#also get one of those apps u can point at the sky which will label everything for you

[sixohsixoheightfourtwo]

I always look at Saturn and think about Galileo's first drawing of it

when he didn't know what he was looking at. 'The planet Saturn is not alone, but is composed of three, which almost touch one another and never move nor change with respect to one another.'

And if you're up early in the morning you can see Venus too.

sunset at 4pm ??? Bad. But looking up and seeing the planets jupiter and saturn. Even from an arbitrary location in london. Without having to stay up til the middle of the night. You just look up and they're there. Very very good.

[slliest-clownmari]

Hello again! For the month of June we decided to don our best Icarus costumes because we flew directly into the sun on this one! Extra long disclaimer this time. If you're interested in the technical side what we did and how it went wrong, or want to see the raw numbers, that'll be at the bottom of this post!

Disclaimer: There were two major errors during collection. The first one resulted in five people's views not being collected for the first half hour of the event.  These people were SMajor/Noxcrew, ItsFunneh, Squaishey, ASFJerome, and Mefs, amounting to about 56k views when added back. The second error left a 45 minute gap in the data where nothing is collected. While these are major errors general trends are still visible and neat to look at!

TL;DR: MCCP21 peaked with 627.4k viewers a little more than thirty minutes into the event. 65.4% of those viewers were watching the Pink Parrots, and 87.9% of those were watching Technoblade. The second most watched team was the Lime Llamas at 16.9% of viewership, 77.6% of that coming from Wisp.

For easier viewing of the graphs, check out the Google Slides version! Total Viewership Over Time

The event peaked with 627,421 viewers at 8:33PM which was during Sky Battle. Looking at the trend of the data, this statistic is unlikely to have changed if the missing 45 minutes had been counted, especially seeing how the peak of MCC14 was also easily in the first hour.  Data collection began about an hour before the event's official start at 8:00PM and ended an hour after the event's end at 11:08PM.

Viewership by Individual Over Time

A fun game you can play with this graph, sans the labels, is guess which one's Technoblade! So far everyone I've shown the unlabelled graph to has guessed correct.

Three people went live after the official start time of the event at 8:00PM, those being Technoblade, Grian, and AyChristeneGames. Four streamers had gone offline prior to the end of 20vs20 Dodgebolt at 11:08PM. Twenty of the 24 participants had gone offline within 5 minutes of the event end. This is in sharp contrast to MCC14 where it took 15 minutes to have half of the 36 participants to go offline. MCC14 participants were also more likely to start streaming well in advance of the event. (For context, only Twitch data was collected for MCC14.) This is probably a cultural difference between Youtube and Twitch.

Viewership by Team Over Time

The viewership drop off after a team fails to reach Dodgebolt is a lot more severe this time, and you don't really see the two teams who did get to Dodgebolt get a boost either. Best guess is this is because MCCP21 was non-canon so nobody really cared who won the whole thing if their favorites didn't make it. Another observation: Pink Parrots has a much more severe dropoff during the Bird App Poll than everyone else. Unseen here is the viewership increase when Wilbur's fire alarm went off :(

Viewership Breakdown at Peak by Individual

So, not the most diverse viewership. The most watched person at peak in MCC14, Tommyinnit, only had 21.1% of total viewership. Even if you combine that percentage with the runner-up Dream's numbers, you only get 38.4% of viewership going to them. There is not a single team from MCC14 who captured nearly 57.5% of the viewership. The most they could do was 39.9% (Green Guardians). Absolutely insane degree of domination.

Top Five (Unrouned) 1. Technoblade (360.8k) 2. Wisp (82.2k) 3. Grian (45.5k) 4. ItsFunneh (44.9k) 5. Joey Graceffa (23.5k)

Bottom Five 26. Burren (78) 25. SeaPeeKay (333) 24. Spifey (403) 25. AyChristeneGames (498) 26. InTheLittleWood (521)

Wisp's numbers were so hugely different from last time (0.1% to 13.1%) that I actually sought out people who watched him to confirm he really had over 70k viewers. He did. This probably has to do with having fewer big names to compete with and being on a team with Tommy and Tubbo. Plus, he’s more familiar to the Minecraft community than Joey Graceffa, so fans of Tommy and Tubbo would be more likely to watch Wisp to see their faves. This isn't meant to belittle Wisp or to attribute his viewership entirely to Tommy or Tubbo; MCC is an unfair measurement of the usual popularity of a creator.

Viewership Breakdown at Peak by Team vs Survey Data

The predicted viewership graph was generated using data from a poll I ran on Tumblr and a poll run by u/Epic_Ninja_Dude123 on r/MinecraftChampionship.

Difference from predicted counts (Pred. % vs Actu. %) Lime Llamas: +9.1% (7.8% vs 16.9%) Green Guardians: +6.3% (0.9% vs 7.2%) Purple Pandas: -6.3% (6.7% vs 0.4%) Orange Ocelots: -5.1% (5.5% vs 0.4%) Red Rabbits: -4.1% (6.2% vs 2.1%) Blue Bats: -1.9% (2.5% vs 0.6%) Aqua Axolotls: +1.3% (2.5% vs 3.8%) Pink Parrots: +0.9% (64.5% vs 65.4%) Yellow Yaks: +0.5% (0.0% vs 0.5%) Cyan Creepers: -0.3% (3.2% vs 2.9%)

Standard Dev. for MCC14: 10.22 Standard Dev. for MCCP21: 2.89

Thrilled by these statistics!! The MCC14 survey had nearly triple the sample size (862) as this combined survey, but still ended up closer to actual counts. Real life proof of what they tell you in stats classes! A representative sample is the best kind of sample to have. Something I did not consider when using the survey for MCC14 is its source, a blog on Tumblr that talks heavily about Technoblade and Philza, which obviously biased the audience who took it towards the Pink Parrots (Philza, Fundy, Wilbur, JackManifold). Not a surprise we did better this time but really neat to see logic in action! lol

Another interesting thing about the survey: Reddit and Tumblr do vary a little in taste. It's easier to just show you:

What's missing? I chose not to calculate average/median viewership for the creators involved due to the large gap in data. It wouldn't be correct most likely.

So, how did you do this and how did you mess it up?

(I, the writer of this post, mostly do the analysis part of this project, not the programming. Apologies if any programmers are reading this and it doesn't make sense. :[ )

Our initial plan was do do just what we did to collect the MCC14 data but for YouTube instead of Twtich. (For MCC14 we used a Python program to request the viewership data directly from Twitch using their API.) This was much easier said than done. Unlike the Twitch API, which allows you to get stream information very easily just using a streamer's name, YouTube API doesn't have a "front door" way of getting this stuff. So, we went in the "back door."

First thing we had to do was manually collect the user ID for each participant. The next step is where the first error occurred: we needed to get our program to recognize the user ID as a user ID, which was done by writing a rule. This was stuff like how long the IDs were and what symbols were included in the IDs. We failed to include a symbol that was present in five of the participant's user IDs, so the program didn't recognize them as IDs and didn't run them through the part of the program which found the stream ID and collected viewer numbers. This is why that data was missing for SMajor/Noxcrew, ItsFunneh, Squaishey, ASFJerome, and Mefs in the first 30 minutes.

Another big way in which the YouTube API differs from the Twitch API is that YouTube has a quota system. Every action you can take with the API has a certain number of points connected to it, and you're only given so many points to spend a day per application. We thought we were only making one call to get viewer data for every streamer, but instead we were making a separate call for each streamer. That destroyed our quota pretty quick, resulting in the 45 minute gap in data collection. This problem was solved by moving our code into another application which granted us more quota.

