali ada notifikasi dari Gmail, jantungku langsung berdebar kencang, tapi selalu saja bukan email granted. Rasanya mau nangis dan kecewa setiap kali harapan itu pupus.

14.46 Sore itu, aku memutuskan untuk refresh immiaccount untuk terakhir kalinya hari itu. Aku pikir, kalau tidak ada kabar, aku akan logout dan berharap lagi keesokan harinya.

Tapi… tiba-tiba, statusnya berubah menjadi FINALISED!

Aku terdiam. Bengong. Rasanya detik itu berhenti. Tanganku gemetaran. Aku refreshlagi untuk memastikan, dan di sebelah namaku tertulis GRANTED.

Aku mengecek kembali emailku, apa ada Grant Notification-nya? Beneran ada!

Semua overthinking-ku langsung buyar. Rasanya tidak bisa diungkapkan dengan kata-kata. Aku tidak perlu lagi memikirkan perbedaan nama dokumen atau takut terkena random check. Jantungku berdegup kencang, tapi kali ini penuh dengan kebahagiaan. Hari itu, semua impianku mulai terlihat semakin nyata.

Aku baca lagi granted letter-ku, dan akhirnya aku bisa mengatakan: Yes, I got that WHV with my name on it.

Terima kasih, Tuhan! ✨

Dan di sinilah perjalanan panjang ini akhirnya sampai pada awal yang baru. Semua perjuangan, rasa cemas, overthinking, dan doa yang tak henti-hentinya kini terbayar. Surat sakti itu bukan hanya sekadar dokumen, tapi simbol dari mimpi yang selama ini aku perjuangkan. Kini, langkah pertama sudah selesai—dan petualangan sesungguhnya baru saja dimulai.

Australia, here I come! 🌏✨

[7grandmel]

Todays rips: 31/03/2024

Your Best Nightmario and Bowser's Finale

Season 5 Featured on: SiIvaGunner's Highest Quality Rips: Volume C

Ripped by Blookerstein

Season 5 Featured on: SiIvaGunner's Highest Quality Rips: Volume C

Ripped by Blookerstein, Sarvéproductions

Requested by themessengervevo! (@themessengervevo)

You KNEW this day was coming. Surely, right? Its March 31st, a landmark day in gaming history. The day that Super Mario died. The day we lost him to time forever. And the day that spawned perhaps the greatest April Fools event on all of SiIvaGunner. For me, its no contest - Your Best Nightmario and Bowser's Finale, and the entire event they were part of, were the absolute highlight of Season 5.

The April Fools events held prior on the channel since their very beginnings with Grand Dad Metropolis had all been presented as complete surprises. That is perhaps a given - it is in the nature of a prank to be surprising - but it's also where the Season 5 event differs most even today, in that its theme was all but known to us well beforehand. Announced on September 3rd of 2020 as part of a bizarre marketing tactic to drive up demand, Nintendo had let us known that their newfangled Mario celebration releases in Super Mario 3D All-Stars and Super Mario Bros. 35, would both be delisted from sale after March 31st. Super Mario Bros. 35 stung in its own right - it is effectively lost media now as a digital-only, online-only game, but Super Mario 3D All-Stars contained three of Nintendo's most celebrated games, games that had no reason to stop being sold just for a cheap trick. Everyone rightfully denoted how scummy of a tactic this was to drive up sales, but more than that: the imagery of Nintendo celebrating Mario's birthday by killing his games - and by proxy, killing Mario himself - was a joke that online spaces just ran absolutely rampant with. And can you blame them? That IS funny as shit, and reframes Nintendo's slimy marketing into something that makes them look far worse. Because of the joke's sheer prevalence, I had the same thought as many others in the early days of 2021 - there was *no way* that the SiIvaGunner team were blind to the potential this gag had, and how well it lined up with their previous explosive festivities just a day after. By March 29th, they even teased the event's start with three daily rips of The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, a game all about impending doom affecting the world in just three days, with each rip featuring the melody of one of the three 3D Mario games in the collection.

And sure enough, the day came. With March 31st, we saw a whole day of nothing but Mario rips and Mario-related jokes in other rips - a last hurrah for his life - all ending with Super 3D All-Stars Music S64 Game Over. Just like that, he was gone - faded from the video, faded from view. Yet few of us could've predicted just how dire things would get.

