#ice machine uk

[airconditioninggloucester]

Ice Machines Unleashed

Discover the versatility of ice machines—compact wonders churning out ice for various needs. Found in restaurants, hotels, and homes, these devices offer diverse ice types like cubes, nuggets, and flakes. Regular cleaning and maintenance are key to hygienic ice production. Choose the right machine for your preferences, from countertop models to large commercial units, and enjoy a constant supply of ice for refreshing beverages and culinary creations.

[reasonsforhope]

Masterpost: Reasons I firmly believe we will beat climate change

Posts are in reverse chronological order (by post date, not article date), mostly taken from my "climate change" tag, which I went through all the way back to the literal beginning of my blog. Will update periodically.

Especially big deal articles/posts are in bold.

Big picture:

Mature trees offer hope in world of rising emissions (x)

Spying from space: How satellites can help identify and rein in a potent climate pollutant (x)

Good news: Tiny urban green spaces can cool cities and save lives (x)

Conservation and economic development go hand in hand, more often than expected (x)

The exponential growth of solar power will change the world (x)

Sun Machines: Solar, an energy that gets cheaper and cheaper, is going to be huge (x)

Wealthy nations finally deliver promised climate aid, as calls for more equitable funding for poor countries grow (x)

For Earth Day 2024, experts are spreading optimism – not doom. Here's why. (x)

Opinion: I’m a Climate Scientist. I’m Not Screaming Into the Void Anymore. (x)

The World’s Forests Are Doing Much Better Than We Think (x)

‘Staggering’ green growth gives hope for 1.5C, says global energy chief (x)

Beyond Catastrophe: A New Climate Reality Is Coming Into View (x)

Young Forests Capture Carbon Quicker than Previously Thought (x)

Yes, climate change can be beaten by 2050. Here's how. (x)

Soil improvements could keep planet within 1.5C heating target, research shows (x)

The global treaty to save the ozone layer has also slowed Arctic ice melt (x)

The doomers are wrong about humanity’s future — and its past (x)

Scientists Find Methane is Actually Offsetting 30% of its Own Heating Effect on Planet (x)

Are debt-for-climate swaps finally taking off? (x)

High seas treaty: historic deal to protect international waters finally reached at UN (x)

How Could Positive ‘Tipping Points’ Accelerate Climate Action? (x)

Specific examples:

Environmental Campaigners Celebrate As Labour Ends Tory Ban On New Onshore Wind Projects (x)

Private firms are driving a revolution in solar power in Africa (x)

How the small Pacific island nation of Vanuatu drastically cut plastic pollution (x)

Rewilding sites have seen 400% increase in jobs since 2008, research finds [Scotland] (x)

The American Climate Corps take flight, with most jobs based in the West (x)

Waste Heat Generated from Electronics to Warm Finnish City in Winter Thanks to Groundbreaking Thermal Energy Project (x)

Climate protection is now a human right — and lawsuits will follow [European Union] (x)

A new EU ecocide law ‘marks the end of impunity for environmental criminals’ (x)

Solar hits a renewable energy milestone not seen since WWII [United States] (x)

These are the climate grannies. They’ll do whatever it takes to protect their grandchildren. [United States and Native American Nations] (x)

Century of Tree Planting Stalls the Warming Effects in the Eastern United States, Says Study (x)

Chart: Wind and solar are closing in on fossil fuels in the EU (x)

UK use of gas and coal for electricity at lowest since 1957, figures show (x)

Countries That Generate 100% Renewable Energy Electricity (x)

Indigenous advocacy leads to largest dam removal project in US history [United States and Native American Nations] (x)

India’s clean energy transition is rapidly underway, benefiting the entire world (x)

China is set to shatter its wind and solar target five years early, new report finds (x)

‘Game changing’: spate of US lawsuits calls big oil to account for climate crisis (x)

Largest-ever data set collection shows how coral reefs can survive climate change (x)

The Biggest Climate Bill of Your Life - But What Does It DO? [United States] (x)

Good Climate News: Headline Roundup April 1st through April 15th, 2023 (x)