This is an important lesson in testing your programs thoroughly before use!

On the bright side, the YouTube API is much more active than the Twitch API, which would update streamer numbers seemingly at random and not all at once. The YouTube API updated numbers roughly every 15 seconds and updated for all streamers, not just a few. That's why our graphs are higher resolution this time!

Here is the raw numbers: Click me!

Let's talk about next time

SO. Obviously this time around was not super ideal, which is partially on us for not testing more. (At least this was not the only scuffed thing about MCCP21. We were just being on brand, if you think about it.) However! Good news! The quota won't be a problem next time as MCC15 won't be Youtube exclusive.   We have already fixed the YouTube program we used this time around and have begun to merge the two. We might even be able to collect YouTube subscribers and Twitch followers by next time but we're focusing on making sure we get all the data next time.

Thank you all so much for reading! Again, any and all critique and questions are welcome! :]

[viktcrr-alt]

MAXENCE DANET FAUVAL / NONBINARY — don’t look now, but is that viktor samuels i see? the 24 year old visual arts student is in their senior year and he/they are a rochester alum. i hear they can be observant, ingenious, reticent and dependent, so maybe keep that in mind. i bet he/they will make a name for themselves living in garcia row. ( james. 20. est. she/they. )

LAST INTRO WOOOO !! u know what to mf DO !!

TW DEATH, HEAVY GRIEF, OVERDOSE / DRUG ADDICTION, HOSPITALIZATION, HYPERSEXUALITY, RELIGION MENTIONS, MENTAL ILLNESS

a e s t h e t i c s

old tvs and their static, worn tapes, horror movie screams, spilled ink, a sculptor’s hands, clay-stained, chicken scratch handwriting, messy notes, messy hair, scoffs and eye-rolls, bruised knuckles, sore throats, funeral homes and a crying preacher, shattered ceramics, knife fights, high ledges, vertically-striped pants, red lights, the moon shrouded in clouds, cigarette butts.

general info !!

full name: viktor phillip samuels

nickname(s): icky vicky :/

b.o.d. - jan 2nd

label(s): the black hole, the crepehanger, the impious, the opaque, the tempest, etc.

height: 6′0″

hometown: rochester, new york

sexuality: uuuhhh god … probably pan tbh

pinterest

stats

biography !!

okay so … born and raised in rochester, new york to the well known samuels family. preacher father, a mother, a twin sister born 15 minutes before him - aka tatiana samuels, who died back in january.

kinda … grew up as a really awkward, quiet kid? like … just didn’t really interact with other kids super well, preferred being alone and like … digging up bugs in the dirt. only friend was like … his own sister.

grew out of this as they got older, instead sort of … becoming a bit of a dick? to compensate for years of awkwardness? will bite the hand that feeds him. was a full on nuisance by middle school. tatiana was not, at least, noticeably.

has always been a fan of darker materials, y’know - grim and creepy, morbid shit. big fan of tim burton ever since he was a kid, which isn’t … a good look for a preacher’s son, but he’s never really felt ~in~ with the rest of his family, anyway.

drew disturbing pictures as a kid probably tbh that prompted one or two or five phone calls home 2 assure everything was fine.

has always been really … good at art, in general - from drawing to painting to playing with clay, that’s always been viktor’s Thing.

aNyWaYs. being tatiana’s twin brother was kinda hard sometimes. tatiana and him were near opposites besides their same mean-spirited trait. she was better in the public than he was, but viktor was arguably more talented than tatiana. they both loved each other deeply and found each other as competition for their parents’ attention - a rivalry, of sorts.

high school is when viktor really started to act out - started extreme, like losing his virginity in their church and vandalism around the neighborhoods. faked being possessed in the middle of sunday service. almost had an exorcism performed on him, probably.

the only redeemable trait was like … his sheer talent with art. was in a 3d art AP course, specialized in sculpting - could pretty much create anything he wanted with enough dedication.

because his parents would be focused on disciplining him for his antics, tatiana could sneak away and get away with stuff easier. so like, y’know, that’s on the bright-side of things.

never been particularly motivated to do much - wasn’t planning on attending lockwood but his parents kinda … did and sent in his application for him b/c they were Not on board with him Wasting Away (wanted him out of the house asap)

actually pretty smart !! just doesn’t like … want to apply himself ever. double majoring in english and visual arts because they’re like … two of his only interests :/ plus he wants to write and illustrate his own series of children books with a style similar to tim burton’s

he’d been experimenting since high school but college is where he really started to like … crack down on himself and figure himself out. was out as pan & nonbinary by his sophomore year of college, just … not to his family, necessarily. thinks tatiana always knew, but didn’t … really use it against him, blessedly enough

always felt like the whole twin - connection thing was … both wack and also not-wack? sometimes it felt believable but sometimes he had no idea what was going on in tatiana’s head. but he felt oddly transparent to her, always - like he was predictable to no one but her.

( TW DEATH, GRIEF, OVERDOSE / HOSPITALIZATION BEYOND THIS POINT )

but when tatiana disappeared - it was like, like viktor knew. the moment she had been kidnapped - felt something deeply wrong in his gut. and when tatiana died - viktor felt something cut so severely in him. he knew, he always knew exactly when. he couldn’t put his finger on how - but he knew. even when everybody else held out hope for her to be found - he knew.

went on a bender around the same time, had always struggled w/ drug addiction but it got worse the longer tatiana went without being found.

( also struggled heavily with his mental health, too ?? has manic and depressive episodes. will fixate on a sculpting project for six months and then purposely knock it off the table and destroy it in the matter of seconds once it’s finished for. no fucking reason. impulse spends A Lot. )

when her body was found, viktor went off the rails. ended up overdosing and being hospitalized where he spent the next like … however long months … until they deemed him better.

has been back since the beginning of fall semester in an attempt to finish his senior year - mostly out of his parents’ insistence that he did, because he very much did not want to. 

is still dealing with a lot of trauma & grief, which was only amplified with dean lockwood’s death - causing him to spiral and be unpredictable with his mental health. some days are good, and some days are very bad.

personality !!

the human embodiment of a gremlin, fed after midnight. a goblin, if u will. one of those cats with a narrow head and big ass ears. that’s him.

b i g horror & halloween enthusiast. loves the old campy horror movies. probably has an abundance of masks from different movies. dresses like a grimy millennial beetlejuice more than he should. love those vertically striped pants!

fashion alternates between e-boy (would b tik tok famous if he were like … 17), millennial beetlejuice, and like … goth in a crop top and sweatpants. big fan of crop tops. big fan of sweatpants.

he can be fucking mean. petty, aggressive, instigator. will literally spit in ur face or no reason. kind of person who’ll stick his gum into other ppl’s hair. other than that he’s like … pretty okay. he’s not always mean, he’s just a dick like … 70% of the time lmao

i mean yeah okay he’ll call someone a stinky bitch for no reason except He Feels Like It And Believes It. it’s fine he’s fine, we’re fine.

despite the fact tht he’s probably getting into fights whenever - considers himself 2 be a lover n not a fighter but that’s just because he Fucks a lot. kind of uses it like a coping mechanism, like he’s this big fancy carnival show that’s like ‘come one, come all! fuck the dead girl’s twin brother!’ may have a problem w/ hypersexuality but it’s nothing he’s fully. aware of.

the preacher’s whore son, basically

like i said he’s pan & nb, switches between he and they pronouns but like … he has such a fragile grip on his identity that u could call him ‘dog-faced bitch’ and he’d turn like hey wassup :)

vastly impulsive, like i’ve mentioned … destroys his own creations 4 the fun of it, spends all his money on useless shit, will cheat on someone bc he feels like it. screams into the night sky frequently, like a cat in heat.