In SiIvaGunner lore, the term "Figment" refers to the personification a meme or joke on the channel takes, its characterized state - think Mr. Rental in Mr. Rental [B Side] ~ Out of Options or Inspector Gadget in Become as Gadget and throughout his two takeovers. When a figment based on a real human dies, it can easily be reborn - the human itself lives on in the real world, after all, and can recreate the essence of its Figment in a variety of ways. But when a purely fictional Figment dies...its erased from all history. As if it had never existed to begin with, all traces of it are wiped from memory, wiped from the very state of having ever existed. And under Nintendo's very own Gulliotine, this was the fate Super Mario himself succumbed to. As a result every single Super Mario-series rip uploaded in the channel's five-year run, be they Kart, Sports, Paper or just outright Super, was set to private on the SiIvaGunner channel. And as April 1st of 2021 went on, it seemed to be harder and harder to remember the name of that mustachioed man. Had someone like that...ever existed?

I'm certain a lot of what I'm writing here is familiar ground to many of you reading, but I really want to convey just how incredibly well-done this atmosphere was. Throughout April 1st, fifty-five rips were uploaded, many of which featuring games that seemed just...the slighest bit off. The opening to the classic Philips CD-i game "Hotel", where a lone Luigi talks to himself; The underwater music featured in the SNES Launch title "Super World" with a bizarrely-lopsided logo, and most prominently - games like Super M̸̌̊a̴͛̿█̸͌̑i̵̛͊█̷̾̓ 64, Super M̸̌̊a̴͛̿█̸͌̑i̵̛͊█̷̾̓ Sunshine and Super █̴̧̀a̵̤̐r̷̙̋█̶̰̆o̶͚̚ Galaxy, three games that were bound by a strange malfunction in their presentation, as if they're collectively...held back by something. Or someone.

Your Best Nightmario stood out as the centerpiece of it all, with a title yet more bizarrely mangled than the rest - Super 👉█̸͌̑█̷̾̓😁̶̆͠☼̷̇̃👈̸̂͑█̷̾̓█̾̓ 64. Two fingers, pointing toward a desperate smile. It's-a-me. The rip serves as an incredible multi-stage arrangement of Your Worst Nightmare from Undertale, the boss music for Flowey the Flower. Its already incredibly befitting on the surface level - Undertale is at once one of SiIva's most prominently-ripped games, and a game very much about the state of living game characters have, the idea of how characters in games can affect you in a way that makes them worth remembering for all time. And though the rip is initially in line with the instrumentation of the original Ultimate Koopa theme, it uses the segmented style-shifting sections of Your Worst Nightmare to arrange music from other Nintendo platforming games - the ones primarily bound by featuring characters like Luigi, Peach and Bowser within them, but ones where I can't really place my finger on who their protagonist is. As a result of all these styles and the fervent, desperate, downright nightmarish pace of the music, paired with the full-on galactic-scale orchestral sections near the rips end, it truly feels like a hopeless struggle, a plea from an unknown hero to stay alive, to not be forgotten, to not be lost to the sands of time.

The sheer atmosphere conveyed throughout the entire event was primarily carried through these rips, of course, but it cannot be understated just how much of a part the comments section played in it all. There was no confusion - the buildup had been done so well, the gag established so clearly, that EVERYONE was on board with the day's theming in the comments, and "playing along" with the story's theme. Everyone reminisced and had fond memories of all these games - New Super Bros., Luigi: Superstar Saga, Super 64 DS, and more - yet we were all collectively wondering why things felt so different from before. It was the most fun collective gaslighting I've ever been part of.

As the day came to an end, Mario's fate seemed to be set - the entirety of April 2nd was silent, except for one rip that confirmed that even our beloved Gangsta Mario (see Caramariodansen) was lost. Yet on April 3rd, we were all finally met with Bowser's Finale, a direct followup to Your Best Nightmario by its very same ripper. Blookerstein, the legend behind The expanse of meme in past was split, A fiendish trap has now been set; Behind a tree the villains sit, Terror of sport, the Robbie's Net., this time aided by Sarvéproductions of Goodbye To Love fame, created the absolute perfect way to round out the event - a return to the desperate battle that had once seemed lost, now with the music of Finale instead of Your Worst Nightmare to indicate the turning of the tides - that this legend, nay, SUPER MARIO, was not going to give up. This figment did not deserve to leave us - and Bowser's Finale was his last stand. The excitement in the air, in the comments section, was palpable.