How agroforestry can restore degraded lands and provide income in the Amazon (x) [Brazil]

Loss of Climate-Crucial Mangrove Forests Has Slowed to Near-Negligable Amount Worldwide, Report Hails (x)

Agroecology schools help communities restore degraded land in Guatemala (x)

Climate adaptation:

Solar-powered generators pull clean drinking water 'from thin air,' aiding communities in need: 'It transforms lives' (x)

‘Sponge’ Cities Combat Urban Flooding by Letting Nature Do the Work [China] (x)

Indian Engineers Tackle Water Shortages with Star Wars Tech in Kerala (x)

A green roof or rooftop solar? You can combine them in a biosolar roof — boosting both biodiversity and power output (x)

Global death tolls from natural disasters have actually plummeted over the last century (x)

Los Angeles Just Proved How Spongy a City Can Be (x)

This city turns sewage into drinking water in 24 hours. The concept is catching on [Namibia] (x)

Plants teach their offspring how to adapt to climate change, scientists find (x)

Resurrecting Climate-Resilient Rice in India (x)

Other Masterposts:

Going carbon negative and how we're going to fix global heating (x)

[lassieposting]

Okay but. For anyone who's unfamiliar with the UK. Pop-up street funfairs are kind of a Thing here - they show up for carnivals and village fetes and shit and when you grow up in the middle of buttfuck nowhere like I did they might be the only entertainment you'll get all year, so you really come to love the atmosphere and the strobing lights and the pounding music and the nostalgia of better, easier, safer times.

And every year, in London, they have the Hyde Park Winter Festival, which is hands down the biggest pop-up funfair I've ever seen.

Anyway hc that the year Lucy runs away to London, Lockwood and George take her to the festival. It's George's idea - she is from the Barbarous Wastes Oop North, Lockwood, she's probably never seen a funfair before, and she does gasp and go all wide-eyed every time their taxi drives past it - and Lockwood pays, because his house might be mortgaged to the hilt, he might be practically a serf, but he's the boss and he's pretty sure he still owes George a tenner anyway for those beers, so, whatever -

And it's just a whole thing for Lucy because she's never really been treated before. Everything she's needed since she was thirteen came out of her Jacobs' wages. Her mum never spent a penny on her that wasn't absolutely necessary, and begrudged her even that. So she's always had to be a penny-pincher, always had to deny herself fun things because her wages were being spent on essentials or frittered away on pints of Fosters, and being able to do whatever she likes purely for her own pleasure is utterly foreign to her.

And he doesn't make her feel bad for it. For wanting to have fun for once. Neither of them do. George spouts useless facts about when rides were invented and the origins of ice skates, and sometimes puts his fingers in his ears with a grimace, but when she grins at him, he grins back. Lockwood plays the yes-man for her all evening, eyes twinkling when she hangs off his arm or pulls him over to see something by the wrist. He stumps up for candyfloss, for sweetie cones, for fresh donuts and hook-a-duck and the shooting gallery, because "You were looking at it like you wanted it." She has three goes on a claw machine trying to get a particular stuffed dog, and then Lockwood has a go, before George finally wins it for her. And she loves them so much, these boys who put her first more than her own family ever did.

She falls asleep on Lockwood's shoulder in the taxi on the way home. Mostly. She dozes, at least. She's still vaguely cognizant of what's going on around her - the low hum of the radio, the pulse of the taxi's engine, George's voice when he leans around her and says, "I didn't realise you noticed that thing she does."

She's been faintly aware of Lockwood's arm around her shoulders since he put it there, when she started listing drowsily into his side, but she hadn't noticed his thumb idly petting back and forth until it stills. "Thing? What thing?"

"The thing," says George helpfully. "Where she looks at things like she wants them but she knows she can't have them."

Lockwood snorts. It's a small, derisive sound, probably accompanied by an eye roll. "I'd make a pretty piss-poor agent if I hadn't. She does it at lots of things."

"Oh." George seems to muse on that for a second. Then, "Just you never seem to notice when she does it at you."

Lockwood goes very still, for a second. Clears his throat, just quietly. His arm jostles her a bit; she thinks he's fussing with his cufflinks, which he seems to do a lot ever since he started wearing them in the first place. His voice is warm, though. "Shut up, George."