i mean he also creates useless shit for no reason too. spent six months sculpting a hollowed out tree the size of him and then took a sledgehammer to it.

dramatic fuck. used to play the organ at the church like … when no one was looking after him and service was about to start. just these creepy as melodies. would do the same thing at home on his keyboard w/ the organ setting whenever he got grounded until his parents took away his keyboard sadjfkg

won’t talk about his time away b/c it’s not rly anybody’s business but ofc nothing is sacred to the watershed app, y’know, nothing’s private.

still like - he absolutely refuses to talk about tatiana’s death and like, his mental health or his addiction (he’s fallen back into it tbh but it hasn’t gotten bad again … yet) or like … anything involving his own emotions

will literally just change the topic! abruptly, no warning, asks about the jonas brothers instead.

that being said he’s obsessed with tatiana’s death. tatiana was very much a rock for him, kinda dependent on her in a way? just … being there, y’know, kept him grounded.

so he obv became a shepherd bc he wants to know Everything there is abt the app, wants to be deep inside it, wanted to know Who Exactly Killed Tatiana and like … not saying he wants 2 commit murder but :/ yknow. he’s very upset.

emotionally unavailable while also like crying twice a day.

will tell you straight up what he wants from you, no bullshit, no beating around the bush - just blunt. if he wants to just fuck, nothing else, then that’s that. if he feels deviation he’ll ghost in like. less than a second. kinda awful like that! feels no shame.

but like … also is emotional ?? as shit ?? it’s confusing. he’ll cry on a whim and then flip u off if u try to console him or like. ask him anything. will bite you.

he goes to therapy but he generally fucks around and wastes most of the time until the therapist threatens to like … idk what therapists r allowed to threaten. to send him off to another therapist? idk.

likes being intimidating but like … not with his body or nothing ‘cos he’s a TWIG, but like … uses his love for horror n creepy shit to his advantage. has an abundance of fake blood. has channeled the energy of jack nicholson and used it on tatiana’s boyfriends before.

( also a big fan of sfx makeup, has dabbled in it)

probably chases kids with a chainsaw (w/o the like … chain … or w/e … so it’s not actually Dangerous) around halloween

he’s generally never doing good, both mental health wise and morally.

would probably steal candy from a baby for the fun of it.

i don’t know if there’s a good to him, deep down, and i don’t know if he sees any issues with himself either !! nothing really breaks through to him anymore, the only person who ever really made him stop and Think about his actions was tatiana.

kinda introverted, recluse type who doesn’t rly like most people or going out, but he’ll go to parties if it means he’ll be high as shit.

pretty observant. likes to analyze people even though he’s probably not … fully right.

wanted connections !!

he lives alone currently but like … ex - roommates where viktor was just. a nightmare to live with.

feel like a lot of enemies is also a possibility !! viktor’s messy.

people that like … knew tatiana. dated tatiana, even, and viktor would pretty much try to intimidate / scare them at any given chance :/

close friends of tatiana too

people who hated tatiana but liked viktor. people who hated viktor but liked tatiana

people who take pity on him and he Hates it viciously and vocally.

a band of hooligan gremlin kids who do drugs and fuck shit up around town like they’re edgy teenagers even though they’re all early to mid 20s.

the girl he lost his virginity 2 in high school lmao … a distant memory

fellow rochester locals, from church or school or whatever

exes from the past !! good terms and bad terms, but i love bad terms a whole lot mainly b/c viktor’s a jackass.

don’t know if he’s soft towards anybody but we can try. we can Try.

friends, old friends, new friends, bad friends, good friends, close friends, frenemies, etc. etc. all of it

hookups !! so many hookups. fwbs, one night stands, whatever.

uuhhhh god. i don’t know. im so sleepy rn. people in the same major or similar majors.

maybe a ride or die.

people he’s a bad influence on / an enabler towards / all around toxic for them / each other.

people he’s fought !! people who’ve seen him get into random fights and were like ‘uh wtf’

fellow shepherds !!

literally anything im not picky.

[welcometophu]

Into the Split: Evolution 1

Twinned Book 3: Into the Split

Evolution 1

[ Previous | First | Next ]

The library at PHU is fascinating.

Everything about PHU is fascinating, really, and terrifying at the same time. There are so many people, going about their lives as if nothing else exists, and Nikolai feels off-balance just to be around them. People smile and say hello to him and Seth, friendly and comfortable even though they know nothing about them. Nikolai isn’t sure how to handle it.

He’s thankful that Pawel was able to give them access to a smaller library within the library. They have little identification cards made of plastic that Pawel gave them after a day spent trapped in his house, and they’ve spent the two days since in the library. There is food available, as long as they hand over the card to get it, and they have this one room to retreat to when they need it.

Nikolai needs it often, Seth even more so.

The library is a riot of emotions, a rush of anxiety and random notes of pleasure. In their first few hours in the building, Seth had moments where he reached out to grab on to Nikolai and clutch his hand tightly. Even now, when they venture out of the special collections room, after a time Seth’s eyes squeeze shut and Nikolai can feel the way he centers himself, the warm, soft blanket of calm that settles over them both.

Then they retreat.

This one room is a treasure trove. The door locks behind them; Pawel explained that only Magical Studies majors can access the room, and then with his permission. The room is filled with books about Talent. Old books and new books. All hand-written or small runs from a printing press. A valuable history of this world’s version of how Talent works.

It doesn’t always match up with what Nikolai learned as a child, but it offers an interesting counterpoint.

They read a lot, while Nikolai drinks cocoa and Seth discovers a strong love of bitter coffee. At first Nikolai dislikes the bitterness on Seth’s tongue when they kiss, then it becomes something that is a part of kissing Seth, a part of his taste.

They adapt, slowly but surely.

Their ID cards show them as visiting scholars, and while the librarian on duty gave Pawel a dubious look when he first introduced them, she is kind enough moving forward. It makes it feel as if they have one ally in the library, someone who won’t look strangely at them for their questions. When Nikolai’s stomach rumbles on Wednesday afternoon, they gather their few things and make their way down to the front desk and ask directions to Teas Please.

That makes her smile, and she prints out a map and highlights the route. “Everyone loves Teas Please,” she says. “If they aren’t in the coffee shop here, they go there for tea and crêpes.”

“We’ve been, right after we arrived,” Nikolai tells her. “It was good, so we figured we’d go back for dinner tonight.”

“Are you at loose ends? There are some other good places around campus, and I can mark them off for you.” The librarian holds out her hand, and Nikolai gives her back the printout so she can highlight and label several addresses.

The names of the restaurants go over his head, but he figures they have time to investigate eventually. Pawel gave them other cards as well, ones for money in this world, with instructions to buy what they needed. One of these days they really need to just go explore.

Nikolai tries not to think too hard about assimilating their way into this place. They’re leaving, someday. It just doesn’t seem to be coming quickly.

He and Seth link hands as they walk along the pathways that wind through the campus, heading for one of the roads that leads out. It’s a warm spring day, and there are people everywhere. The sun hangs low in the sky, there’s a low breeze, and the lawn looks almost like a beach. There are knots of people sitting on blankets or towels. A few are wearing bathing suits, stretched out despite the air being still too cool for that little amount of clothes. A frisbee sails by, and a girl apologizes as she darts past them in order to grab it and send it back to her friend.