Finale is already an incredible theme, and one that some of us even have some emotional attachment to in the context of SiIva - remember Aphex all the way back in Season 1? Bowser's Finale leverages those feelings, and the theming set up throughout the event as a whole, to incredible effect, with the same structure of going through the styles of various Mario music to rising dramatic effect. Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine, Super Mario Galaxy - the first two using songs like Slider and A Secret Course that are beloved by so many SiIvaGunner viewers, the third hitting a emotional gutpunch in its orchestral instrumentation, and all three bound together as the games that started this whole thing, the games part of the 3D All-Stars collection. It is with no exaggeration a pitch-perfect rendition of this idea, better than anything I could've ever anticipated before the event began - once again only elevated through the sheer sense of community the entire comments section held through it all, cheering Mario on, collectively remembering his existence - fighting to bring this lost figment back to reality.

Y'know, I've been critical of Season 5 in the past - it is likely still the Season of the channel I was "least" invested in taken on the whole. That is in large part due to its lack of ties to the channel's ongoing lore, as it was focused primarily on self-contained events just like this one. But GOD, those events. I still see people online today who are less in touch with what SiIvaGunner does, who cite this event - "The Disappearance of Super Mario", as some call it - as the absolute peak of SiIvaGunner's output past the Season 1 finale. I wouldn't necessarily agree - but the event was undoubtedly unforgettable, at once an incredible execution of a long-anticipated bit, surprisingly emotionally gripping, whilst also being subtly tied to the very canon and theming of the SiIvaGunner channel itself. I chose to highlight Your Best Nightmario and Bowser's Finale in particular today, but I emplore you to go watch the entire event yourself through the fanmade YouTube playlists - if nothing else to see just how committed to the bit everyone involved truly was.

But don't forget: There's more to this tale yet to be retold.

[odinsblog]

Links:

• https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/03/16/1163786037/maternal-deaths-in-the-u-s-spiked-in-2021-cdc-reports

• https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/05/bill-cassidy-maternal-mortality-rates

• https://amp.theguardian.com/global-development/2023/mar/17/texas-black-women-maternal-healthcare-crisis-medicaid

• https://laist.com/news/health/april-valentine-childbirth-death-centinela-hospital-los-angeles-black-maternal-mortality-investigation

• https://people.com/health/tk-dad-raising-sons-alone-after-wife-dies-in-childbirth/

• https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna1246841

• https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/amp/wellness/story/calls-change-26-year-black-woman-dies-childbirth-71698417

• https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/wellness/story/calls-change-26-year-black-woman-dies-childbirth-71698417

• https://www.wsj.com/articles/black-mothers-in-new-york-are-more-likely-to-have-life-threatening-complications-in-childbirth-11597268700

• https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/harris-pushes-make-black-maternal-health-national-priority-rcna24630

[fashionbooksmilano]

Embodying Pasolini

Foreword by Tilda Swinton, Text by Olivier Saillard and Clara Tosi Pamphili, Photographs by Ruediger Glatz

Rizzoli, New York 2022, 112 pages,  26.19 x 31.6 cm, Hardcover,  ISBN  978-0847872725

euro 78,00

email if you want to buy :booksinprogressmilano@yahoo.it

Longtime creative collaborators Tilda Swinton and Olivier Saillard present an illustrated tribute to the costumes of legendary Italian director Pier Paolo Pasolini’s iconic films.   Retracing Pier Paolo Pasolini’s entire cinematography—which continues to fascinate audiences almost half a century after his passing—Embodying Pasolini explores the costumes that brought his films to life. From The Gospel According to St. Matthew (1964), The Canterbury Tales (1972), and Arabian Nights (1974) to Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom (1975), Pasolini’s movies are known for their provocative flair—making them staples of art cinema’s golden age. Styled by Danilo Donati, the costumes—garments, coats, and hats—enlivened the films with their rich textures, volume, color, and embellishments.  This exquisite volume documents the eponymous performance that took place in Rome on July 25, 2021, in Solomeo on April 30, 2022, and which will be presented in Paris on December 3 through 10, 2022. Conceived by Olivier Saillard and poetically interpreted by Tilda Swinton, the sold-out event—an ephemeral artwork in itself—showcased thirty of the most influential costumes of Pasolini’s films. With fascinating texts by Swinton, Saillard, and Clara Tosi Pamphili and evocative photographs by Ruediger Glatz, this publication—part art object, part catalog—is an extraordinary tribute to cinematic fashion and the sole record of the critically acclaimed production.

17/03/23

orders to:     booksinprogressmilano@yahoo.it

ordini a:        booksinprogressmilano@yahoo.it

twitter:         @fashionbooksmi

instagram:   fashionbooksmilano, designbooksmilano tumblr:          fashionbooksmilano, designbooksmilano

[sobersturniolos]

bris intro + her navigation

est.03/06/24

hi! i’m bri,, or biggest matt enthusiast- 🍹,

my pronouns are she/her but i dont mind she/they

ive been watching the sturniolos since 2021 in april.

if i cant read ur fics i might just like w/o reblogging 🌀

pls request a fic, id appreciate it sm and ill make sure to make it to the best of my ability. 🍋‍🟩

taglist!