"Yes, boss." Irreverent. Grinning, probably.

With her face tucked into his shoulder, Lucy smiles, and lets herself drift.

[pebblysand]

idk if i should make this a weekly instalment cause every time, i feel like this is too funny not to share. so, here are the things i googled while writing castles this weekend 😅:

"ragged skin"

Kylian Mbappé

can you have sex while pregnant [i feel the need to state for the record that i know the answer to this, i was just looking for some of those dumb reddit posts where men are like "but surely, my massive penis is too big!" to see how they were phrased 🤣]

[the above didn't yield anything i could use, so:] can my penis reach the cervix?

green desk lamps

london (google maps)

north sea beach england

cozy up to meaning

can you have ice cream when pregnant [i thought so but wanted to be sure cause it occurred to me there's milk in it]

classic ice cream flavours uk

video of newborn baby

peaky blinders quote babies make ["everything okay. babies stop everything." - 4x01, lizzie says it.]

warnings feux voiture en anglais ("hazard lights," you're welcome)

watergate scandal

symptom internal bleeding

british word for stroller [i actually was looking for the word "pram" but "buggy" wasn't yielding anything in my thesaurus so i thought maybe if i asked for this, it would come up (it did)]

average weight baby uk

lbs meaning

gas & air machine labour (google images)

i think i am done with chapter 20. i have shared the draft with some #trustedindividuals to confirm. as i said in my last update, i would like to write (maybe not fully but at least have a good headstart) chapter 21 before posting this one, because i'm not 100% of where i want to split both chapters, so i need to see how long 21 is. but yay, progress!

[theunderestimator-2]

Bette Bright with Glen Matlock on bass at the Music Machine in London, as captured by Mick Mercer in 1979.

Bette Bright released a series of new wavey-pop/reggae singles, mostly covers of 60’s girl group songs, between '78-'79 with The Illuminations, a backing band that at the time included Henry Priestman, formerly of the Yachts, Rusty Egan, a former member of the Rich Kids and the DJ at the new romantic temple Blitz, along with Glen Matlock, already an ex-Pistol and a former Rich Kid as well.

"This was around the time that Blondie broke big in the UK, so suddenly lots of singles were being released by women who sounded like Debbie Harry for a quick cash-in, but I don’t think that this was the intent with this one. Also around this time... Bette appeared on the cover of Record Mirror. She also toured around this time and was certainly starting to grab an increasing amount of people’s attention, it now only seemed to be a matter of time before she would finally have some chart success. This was followed in November 1981 by the album “Rhythm Breaks The Ice”, also featuring a few original songs, but it wasn’t a hit. By this point, Bette had started to date Graham “Suggs” McPherson, the frontman of Madness, and in 1981 they got married. They have had two children, and almost 40 years later they are still together..." adamnostalgia.wordpress.com/

(via)

[8-rae-rae-8]

TEW x CoD au

Implied child abuse/torture

It was part of the way to make sure the captives in Zaragoza remained loyal—to hook them up to an odd machine and slowly strip away their personality until they were a blank slate. Scare them to death until they have to comply. Or let their weakness take them, leave their bodies out back when they cleaned up. It's smart, it works.

But of course every system has flaws.

Simon Riley fought as he was put under. Falling and falling into pitch black until rain dripped on his ice cold skin.

He's never been in a place like this. Not his home in the UK, not any base he stayed at in the US, and certainly not where he got captured in Mexico. It's somewhere scarier. Somewhere that makes him shudder with each creak of the trees around him. Though, he lived in—thrived in—a place with wobbly floorboards and squeaky doors.

Except this place didn't have a pure monster to hold him against the wall as the belt came down on his hip.

Just unwilling participants, their weaknesses determining how they'd interact with this world.

His hands only tremble as the wind forces a shiver down his spine. It's unfamiliar, but not deadly for a trained eye. Riley knows what to look for, can hear before anything approaches.