The atmosphere is full of joy, in an entirely different way than the sugaring festival had been. Nikolai has heard the darker news of this world—killings and famine and water so dead it could poison people—but at the same time, these students feel innocent. Like they have no idea how different the world could be.

Seth squeezes his hand, and Nikolai squeezes back. This isn’t their world, and it never will be. Even if they find a way to stop the Shadow invasion back home, they won’t see their world become like this in their lifetime.

When they reach Teas Please, they don’t recognize the hostess that greets them. She has two menus in her hand and is about to mark down something on a sheet in front of her when a waiter swoops in. He has his hands on her shoulders, leans in to whisper something in her ear, and she looks at Nikolai and Seth, wide-eyed.

“Oh,” she says, handing the menus off to the waiter, then marking a different spot on her sheet. “Nate will show you to your booth.”

“I’ve heard you’ve been here before,” Nate says cheerfully as he leads them through the restaurant and into the back again. The u-shaped booth at the back is empty, and seems far too large for just the two of them, but Nate drops the menus there anyway. He waves for them to sit. “You’ll have company soon. Alaric asked me to keep an eye out for you, and I figure if Alaric’s coming by, that means you’ll have a crowd before you know it. It usually seems to work that way.”

Seth slides in along the back wall, and Nikolai sits carefully next to him. “Thanks,” Nikolai says.

“He sent me pictures. That’s how I recognized you.” Nate shows an image of them on his phone—they’ve been having lessons in how these phones work ever since they arrived, and they’ve posed for several pictures along the way. “So hey, I’m Nate, and I’ll be your waiter. Do you want any tea or water to get started? Any advice on the menu? Or,” he lowers his voice, “Mallory’s in the kitchen, which means if you want a chef’s special, today’s the day to get it.”

Seth’s brow furrows as he closes the menu. “What’s the chef’s special?”

“It’s where I tell Mallory a little about you, and she makes whatever seems like you might want it. She reminds me of the mother of a friend of mine. A teammate of Alaric’s actually—the friend, not the mother.” Nate slides onto the bench opposite them, leaning on the table. “Similar Talents, I think, although Mallory swears she’s not Talented. She’s just good at reading people. So. Advice, time to look, or a Mallory special?”

“I want something I haven’t had in a while,” Nikolai says. “Something that reminds me of my childhood, and doesn’t have anything that comes from a can or a jar or something else that was in a safehouse.” He assumes that Nate’s heard their story, since he seems to know who they are.

“We’ll share. So, you have those tiered things.” Seth raises his hand above the table, then gestures at another couple at a smaller table with two of the three-tiered setups on their table.

“Afternoon tea, yes. You get any two of a crêpe or sandwich, salad, and soup, plus a dessert. It’s extra for some of the things,” Nate explains.

Nikolai digs into his pocket, pulls out the money card Pawel gave him. “If we have this, we should hopefully have enough, right? Pawel said he put money on it and to use it, because it’s easiest for now.”

“Should be good,” Nate agrees. “So you guys want to share a—”

“Not sharing,” Seth said. “Not like you’re thinking. We each want one of those tea things, and we’ll split between them so no duplicates. He opens the menu and looks down at, frowning intently as he holds up his hand in a clear signal for everyone else to pause.

Nikolai leans in, points at a couple of options, and Seth nods his response. Nikolai doesn’t mind letting Seth make the choices here, and he likes the idea of getting lots of things to share.

In the end, it’s going to be one savory crêpe, a bowl of lobster bisque, a simple green salad, a pilgrim sandwich, a sweet crêpe with raspberries, and a slice of marbled tea cake.

It sounds like a lot of food between the two of them.

It also sounds like bliss.

Alaric arrives before their food does, with a girl in tow. She has a silver bar in one eyebrow and cluster of five silver rings at her temple. A nose ring peeks out, and when she reaches across the table with one hand to introduce herself as Sera, Nikolai stares at the intricate black ink tracing across her entire hand and up her wrist.

Alaric leans in and murmurs something, and Sera thwacks his chest with the back of her hand.

“We brought you phones,” Sera says, sliding two devices across the table at them. “They should be ready to run through a setup routine, and we’ve already gotten them online for you, on a network, and you have email addresses and numbers.” She gives them each an envelope of information. “Memorize that, don’t let anyone else have it. Security is everything around here, and if someone gets that information, they can essentially become you. A virtual you.”

None of that makes any kind of cohesive sense, but Nikolai knows the polite response. “Thank you.”

“I’ve put in a bunch of numbers for you already,” Alaric says.

Sera puts a hand over Alaric’s as he reaches out. “Slow down, let them get their phones set up first.”

She walks them through answering questions on the screen of the phone by tapping, then pressing their fingers to the little buttons in order to set a fingerprint, then finally letting the phone somehow recognize their face. It’s nonsense but Nikolai follows all the instructions and in the end, he can at least get into his phone and lock it up when she tells him to do so.

“There are a lot of apps, and you probably won’t really want to use most of it for a while, but you’ll need to learn how to make a call, get a call, and deal with texts,” Sera says.

Nikolai stares at the thing in his hand. It’s cold, and weirdly small to try to read. He’s not sure he likes it. “Okay,” he agrees.

“Touch here,” Alaric instructs, and both Nikolai and Seth touch the same place on their respective phones. It opens up a screen with a list of names, and Alaric shows them how to scroll through. Nikolai spots Seth on his list, and his own name on Seth’s list. Several of the other given names are familiar, even if the surnames are not.

Seth mumbles something under his breath, and Alaric huffs. “Szczek,” Alaric says. “It’s Polish.”

There are names Nikolai doesn’t know—Drea Herne, and someone named Corbin. Dayton. Susan. Lucy. He wishes he could just get rid of all the other names, but maybe Alaric put them in there for a reason. Maybe Nikolai needs them. He can’t think why.

Seth touches something on his screen, and Nikolai’s phone vibrates, then sings out with music Nikolai doesn’t recognize. Seth’s name flashes on his screen, and Sera reaches across to show Nikolai how to answer.

It’s been a long time since he’s used a phone, and never one quite like this. He remembers mobile phones as being more awkward. A little clunky, and something only his parents or older brothers had.

On the other hand, he’s the same age they were when they went off to college, too, right before the Split.

That’s a hell of a thought.

“Hey everyone!” Nikita sings out, waving as she slides between two tables to reach them. She hip checks Sera so that she and Alaric slide down the bench, all the way around until he’s on Seth’s other side. That leaves room for Nikita and Heather to slide in.

Carolyn stands with Serina, the server from the other night. Serina has her palms on either side of Carolyn’s face, thumbs light against her cheekbones as they rub their noses together. Carolyn tugs Serina in, arms wrapped around her for a long moment before Serina withdraws and presses a kiss to Carolyn’s cheek.

“I’ve got to get to my shift,” Serina says, waving with a little flick of her fingers. “Nice to see you, Nik and Seth! Is Nate serving you? I’ll make sure he brings food out soon. Oh! Do the rest of you know what you want? I can bring your orders back and get that started.”

Everyone shouts orders like they’re used to being there, and Serina just nods, then reels it all back to them in order to confirm that she’s got it right. She runs off and the newcomers shrug out of their jackets.

“This happens all the time,” Nikita says. “It’s like one person comes here and then suddenly we have a crowd, and seriously, if we sit here long enough, half my floor will show up.” She wrinkles her nose, then clarifies, “Half the people who live on the same floor of my dorm as me.”

Carolyn pulls something out of her pockets, and unwraps and lays her deck of cards on the table. She looks across at Nikolai. “I was thinking that since we seem to have moved into and possibly through some of your last reading, a small three card reading might be nice for focus.” There’s a soft flush on her cheeks. “Also, Serina said you were talking about the cards with her the other night, so I was thinking maybe that’d be a good thing.”