🌺 - interests + who ill write for - 🌺

📋- masterlist -📋

( no new fics as of now since i quit.)

mainly the sturniolo triplets , karate kid , the outsiders, diary of a wimpy kid, baylen levine.

🏝️- what i will write for ya -🏝️

fluff, smut, any kind of fanfic that deals with my interests above, ( . ) x reader fanfics.

🦩- what i wont write! -🦩

anything that deals or mentions eating disorders, incest , anything that doesn’t deal with my interests , rape/noncon , nick x female reader ( unless nick and the reader are best friends.) , anything that involves death of a family member.

“ i was too busy fuckin’ bitches, gettin’ money”

[dykegeology]

Look at these miturgids people have uploaded to inaturalist... astonishing groundbreaking I think it should be front page news and on every exam for every subject

[covid-safer-hotties]

Main Predictors of Decreasing in Quality of Life in Patients With Post-COVID-19: A Cross-Sectional Study - Published Sept 9, 2024

Highlights • Patients with post-COVID-19 alteration enhance the notion of a strong psychosomatic factors involved in the post-COVID-19 syndrome with a decrease in quality of life of millions of patients worldwide. • The patients with post-COVID-19 alterations perceive a decreased quality of life probably due to effects of pain/discomfort, anxiety/depression (according to EQ-5D), and ≥3 persistent symptoms. • The patients with post-COVID-19 alterations might benefit from neuropsychological rehabilitation programs even several months after disease onset.

Abstract

Objective We aimed to assess physical and psychosomatic manifestations of patients with long COVID and their association with a decreased patient’s quality of life (QOL) or different times elapsed since the COVID-19 diagnosis.

Methods This is a cross-sectional study. We retrospectively collected the clinical characteristics of adult patients who had tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 and had symptoms at least as early as 4 weeks after COVID-19 in México City between April 2020 and February 2021. A total of 179 were included. They answered questions to define chronic symptoms. The Sniffin’ Sticks Screening 12 test olfactory evaluation was performed. The diminish of QOL was defined by ≥10 points in the EuroQol visual analog scale between pre- and post-COVID-19, and each dimension of EQ-5D-5L test was evaluated. Chi-square test, Fisher’s exact test, Student t test, Wilcoxon rank-sum, and signed-rank test were used as required. A backward stepwise logistic regression analysis determined the factors associated with a decrease in QOL. All analyses were performed using R software version 3.6.3 (R Foundation).

Results In the multivariable analysis, post-COVID-19 pain/discomfort (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 2.5 [1.66-9.68]; P = .01), anxiety/depression (aOR 13 [1.44-17.23]; P = .03), and persistence of ≥3 symptoms (aOR 2.6 [0.96-7.47]; P = .05) remained statistically significant associated with decreased QOL.

Conclusions Patients with long COVID-19 have decreased QOL mainly associated with pain/discomfort, anxiety/depression, and ≥3 persistent symptoms. Our findings enhanced the notion of a strong psychosomatic factors involved with long COVID-19. Therefore, these patients might benefit from neuropsychological rehabilitation, although the effect of such interventions should be evaluated.

[justinelark]

Sidney Crosby stories

from Jeff Marek's show/podcast on April 8

(1) One of Jeff's favorite stories: a player was practicing with Sid and some others on one end of the ice and as they skated around, eventually the ice got chewed up. One of them suggested relocating to the other end of the rink where the ice was still fresh, and Sid said, "No, we're going to stay here, because it's harder. That's where I like to practice." (1:02:30 into the episode) (2) Brian Boyle's story was from the end of the 2021-22 season when he was with the team. The Penguins had secured a playoff position, so in game 82 versus Columbus, Sullivan only played Sid for 15 and a half minutes. The purpose was for him to have a lighter game with the playoffs coming up. Boyle was surprised to see Sid working hard on the bike after the game. After watching Sid for 25 minutes, he asked, "Are you going to get off [the bike]?" and Sid said, "I only played 15 minutes!" Boyle pointed out how many games he had played to that point in the season and that he had played 22 minutes in the prior game. "You got some reps. You got a good workout." And Sid said, "No, I gotta be ready. I gotta be ready to play more." He spent 20 more minutes on the bike. (1:03:45 into the episode; photo of Boyle with Crosby, Evan Rodriguez and Jake Guentzel from 2022)