With no one to protect but himself, he can figure his way through the maze that seemed to be this world tearing itself apart. He's alone here. No Sparks, or Washington, or Tommy. His stomach still flips when something growls in the shadows, but it doesn't matter when his silent steps are undetectable for a beast simply using echolocation.

He doesn't want to kill. Not these men, these people. Forced to become mangled and broken. He can feel something pulling him in the same direction with every hour. Splitting headache, moments of coming to after everything seemed to fade to black, ears ringing so loud he was sure there'd be blood.

Their purpose is to be frightful. Somewhere in him, Simon thinks he understands.

[dat-town]

you are the knife i turn inside myself (that is love)

Characters: Seunghun & OC (Jieun)

Setting & genre: angst, hurt/comfort, set in the world of Save Me Kill Me MV

Summary: Jieun had always been an enigma. Yet, Seunghun can’t stop loving her.

Warnings: mentions of suicide (Yonghee’s), past attempted suicide (MC), bullying, parents’ divorce and neglectful behaviour (MC’s), deceased parents (Seunghun’s), academic pressure, depression (MC’s), therapy ‒ if any of these topics are triggering for you, please don’t interact with the fic. if you would like to know what to expect under any warning beforehand, feel free to send me an ask

International suicide hotline: https://blog.opencounseling.com/suicide-hotlines/

Words: 6k

Author’s note: it’s a spin-off to in your eyes i see another me, for my convenience I named the previous reader, as Jinah. I don’t think it’s a must to read it but it gives more context. Heavily inspired by the CIX story films and Save Me Kill Me MV, so the boys’ characters resemble that more than their idol personality. This story is heavily Seunghun-centric.

Title taken from Kafka, read the meaning here.

For @restlessmaknae, thank you for always being such a supporter, for introducing me to new music (and groups) and for fangirling with me over fictional characters or real people in general. I hope next year you find a place where they appreciate you the way you deserve it and that it will be a better one health-wise. I wish you more (kpop) concerts, travel experiences and happiness! love you <3

Seunghun couldn't tell when exactly he fell in love with Jieun. Was it love at first sight? The way her fringe had fallen into her dark eyes, the fierce fire in them, the way she had looked at him like everything was a challenge ever since the first day of high school? Or was it much later when she had held his trembling hand during his mother's funeral?

Seunghun wasn't sure but he knew one thing: he didn't remember how it was to not be in love with her. That's why it hurt when he started to notice her building up walls, acting weird and hanging out with Byounggon more. The boy told himself he wasn't jealous, he had nothing against the other guy after all, but lying could only take him that far.

Then his whole world turned upside down when it turned out that Jieun had a twin who pretended to be her while she was in a hospital. In a coma. Because of attempted suicide.

It was like an ice cold shower because Seunghun would rather have Jieun be with somebody else than dead. Or in pain. But Jieun was like a rose with sharp thorns, so to love her was like handing her a knife, ready to be hurt.

The smell of the hospital was the same. Seunghun remembered it all too well. It didn't matter that it wasn't the same building or that months had passed. He had spent too much time beside Yonghee's bed, praying that he wouldn't leave like his mom, to forget. And now here he was, right by the unconscious Jieun's side doing the same.

She looked so vulnerable in the hospital bed, all pale and put on machines that kept her alive. So unlike how she really was: wild and lively like ember among ash. Whenever Seunghun came to visit, his heart sank at the sight and he couldn't help checking the heart monitor just to make sure. Hoping that one of these days it would be different, that she would open her eyes and everything would be okay. What a wishful thinking but it's not like he had anything better to do.

"Your sister comes back from the UK tomorrow. You should see Byounggon, he's like an excited puppy," he recited, sitting on the uncomfortable metal chair next to Jieun's bed. He didn't believe she heard him but the nurses told him it could help, so he did his best. It made it feel less weird too, just being there, silent, watching her sleep. Like this, he could pretend they were gossiping, like she could chuckle anytime soon and call him out on his bullshit when he exaggerated. Not this time though; ever since Jinah notified them that she had finished all her final exams and was heading back to Seoul for the summer, Byounggon was restless. "How long do you think it will take them to get together officially? We all saw how they looked at each other and long distance can't be an excuse now."