“No Death,” Seth says firmly. “We’ve had enough change at this point, I think.”

“I think we’re still in for a lot more change,” Alaric rumbles. “I’ve been talking to Dayton—”

“Who?” Seth asks. Nikolai remembers the name from their phones.

“One of my Clan allies. You have her number, just in case. Things are changing in the Clan world, at least in this area,” Alaric explains. “We’ve always been traditional. What you saw in Havenhill isn’t like my home now, but it’s what I’d like to see. More relationships with other Talents. Opening us up so we can grow. We can’t stay the same.”

Sera knocks into Alaric. “Look at you being all grown up and everything.”

He bares his teeth and growls at her; she just grins in response.

Carolyn idly shuffles the cards in her hand. “Anyway. I don’t have to, if you don’t want. Or we could just do a general reading, for everyone. It might lock on to one person here, accidentally, or it could just be generically about the future we’re all working towards. Because we are all working on something, right?”

“We need to work on building networks,” Nikita says. “A Dreamwalker network and a Technopath network.”

“I love that you have a name for me now,” Sera murmurs. Her gaze has shifted, staring into the air somewhere over Carolyn’s head. “I’m working on that. It’s going to take time. It’s not like any of us have been trying to either hide or congregate so I need to figure out a way to get the word out without causing all kinds of entertaining trouble. Doesn’t help that I don’t know a single other Talent like me.”

“And we can’t get multiple Dreamwalkers in the same place, which is going to make that part difficult, too,” Heather says.

Seth gestures from Nikita to Nikolai. “Yes, we can,” he says firmly. “Your Dreamwalkers need to learn control. Because in case you haven’t noticed, we have two of them right here. And didn’t we have three the other day?”

“We also had an ice storm and now we have 70 degree weather just three days later.” Heather leans forward, her hands clasped on the table. “Maybe in the future they can all be one place, but right now, anything more than the two of you is asking for trouble.”

This is definitely going to take a while.

“Pawel said he’ll reach out to the few Dreamwalkers he knows, like the one I was training with, and they’ll reach out, and we’ll try to get together online and by phone to start talking,” Nikita says.

“Where is our erstwhile leader?” Sera asks, gesturing at the table. “If we’re talking saving the world, shouldn’t he be here?”

“He’s still walking a weird line socializing with his students,” Carolyn says quietly. “I think we’ve all spent more time with him lately than administration would say is appropriate.”

“Mac said he actually had an appointment or something,” Alaric says. When Carolyn makes a face, he adds, “Don’t think we’re exactly typical students and a professor anymore.”

“I think it’s a tricky line right now,” Heather adds softly.

Nikolai and Seth’s food arrives, three plates high in a little tiered cage. The scent of raspberry catches him first, followed by warm turkey and cranberry. Memories twist in his gut, and he reaches for the sandwich first. He breaks it in half, handing one part to Seth before taking a huge bite of his own.

Carolyn is still shuffling her cards, and probably still waiting for an answer. Nikolai ignores the question, letting the conversation flow without him for a time as he shares first the sandwich, then the bowl of soup, both he and Seth alternating as they dip their spoons in and carefully taste it.

Carolyn sets her deck aside when the rest of the food arrives along with Nate bringing a chair to the end of the table and a plate of his own. “I’ve got a thirty minute break due,” Nate says easily. “I’ve been going since the breakfast rush, and never took either of my fifteens. Serina will handle my tables while I hang out with you.”

Nate’s easy to talk to. One of his eyes drifts slightly inward, and Nikolai finds himself staring at it, but when he apologizes, Nate waves it off. “I’ve had a lazy eye since I was a kid and by the time anyone really noticed, it was too late to fix it. Doesn’t really affect much anymore. It’s not like I’m trying to catch a football or hit anything. I just want to run a long way as fast as I can, and I can see the distance just fine.”

“You’re a runner,” Nikolai says. “I think Mikhail did that for a bit in high school. He wasn’t very good at it.”

“I’m really good at it.” Nate’s gaze is far away, like he’s seeing a horizon in the distance. “When I get out there running, it’s me and the track or the road, and I can feel it in my feet. There’s a cadence to it, and it mixes with my heartbeat, and I just keep going. I’ve been doing it since I was a kid, and it’s how I have a scholarship to PHU.” He jerks his chin towards Alaric. “His teammate, Dax, is doing it now, too. Just started this spring, and he looks like he might be pretty good once he really finds his rhythm. We started training over break in March, and he and I have been doing a lot of extra training. He’s used to running drills for football, and distance running is different from the kinds of sprints he does on the field. It’s impressive to be as good as he is at both.”

Seth nudges a plate in front of Nikolai. The plate holds half the sweet crêpe and half the slice of tea cake, and both smell amazing. Nikolai nibbles while Nate keeps talking about running; when Nate talks about it, it sounds almost attractive, rather than a horrible thing you have to do in order to survive.

Carolyn pushes her empty plate away and shuffles her cards again, the cardboard making a soft zip in her hand.

Nikolai lowers his fork, watches the cards slip and slide together. “Okay,” he says finally. “Last time your cards warned me I was going to walk between worlds. Let’s see what they say this time.” It doesn’t look like she’s going to back down. She may not be saying anything, but the shuffling is a stronger hint than words would be.

“Three card reading,” Carolyn says. “It could be three potential paths, but I think this time I’m doing  a standard past, present, and future layout.” She stops shuffling and holds out the deck, offering it to Nikolai. He waves his hand, but Seth reaches out to take off the top few cards and set them aside.

Carolyn nods, and starts pulling from the card left on top. The first card, on the left and upside down from Carolyn’s perspective, is labeled Temperance. A topless woman stands by a stream, pouring water from cups as she looks away. “This is your past,” Carolyn says.

“I have never been a half-naked woman,” Seth says dryly.

Carolyn continues as if he didn’t speak. “It’s a card of carelessness and indecision. It’s about giving up rather than moving forward, or about spinning in place without making the kind of decisions you need to do in order to stop going in circles. She’s pouring the water into the stream and it’s just washing away. She’s not even looking to see where it goes.”

Seth’s brow furrows. “Okay, go on.”

She lays down the second card, and Nikolai remembers it from the reading she did for him. “This one is about balance,” he says, and she smiles at him and taps it.

“The six of swords, and yes, it is. This was your thoughts about yourself last time,” she says. “It’s about balance, but it’s also about finding that new way to think that helps you achieve balance.”

“Like coming here is a shift in how we think,” Seth says slowly.

“Possibly,” Carolyn says, as she turns over the final card.

It looks joyous. The man on the card is grinning, leaping across the sky with eight wands shooting through the air around him.

Seth touches the cards in turn. “Okay, so just from the pictures, this looks like we go from wavering indecision, to balance, to leaping forward into the bright unknown.”

“Pretty much,” Carolyn agrees. She lifts the final card to show it to them more clearly. “This one isn’t just about moving, it’s about those big, sweeping changes that also result in big successes. If you weren’t taking chances in the past, this recommends taking huge chances in the future.”

“Like laying all our hope on things that have never been tried, and might not even work,” Nikita says quietly.

“This says it’s worth it to take a chance,” Carolyn says. She sweeps the cards back into her deck, glancing at Nate when he looks like he’s reaching out. “Did you want a reading of your own?”

