#Blue Moons

[mumblelard]

saving the world one couch nap at a time and also happy friday imaginary constructs

i dreamt i got hired to do public relations for a collective of sentient alleyways. in the course of interviewing them for their press release i discovered something startling, then i woke up

[merelygifted]

Rare 'blue supermoon' — the biggest and brightest full moon of the year — rises Aug. 30 | Live Science

The biggest and brightest full moon of 2023 will rise on Aug. 30, and its strange name deserves an explanation. Called a "blue supermoon," it is the result of three lunar phenomena happening at once.

The "blue" supermoon's name has nothing to do with the moon's color. In fact, it will actually be orange. The blue supermoon gets the first part of its name for a different reason: It's the second full moon in August.

There are two types of blue moon. The August blue supermoon falls into the first category: two full moons occurring in the same month. That's occasionally inevitable; a new full moon rises every  29.5 days. Given that the Sturgeon Moon occurred on Aug. 1, 2023, the Aug. 30 full moon will be a blue moon. Blue moons of this type, called "calendar blue moons," occur roughly every two or three years, with the next one occurring on May 31, 2026, according to timeanddate.

The second type of blue moon, called a "seasonal blue moon," describes the third full moon of four during one astronomical season. This occurs when a calendar year has 13 full moons instead of the typical 12. (A lunar year — 12 orbits of Earth by the moon — takes 354 days, while Earth's solar year is 365 days.) The next seasonal blue moon, which also happens every two or three years, will occur on Aug. 19, 2024, according to timeanddate.

So, where does the second part of the name come from? A supermoon occurs when the full moon is close to its nearest point to Earth in its orbit. The moon's orbit of Earth is elliptical, so every month, it reaches a closest point (perigee) and farthest point (apogee). Moons that come within 90% of perigee in a given month qualify as supermoons, according to Fred Espenak, an astronomer and former eclipse calculator for NASA.

August's second full moon is the third and closest of four supermoons in 2023. At 222,043 miles (357,344 kilometers) from Earth, it will be the biggest and brightest supermoon of 2023, though it will be only 20 miles (33 kilometers) closer than Aug. 1's full moon, which was 222,023 miles (357,311 km) away.

The next full moon will be the Harvest Moon, on Sept. 29. In addition to being one of the best-known full moons of the year, it's the last supermoon in 2023.

Find out the exact time of moonrise for your location, and prepare for the spectacular sight of the blue supermoon on the eastern horizon next week.  ...

[valderaa]

Shortly after the conclusion of their first play together, Chikage finds Tsuzuru in his and Itaru's room at the dead of night.

If there was an award for the strangest thing that's happened to him since joining Mankai, this wouldn't even crack the top ten.

come on and read my chikage & tsuzuru bonding fic where chikage spends 90% of it brooding... u know u want to...

[elminx]

Some Astrological Tea: blue moon doesn't really mean anything

The concept of the blue moon in American culture has absolutely no more or less energy than any other full moon.

It's not actually special in any way. (I mean, all full moons are special but extra special - not one bit).

Occasionally, there are two full moons in a row in the same sign and that can pack a pretty big wallop. That's because we get the huge crest of lunar energy in the sign area of the astrological chart more than once in a season which is uncommon. But even then, it's just another full moon.

We get one about every 28 days so it can wait.

This isn't to say that you can't decide something is significant and make it so for yourself but there's no astrological backing there. It's the same old same old Sun-Moon opposition that comes around every month.

(Sidenote: isn't it weird that our modern calendar has so little significance in modern magic? Days of the week, ya but pretty much nothing else. Like July moon really doesn't mean anything.)

[teddyliuwho]

B L U E  M O O N S

Founded: 1930s

Founder: Wen Dingxiang (White Wolf)

Founding Location: Taiwan

Years Active: 1930s - present

Territory: Taiwan, Britain, China (Guangdong), Macau, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, Brazil, Australia

Ethnicity: Multi-Ethnic but largely Hakka Chinese, Han Chinese, Sinitic-Taiwanese, and occasionally Korean

Species: Lycanthrope 

Membership: 3,000

Activities: Drug trafficking, contract killing, money laundering, arms trafficking, immigration fraud, extortion, illegal gambling

The Blue Moons Gang (BMG) is one of Taiwan's most significant supernatural gangs, with an estimated 3,000 members. The BMG is mainly made up of Mainland Chinese but has been steadily growing in diversity since the 1990s. They are a werewolf-run gang. 

H I S T O R Y

The Blue Moons Gang was formed in the 1930s by Wen Dingxiang, nicknamed White Wolf, and other mainland Chinese who had immigrated to Taiwan. They began as a vigilante force during Japan’s occupation of Taiwan, opposing the Kōminka movement, which sought to fully “japanize” Taiwanese society.

Following the end of World War II, The BMG gained notoriety through street fighting and vigilante justice. The Blue Moons' membership's goals shifted from street fighting to profiteering by the late 1950s. The gang began extorting money from politicians and big corporations, and established a name for itself in the "protection" industry. 

The gang's influence increased in the early 1980s due to its involvement in politics and international missions. Regarding politics, BMG behaves like a lobbying organization, supporting candidates that share their views.

O R G A N I Z A T I O N

The BMG has a rank system, advancements, and bonuses. It is systematic and regimented. Senior gang figures are called "Da Ge" or "Big Brother." 

The gang is divided into 12 divisions (one for each territory), with names like "Alpha Division" and "Canidae Division." There are bosses, advisers, underbosses, soldiers, and associates. The BMG is said to work with multi-ethnic syndicates to traffic drugs and launder money.

Membership in BMG is open only to werewolves. Senior members are born lycanthropes, while a large percentage of junior members are turned.