Honestly, given Jieun's and Byounggon's arguing history, Seunghun didn't think the girl would have been thrilled to know that her twin got so close with the guy, but he would have rather taken her frustration than her silence at this point. He would have given anything for her to wake up. Maybe he was selfish but he wasn't ready to lose her too. Too many good people had left them last year.

"I miss you," he whispered, toying with a loose thread of her thin duvet. The realization wasn't sudden but his confession was. It tasted bittersweet on his tongue or like sour candy.

Seunghun gulped while watching Jieun's porcelain face, her dark lashes and listened to the rhythmical beeps of the machine beside her. Nothing even stirred. Gently, he reached out to take her hand in his, so cold against his sweaty palms, so still and unlike her. Jieun wasn't fond of public displays of affection after all. He sometimes got away with a brief hug or nudge on the shoulder, but Jieun was often quick to pull away. But she was like that with everybody, so Seunghun didn't take it to heart.

He squeezed her hand softly, suddenly nervous at being so daring, but naively he hoped that maybe the cliché things from dramas would turn out to be true for once. But no, even as he stood up to leave and let go of her pale hands, the heart monitor's beeps remained steady.

With Jinah back in town, they had one more person at those Saturday hang outs Hyunsuk liked to call movie nights in honour of the film club they used to be a part of.

Eventually all of them had graduated, even Byounggon and Jinyoung had managed to do so without having to retake the senior year. Seunghun wasn't sure it would have happened without Jinah. Sure, her lying to them and impersonating her sister had been morally wrong but with her around they had all gotten a new perspective: that they all had something to live for and none of the people who had left them would have wanted them to feel otherwise. At first, Seunghun had thought that it had been naive to think so, so unlike Jieun, but then he had gotten to know about her in the hospital and realized that maybe it had been their pessimistic mindset of theirs all along that had pushed the girl to the edge.

Hyunsuk and Byeol had gotten into the same college, sociology majors – she had wanted to study that and he hadn't known what else to do –, and it was cute how they lived their campus romance. Jinyoung had started working in a coffee shop and whenever they visited him, female customers were making heart eyes at him. Byounggon had gotten a job at a convenience store and often took night shifts because he had always been a night owl (and because with the timezone difference, this way he could talk more with Jinah), but with her back in time, it was most likely up to change.

And Seunghun? He had taken on a few children's dance classes to teach and was studying for the civil worker exam. With house bills to pay he couldn't allow himself to dream big. With all of them pressed up against each other on a couch, watching a movie, he was already paying his dream coins thinking of Jieun – that she would make faces but like this anyway –, wishing she was there.

It was almost the end of the visiting hours when Seunghun woke up. He didn't mean to fall asleep over Jieun's hospital bed, arms folded like a pillow but he was up late learning a new choreography. He loved the lack of crushing thoughts when he was dancing, the soreness in his muscles and the beats of music the only thing he was aware of. No what ifs or guilt or anxiousness, just dance. Except when Jieun had been watching him dance before because then his thoughts had been all about her.

The boy startled and pulled back, scooting back in his chair. He yawned as he rubbed his eyes. Then he froze, eyes widening.

Jieun was watching him.

Her eyes were misty and unfocused but she was awake. Seunghun stood up so vehemently that he almost knocked his chair back. Her name was a prayer of gratitude as he called it. The soft sound made the girl focus on him. Breathing through the plastic mask over her face, heartbeat measured by the wires put on her body, white hospital grown over her pale skin, Jieun seemed like a stranger but her eyes, they were still the same: sad but with fire in them.

Seunghun held his breath while a single drop of tear rolled down Jieun's temple, then she closed her eyes again right before the nurses arrived.

Seunghun was sent out while the doctors and nurses ran a million tests on the girl. He called Jinah and wrote in the group chat but he didn't know what else to do. He was pacing, walking up and down the corridor and while this was what he was waiting for, for her to wake up, it was also nerve-wrecking.

"How is she?" Seunghun ran up to the nurse who just came out of the room.

"Better than expected. But I can't tell you the details. Only family members are entitled to know medical details."