He retreats, pushes himself to his feet. “Maybe later. It’s busy tonight, and Serina’s on her own, so I should probably get back. Besides, I know I’m not leaping into the unknown. I’m just running, steady and true and as fast as I can keep a good pace.” Nate gathers up his empty plates, stacks a few more on top. “I’ll be back to clear up for you guys. Anyone want any dessert while I’m heading to the kitchen?”

Everyone calls out at once, and somehow Nate manages to sort that into a coherent order. Nikolai’s already had his dessert, so he takes out the phone Alaric gave him and looks through it instead.

They’re balanced right now, yes, but it feels like any little thing could knock them off course. Hopefully it really does send them shooting forward into success. Nikolai’s a bit more worried about plummeting off a cliff and falling into the abyss right now.

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[viktcrr-archive]

MAXENCE DANET FAUVEL / NONBINARY. — viktor samuels is really making a name for themselves as a tier 3 shepherd. i think that he/they are studying english + visual arts in their senior year at lockwood, living in peregrinis. originally from rochester, new york, viktor is known to be observant & ingenious, but can also be reticent & dependent. — james / 20 / est / she/they.

3/5 !!! once again ... little edits

TW DEATH, HEAVY GRIEF, OVERDOSE / DRUG ADDICTION, HOSPITALIZATION, HYPERSEXUALITY, RELIGION MENTIONS, MENTAL ILLNESS

a e s t h e t i c s

old tvs and their static, worn tapes, horror movie screams, spilled ink, a sculptor’s hands, clay-stained, chicken scratch handwriting, messy notes, messy hair, scoffs and eye-rolls, bruised knuckles, sore throats, funeral homes and a crying preacher, shattered ceramics, knife fights, high ledges, vertically-striped pants, red lights, the moon shrouded in clouds, cigarette butts.

general info !!

full name: viktor phillip samuels

nickname(s): icky vicky :/

b.o.d. - jan 2nd

label(s): the black hole, the crepehanger, the impious, the opaque, the tempest, etc.

height: 6′0″

hometown: rochester, new york

sexuality: uuuhhh god … probably pan tbh

pinterest

stats

biography !!

okay so … born and raised in rochester, new york to the well known samuels family. preacher father, a mother, a twin sister born 15 minutes before him - aka tatiana samuels, who died back in january.

kinda … grew up as a really awkward, quiet kid? like … just didn’t really interact with other kids super well, preferred being alone and like … digging up bugs in the dirt. only friend was like … his own sister.

grew out of this as they got older, instead sort of … becoming a bit of a dick? to compensate for years of awkwardness? will bite the hand that feeds him. was a full on nuisance by middle school. tatiana was not, at least, noticeably.

has always been a fan of darker materials, y’know - grim and creepy, morbid shit. big fan of tim burton ever since he was a kid, which isn’t … a good look for a preacher’s son, but he’s never really felt ~in~ with the rest of his family, anyway.

drew disturbing pictures as a kid probably tbh that prompted one or two or five phone calls home 2 assure everything was fine.

has always been really … good at art, in general - from drawing to painting to playing with clay, that’s always been viktor’s Thing.

aNyWaYs. being tatiana’s twin brother was kinda hard sometimes. tatiana and him were near opposites besides their same mean-spirited trait. she was better in the public than he was, but viktor was arguably more talented than tatiana. they both loved each other deeply and found each other as competition for their parents’ attention - a rivalry, of sorts.

high school is when viktor really started to act out - started extreme, like losing his virginity in their church and vandalism around the neighborhoods. faked being possessed in the middle of sunday service. almost had an exorcism performed on him, probably.

the only redeemable trait was like … his sheer talent with art. was in a 3d art AP course, specialized in sculpting - could pretty much create anything he wanted with enough dedication.

because his parents would be focused on disciplining him for his antics, tatiana could sneak away and get away with stuff easier. so like, y’know, that’s on the bright-side of things.

never been particularly motivated to do much - wasn’t planning on attending lockwood but his parents kinda … did and sent in his application for him b/c they were Not on board with him Wasting Away (wanted him out of the house asap)

actually pretty smart !! just doesn’t like … want to apply himself ever. double majoring in english and visual arts because they’re like … two of his only interests :/ plus he wants to write and illustrate his own series of children books with a style similar to tim burton’s

he’d been experimenting since high school but college is where he really started to like … crack down on himself and figure himself out. was out as pan & nonbinary by his sophomore year of college, just … not to his family, necessarily. thinks tatiana always knew, but didn’t … really use it against him, blessedly enough

always felt like the whole twin - connection thing was … both wack and also not-wack? sometimes it felt believable but sometimes he had no idea what was going on in tatiana’s head. but he felt oddly transparent to her, always - like he was predictable to no one but her.

( TW DEATH, GRIEF, OVERDOSE / HOSPITALIZATION BEYOND THIS POINT )

but when tatiana disappeared - it was like, like viktor knew. the moment she had been kidnapped - felt something deeply wrong in his gut. and when tatiana died - viktor felt something cut so severely in him. he knew, he always knew exactly when. he couldn’t put his finger on how - but he knew. even when everybody else held out hope for her to be found - he knew.

went on a bender around the same time, had always struggled w/ drug addiction but it got worse the longer tatiana went without being found.

( also struggled heavily with his mental health, too ?? has manic and depressive episodes. will fixate on a sculpting project for six months and then purposely knock it off the table and destroy it in the matter of seconds once it’s finished for. no fucking reason. impulse spends A Lot. )

when her body was found, viktor went off the rails. ended up overdosing and being hospitalized where he spent the next like … however long months … until they deemed him better.

stayed out of school until very recently b/c he just … didn’t want to go back. didn’t want to deal with it. didn’t want to be known as the dead girl’s twin. but then his mom kinda just was like ‘u go back 2 school or god so help me’ n he was like FINE.

so ya !! viktor’s back after being gone since tatiana’s body was found. that’s it, that’s him, a lil glimpse of his life.

trying to finish his senior year b/c he … obviously left before he could.

finding out that it was george who killed tatiana has ultimately ... caused viktor to spiral. his lows are some of his lowest, his highs are ... very high, but very bad. unstable & unpredictable in his actions it’s ... a whole thing :/

personality !!

the human embodiment of a gremlin, fed after midnight. a goblin, if u will. one of those cats with a narrow head and big ass ears. that’s him.

b i g horror & halloween enthusiast. loves the old campy horror movies. probably has an abundance of masks from different movies. dresses like a grimy millennial beetlejuice more than he should. love those vertically striped pants!

fashion alternates between e-boy (would b tik tok famous if he were like … 17), millennial beetlejuice, and like … goth in a crop top and sweatpants. big fan of crop tops. big fan of sweatpants.

he can be fucking mean. petty, aggressive, instigator. will literally spit in ur face or no reason. kind of person who’ll stick his gum into other ppl’s hair. other than that he’s like … pretty okay. he’s not always mean, he’s just a dick like … 70% of the time lmao

i mean yeah okay he’ll call someone a stinky bitch for no reason except He Feels Like It And Believes It. it’s fine he’s fine, we’re fine.

despite the fact tht he’s probably getting into fights whenever - considers himself 2 be a lover n not a fighter but that’s just because he Fucks a lot. kind of uses it like a coping mechanism, like he’s this big fancy carnival show that’s like ‘come one, come all! fuck the dead girl’s twin brother!’ may have a problem w/ hypersexuality but it’s nothing he’s fully. aware of.

the preacher’s whore son, basically

like i said he’s pan & nb, switches between he and they pronouns but like … he has such a fragile grip on his identity that u could call him ‘dog-faced bitch’ and he’d turn like hey wassup :)

vastly impulsive, like i’ve mentioned … destroys his own creations 4 the fun of it, spends all his money on useless shit, will cheat on someone bc he feels like it. screams into the night sky frequently, like a cat in heat.