N O T A B L E  C A S E S

In 2013, one of the opposition's top leaders' daughters and mother were brutally murdered in their own home. 

F A M I L I A L  T I E S

Wen Dingxiang (1907 - 2001) ➯ Wen Yizong (1967 - ) ➯ Wen Songwoo (1995 - )

Zhang Jinfu (1910 - ) ➯ Zhang Haitao (1968 - ) ➯ Zhang [Liu] Teddy (1995 - )

[mimimar]

the woman who holds the moon

prints available here. my cover for this month's issue of baffling magazine.

[maviyenot]

[without-ado]

The 2nd full moon of August 2023 l Rami Ammoun

[smittyw]

TEMPO DI ZUPPA

[fanfic-gremlin-ft-trauma]

tfw you’ve been tasked to murder the prince of the northern water tribe but he’s really majestic

(they make a compromise)

[superkursunaskr]

[mumblelard]

maniacally laughing just saw a street preacher with a spanging sign of doctor bronneresque density consensually stripper grind someone who was wearing a vest made out of dead beanie babies or a babo shaped babo

last week the blue moon landed on my birthday for only the second time in my life. so much that happened between those two birthdays was an unwinding of everything that came before, and a lot of that hurt, it really hurt, but now i feel strangely untouchable. i may get one more blue moon birthday in nineteen years. i can't wait to see what this new era brings

in the last week, i saw the giant snapper that rules the bull sluice. i ate fried chicken and seven-up cake, homemade pulled pork nachos, and waffle house. i went to the parade with both of my kids for the first time in a decade. i talked to a good friend on the phone for hours. i laughed so much. i made a delicious pot of very angry beans. i slept with my windows open for the first time since spring, and i drank coffee on my cool breezy porch

it's been a very good week

(oh yeah, and i learned a thing about myself that folks have been telling me since i was sixteen, but i finally heard them, and i am still laughing about it)

[merelygifted]

Blue supermoon: what is it, when it peaks and how to see it : NPR

...  This year's blue supermoon will officially turn full at 9:36 p.m. ET on Aug. 30, according to Space.com, but to the naked eye, it'll look just as full from Tuesday night to Friday morning, with the shaded strip appearing so narrow as to be virtually imperceptible.

And, if it's an especially big moon you're after, consider catching the moonrise in the east or moonset in the west. Experts say this is when foreground objects combine with a low-hanging moon to create the "moon illusion" — the time when the moon tends to look the largest.

(You can check the local rising and setting times for your area using the U.S. Navy's Moonrise calendar).

Anyone looking to take in more detail of the lunar surface could use binoculars, a telescope, or an astrophotography lens. But astronomers like Teske say those tools aren't necessary for a moving experience.

"Get out there and observe it. Just enjoy the beautiful view of the moon," he said. "Really think about what you're seeing out there."

After all, this isn't just a hunk of rock orbiting the Earth about a quarter of a million miles away. It could be the next frontier. ...

[suspicious-scarecrow]

[expressions-of-nature]

by Gustaf Emanuelsson

[fanaticalthings]

I really like the idea of the bat kids designating Dick and Jason's apartments as sibling gathering spots but for opposite reasons.

Sibling needs some comfort? Some eldest daughter advice? A shoulder to cry on or just a lil getaway spot from the chaos of Gotham? Dick's apartment is perfect.

But if a batkid wants to complain, maybe wants to talk shit about Bruce, or maybe even wants to discuss a lil felony in a judgement free zone? Jason's place it is.

And I like to imagine that while Dick readily keeps his doors open and reminds anyone that they can drop by anytime, it's the opposite for Jason.

Dude's got his place riddled with traps and locked up to the high heavens. He makes it obvious he doesn't want visitors, and vaguely insinuates that there are bombs rigged somewhere in his apartment so there's a always a 50/50 chance you might get blown up if he's feeling particularly bitchy one day.

But does that stop his siblings? Absolutely not. Unlike Dick (who assigns himself as the guiding older brother), Jason has been forcefully labelled as the older sibling you go to if you need to complain and stir up havoc. The hundreds of traps in his place mean nothing. And it's worse because Jason is never prepared for when someone drops in.

-----

[Jason, 3 hours into his sleep, blearily waking up to a weight on his chest at 4am]:

[Damian, perched atop him, eyes dead-centre locked onto Jason without blinking]: Hello, Todd-stop screaming it is unbecoming-I just came to tell you that father won't allow me to adopt another stray I found on patrol.

Jason, half-asleep and like 70% sure he's hallucinating: Wha-

Damian: I need you to blow up his car.

Jason:

-----

[Jason, arriving home after a 6 hour patrol, exhausted out of his mind, turning on the lights]:

[Stephanie, previously baking brownies in the pitch black darkness before Jason arrived]: Oh hey! Just thought I'd drop by, y'know, for fun.

Jason: Bruce yelled at you again.

Stephanie: Bruce yelled at me again.

And yes, while most of the time, it ends up as wholesome sibling bonding, sometimes the other batkids just feel like inconveniencing Jason just whenever, because what are siblings for?

[Jason waking up and seeing all of his traps and security systems disarmed and very deliberately broken in a way where he'll have to replace all of them instead of being able to reactivate them]:

[Jason, immediately dialing his phone angrily]: Tim, I swear to GOD-

-----

[Jason giving himself a rest-day and cooking some meals]:

[Dick somersaulting in through the open window unannounced (he missed his brother)]: Whatcha up to, littlewing? :>

Jason: GET OUT-

-----

[Jason casually reading a book, feeling a sudden chill up his spine]:

[Cassandra standing in the corner without so much as an exhale, watching Jason intensely. Who knows how long she's been there]:

Jason: Are you here to kill me

Cass:

Jason: Just make it quick.