i mean he also creates useless shit for no reason too. spent six months sculpting a hollowed out tree the size of him and then took a sledgehammer to it.

dramatic fuck. used to play the organ at the church like … when no one was looking after him and service was about to start. just these creepy as melodies. would do the same thing at home on his keyboard w/ the organ setting whenever he got grounded until his parents took away his keyboard sadjfkg

won’t talk about his time away b/c it’s not rly anybody’s business but ofc nothing is sacred to the watershed app, y’know, nothing’s private.

still like - he absolutely refuses to talk about tatiana’s death and like, his mental health or his addiction (he’s fallen back into it tbh but it hasn’t gotten bad again … yet) or like … anything involving his own emotions

will literally just change the topic! abruptly, no warning, asks about the jonas brothers instead.

that being said he’s obsessed with tatiana’s death. tatiana was very much a rock for him, kinda dependent on her in a way? just … being there, y’know, kept him grounded.

so he obv became a shepherd bc he wants to know Everything there is abt the app, wants to be deep inside it, wanted to know Who Exactly Killed Tatiana and like … not saying he wants 2 commit murder but :/ yknow. he’s very upset.

emotionally unavailable while also like crying twice a day.

will tell you straight up what he wants from you, no bullshit, no beating around the bush - just blunt. if he wants to just fuck, nothing else, then that’s that. if he feels deviation he’ll ghost in like. less than a second. kinda awful like that! feels no shame.

but like … also is emotional ?? as shit ?? it’s confusing. he��ll cry on a whim and then flip u off if u try to console him or like. ask him anything. will bite you.

he goes to therapy but he generally fucks around and wastes most of the time until the therapist threatens to like … idk what therapists r allowed to threaten. to send him off to another therapist? idk.

likes being intimidating but like … not with his body or nothing ‘cos he’s a TWIG, but like … uses his love for horror n creepy shit to his advantage. has an abundance of fake blood. has channeled the energy of jack nicholson and used it on tatiana’s boyfriends before.

( also a big fan of sfx makeup, has dabbled in it)

probably chases kids with a chainsaw (w/o the like … chain … or w/e … so it’s not actually Dangerous) around halloween

he’s generally never doing good, both mental health wise and morally.

would probably steal candy from a baby for the fun of it.

i don’t know if there’s a good to him, deep down, and i don’t know if he sees any issues with himself either !! nothing really breaks through to him anymore, the only person who ever really made him stop and Think about his actions was tatiana.

kinda introverted, recluse type who doesn’t rly like most people or going out, but he’ll go to parties if it means he’ll be high as shit.

pretty observant. likes to analyze people even though he’s probably not … fully right.

connections to the victims !!

tatiana samuels / his twin sister, other half - the only one able to control viktor.

george craig iii / close family friends ... they could appreciate each other, when viktor wasn’t being an outright asshole.

hana williams / ‘friends’ with benefits, their relationship was rocky at best but she was a good lay. have often fought due to their clash in personalities and viktor’s history with christoph.

christoph wainwright / an ex-hook up, an infrequent occasion whenever christoph wanted to tick off hana. viktor was often on board, never the one to consider others’ feelings.

wanted connections !!

he lives alone currently but like … ex - roommates where viktor was just. a nightmare to live with.

feel like a lot of enemies is also a possibility !! viktor’s messy.

people that like … knew tatiana. dated tatiana, even, and viktor would pretty much try to intimidate / scare them at any given chance :/

close friends of tatiana too

people who hated tatiana but liked viktor. people who hated viktor but liked tatiana

people who take pity on him and he Hates it viciously and vocally.

a band of hooligan gremlin kids who do drugs and fuck shit up around town like they’re edgy teenagers even though they’re all early to mid 20s.

the girl he lost his virginity 2 in high school lmao … a distant memory

fellow rochester locals, from church or school or whatever

exes from the past !! good terms and bad terms, but i love bad terms a whole lot mainly b/c viktor’s a jackass.

don’t know if he’s soft towards anybody but we can try. we can Try.

friends, old friends, new friends, bad friends, good friends, close friends, frenemies, etc. etc. all of it

hookups !! so many hookups. fwbs, one night stands, whatever.

uuhhhh god. i don’t know. im so sleepy rn. people in the same major or similar majors.

maybe a ride or die.

people he’s a bad influence on / an enabler towards / all around toxic for them / each other.

people he’s fought !! people who’ve seen him get into random fights and were like ‘uh wtf’

fellow shepherds !!

literally anything im not picky.

[astrogeoguy]

Sunday’s Super Blood Wolf Moon Eclipse Explained, and Venus Kisses Jupiter in the Morning!

(Above: Michael Watson of Toronto is an avid moon and eclipse imager. He captured the April 15, 2014 total lunar eclipse and assembled this beautiful composite that clearly shows Earth’s circular shadow.)

Hello, Stargazers!

Here are your Astronomy Skylights for the week of January 20th, 2019 by Chris Vaughan. Feel free to pass this along to your friends and send me your comments, questions, and suggested topics. I repost these emails with photos at http://astrogeoguy.tumblr.com/ where all the old editions are archived. You can also follow me on Twitter as @astrogeoguy! Unless otherwise noted, all times are Eastern Time. Please click this MailChimp link to subscribe to these emails. If you are a teacher or group leader interested joining me on a guided field trip to York University’s Allan I. Carswell Observatory or the David Dunlap Observatory, visit www.astrogeo.ca.

I can bring my Digital Starlab inflatable planetarium to your school or other daytime or evening event, visit DiscoveryPlanitarium.com and request me. We’ll tour the Universe together! 

My latest column for Space.com talks about using astronomy apps to enjoy Sunday night’s total lunar eclipse. You can find it here. 

(Above: Once the moon wanes and rises later towards the end of this week, enjoy the sights of the Winter Milky Way, which rises through Canis Major, Monoceros, Orion, Gemini, and Auriga.)

Public Astro-Events

If skies are clear on Sunday night, January 20, starting at 10 pm, York University’s Allan I. Carswell Observatory will host a free public viewing session for the total lunar eclipse on top of the Arboretum Parking Garage. Parking charges will apply. Details are here. 

Every Monday evening, York University’s Allan I. Carswell Observatory runs an online star party - broadcasting views from four telescopes/cameras, answering viewer questions, and taking requests! Details are here. On Wednesday nights they offer free public viewing through their rooftop telescopes. If it’s cloudy, the astronomers give tours and presentations. Details are here. 

On Friday, January 25 from 6 to 7 pm, the Royal Ontario Museum and the Canadian space Agency will hold a free session entitled Getting to Know Bennu: Updates on the OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Sample-Return Mission. It will be held in the ROM in the Signy and Cléophée Eaton Theatre, Level 1B. Details and registration is here. 

On Saturday, January 26, starting at 7 pm, U of T’s AstroTour will present their free planetarium show entitled Grand Tour of the Cosmos. Details are here. 

The Super Blood Wolf Moon (Total Lunar Eclipse)

Last week, I wrote about tonight’s (Sunday) total lunar eclipse and posted it with diagrams here. Read on for an update on that information.

You’ve probably seen references to Sunday’s lunar eclipse as a Super Blood Wolf Moon, or a permutation of those words. These dramatic terms might elicit chuckles and/or eye rolls from astronomers, but they serve a purpose – to capture the imagination of the public and get them to head outside and look up! There are valid reasons for using each part of that label. Let’s break that down. 

Blood Moon - The Earth is a solid sphere.  The sunlight shining on Earth casts a circular shadow into space opposite from the sun. When an object, such as the International Space Station or the moon, passes through that shadow, no direct sunlight can reach it, so the object darkens. Some of the sunlight streaming closely past Earth passes through our atmosphere. The air refracts (or bends) the rays of sunlight because it slows the light down a little, and that refraction allows a small percentage of the sunlight, bent around the Earth’s perimeter, to reach the moon and slightly illuminate it. If Earth had no atmosphere, the moon would turn completely dark during a lunar eclipse! 

During totality, only red light reaches the moon because our atmosphere scatters some wavelengths of light more than others. White sunlight is composed of a rainbow of component colours. The sky is blue in daytime because the molecules in the air scatter shorter wavelength blue light and lets longer wavelength red light pass straight through. Try this experiment. Shine a flashlight through a glass of water placed near the wall in a darkened room. You’ll see a distorted beam of white light on the wall. Now put a few drops of milk in the glass and the entire liquid will glow with a bluish light! If you didn’t add too much milk, you might also see that light on the wall is a now a warmer colour because the cool, blue wavelengths have been scattered throughout the liquid rather than passing through. The same effect causes sunsets to turn red, and only that reddened light can reach the moon during totality – colouring the moon a rusty red, or blood, colour. 

Wolf Moon – The moon has always shone down upon humans on Earth. Eventually, people began to seek to understand our natural environment and to take advantage of the annual variations in the seasons to schedule planting, harvesting, hunting, and to celebrate life events. The twelve (sometimes thirteen) full moons per year acted as obvious celestial markers. Full moonlight allowed people to be out at night; hunting, or working the fields for extra hours to get the harvest in.   

Each society around the world has its own set of stories for the moon and every month’s full moon has one or more nick-names. The Wolf Moon term is likely derived from North American First Nations traditions, although some think it has an Anglo-Saxon origin. In either case, it’s likely that hungry wolves were calling to one another in the dead of winter, and left an impression on people before our modern era. The January full moon, eclipsed or not, is known as the Wolf Moon, Old Moon, or Moon after Yule. It always shines in or near the stars of Gemini (the Twins) or Cancer (the Crab).  

Super Moon – The moon orbits Earth every 27.3 days. The shape of the orbit is an ellipse that brings the moon alternatively closer and farther from the Earth. The difference in distance between perigee, the point in the moon’s orbit when it is closest to Earth, and apogee, when the moon is farthest away, is about 50,000 km. That causes a perigee moon to appear about 14% larger than an apogee moon – about the difference between a Canadian $1 and $2 coin when held at arm’s length. It’s not that much – visually. The closer moon will also be slightly brighter. 

The term supermoon was coined to describe a full moon that happens while the moon is at or near perigee. January’s eclipsed full moon will occur fifteen hours before perigee, making it appear about 7% larger than average and generating high tides globally. 

The supermoon aspect of this eclipse actually works against us. When the moon is near perigee, it is moving faster in its orbit, so it will cross the Earth’s shadow in a shorter time. The closer moon is also larger, so it remains fully eclipsed for a shorter time. 

(Above:  NASA’s Lunar Eclipse Page lists past and future eclipses. Each event has a web page with diagrams showing the path of the moon through the Earth’s shadow, where on Earth the eclipse will be visible (white areas), and the times for each stage of the eclipse in UT (equivalent to  GMT). The partial eclipse stage will begin when the moon reaches position U1, and the moon will be fully eclipsed from U2 to U3 (about one hour). The second partial eclipse stage will end when the moon reaches U4 - 3 hours and 16 minutes after it began.)

Total Lunar Eclipse Visibility and Timings - This lunar eclipse will be visible start to finish in North and South America, the eastern Pacific Ocean, and westernmost Europe. Much of the eclipse will be seen in central and eastern Europe, but observers there will miss the later stages of the eclipse because they occur after moonset. For the western Pacific region, the moon will rise after the eclipse begins. 

The partial phase, when the edge of the moon begins to darken, will begin when the moon contacts the Earth’s umbra at 10:34 pm EST on Sunday evening in North America (or 7:34 pm Pacific time and 03:34 UT). Starting at that time, look for the darkness to creep over the moon, growing from along its lower left edge. 

At 11:41 pm Eastern time (8:41 pm PST), the last strip of brightly lit moon will vanish as the moon finally entirely enters the Earth’s umbra. The darkened and a coppery red appearance won’t be obvious visually or in photos until the moon is well into the shadow. The moon will stay fully within the shadow (referred to as totality) for 62 minutes. It will pass deeply through the shadow, and the moon’s southern half will appear darker than its northern half. 

Greatest, deepest eclipse will occur at 12:13 am EST. After this, most people will head to bed because the second half of the eclipse mirrors the first half. The total eclipse phase will end when the moon begins to leave the umbra at 12:43 am Eastern Time on Sunday. At that time, look for a growing strip of illuminated moon to appear along the moon’s lower left edge. The partial phase of the eclipse will end at 1:51 am Eastern Time. 

Now you know what to look for, and when to look. If you have a telescope, of any size, hold your phone’s camera over the eyepiece and take some photographs, or prop up  your tablet or phone somewhere and take a time lapse movie of the eclipse. Hopefully the skies will be clear wherever you are! Don’t let cold weather keep you indoors for this one. The next total lunar eclipse won’t occur for the GTA until May, 2022. 

The Moon and Planets

After Sunday night’s total lunar eclipse, the moon will spend the week waning and rising later. On Tuesday night, the moon will pass only two finger widths to the left of the bright, white star Regulus in Leo (the Lion). After mid-week, you can look for the moon in the western morning sky on your way to school or work. 

Next Sunday afternoon, the moon will reach its Last Quarter phase, when it will rise at midnight and appear half-illuminated – on its western side. (Directions on the moon are opposite to sky directions.) 

This week, Mars will shine as a medium-bright, reddish pinpoint of light in the southwestern sky. It will set at about 11:30 pm local time. Mars is slowly shrinking in size and brightness as we increase our distance from it. 

(Above: Mars is the only bright planet in the evening sky nowadays, sitting above Neptune and below Uranus, as shown here at 8 pm local time.)

Blue-green Uranus is about 1.5 finger widths above, and slightly to the left of the modestly bright star Torcular (or Omega Piscium). This week, Uranus will be at its highest point, over the southern horizon, at about 6:30 pm local time – the best position for seeing it clearly. Dim, blue Neptune will set shortly after 9 pm local time, so look at it before 8 pm, while it’s higher. Neptune is sitting about two finger widths to the upper left of the modestly bright star Hydor (Lambda Aquarii). Hydor, and a pair of stars to its east (upper left), form a sideways narrow triangle with Neptune inside of it. 

(Above: On Tuesday morning, descending Venus will pass very close to Jupiter in the southeastern pre-dawn sky, as shown here at 7 am local time. Saturn will be climbing higher every morning.)

Both Saturn and Mercury are too close to the sun to be seen this week, but next week Saturn will join the other two bright morning planets, Jupiter and Venus. Spectacularly bright Venus is now swinging back towards the sun, while not-as-bright Jupiter is being carried the other direction – west and higher. The two planets “kiss” this week. On Tuesday morning, Jupiter will be positioned only 2.5 finger widths south (to the lower right) of Venus. They will both fit within the field of view of binoculars. Look for the bright, reddish star Antares, the “rival of Mars” sitting a palm’s width to the right of Jupiter. 

Keep looking up, and enjoy the sky when you do. I love questions and requests - so, send me some!