It left a sharp feeling in Seunghun's gut after spending in the hospital hours every week, but he wasn't surprised. He needed the family's permission to be able to visit too, so he didn't push it.

"Can I see her?" He asked instead, but the nurse looked at him uncertainly, with pity.

"I'm sorry but… the patient specifically said she doesn't want you to see her like that. Nobody apart from her family actually," she bobbed her head apologetically before hurrying away, leaving the boy behind.

Disheartened, Seunghun sank down onto the row of uncomfortable plastic chairs in the corridor and tried not to feel hurt. He knew how proud Jieun was, how much she hated to show weakness to others. He should have expected it, but it still stung.

He didn't know how much time had passed by the time the doctors and rest of the nurses left or when Jinah and Byounggon arrived. He just sat there, waiting, waiting. He wasn’t sure what for, not anymore.

Jinah told all of them that according to the doctors Jieun would make full recovery. She had to attend rehabilitation because she just spend months not moving and obligatory therapy due to the attempted suicide. She wasn't particularly happy about either of those nor having to repeat her senior year. But at least she didn't look like she was disappointed that she survived or so Jinah said. Not that they talked about it. Jieun wasn’t quite generous with words, not when it came to topics like this.

After a week of various examinations they would let her out of the hospital and she would spend two weeks in the mountains for recovery. Three weeks until Seunghun could see her again. If she was ready then.

"Seunghun, you are a beat behind. Where's your mind at?" His dance teacher's scolding pulled him out of his running thoughts.

Thoughts around and about her. Always her.

"Sorry," he mumbled and tried not to think of Jieun.

But he saw her even when he closed his eyes.

Jieun was alive and awake yet she had never felt farther. Seunghun's messages went unread on her phone and he only knew what was happening to her from Jinah. It felt wrong. Weren't they supposed to be best friends? When had it all gone wrong?

When she had jumped? Or when Yonghee had done?

Or when he had fallen in love?

Seunghun felt like she was slipping through his fingers like sand. It was almost like he was losing her all over again. For real, this time.

People said that it was natural to drift apart with your friends after school, once you didn't see each other every day, but he couldn't let go. He knew it wasn't about him graduating. Jieun was avoiding him. Seunghun told himself that she must have needed time. She was one of the strongest people he knew and she hated when she was seen as weak or vulnerable, she must have resented that he had been with her in the hospital. But how could he have not? At least he had been close to her that way.

The day after Jieun got back from the mountains, Seunghun got a text in the middle of his teens class. It was one simple message:

Can we meet?

His heart thrummed like a traitor when he saw it. He was sweaty and tired, but he wouldn't have missed out on the opportunity.

They agreed to meet at the park they often hung out later that night. Seunghun was more nervous than he would have liked to admit. His hands got clammy again after taking a quick shower and water droplets were still falling from his hair when he jumped on the bus. He was drumming on his knees to the rhythm of his heart, a jumpy little dance.

He didn't know what to expect. After months of not talking to Jieun, he wasn't sure. After her not wanting him to see her, he got even more uncertain. He kept replaying their last conversation. The one Jinah had confirmed wasn't with her. The way Jieun had smiled at him, nudged him playfully and stolen his fries. It had been painfully normal. He had used to beat himself up over not noticing the signs but all of them had been a mess after what had happened with Yonghee and Seunghun  had been busy with his mother's funeral too. There had been a new norm after that, nothing had been the same, so nothing had felt out of the ordinary. Nothing had felt like ‘Yonghee all over again’.

Jieun was already there when he got to the park. She sat on a bench with her long hair falling onto her shoulders, moonlight shining on her fair skin beautifully. She wore her signature eyeliner and black nail polish which reminded Seunghun of times before she got to the hospital where she was pale and bare faced, looking young, innocent and so so fragile. Seeing her again like this knocked the air out of the boy.

"Hey," she looked up, straightening her spine a bit once she was aware of his presence. The small movement didn't sit well with Seunghun. They were closer than to act differently around each other… Or so he thought they were.

"Hey," he echoed and took the seat next to her, his hands gripping on the edge of the bench. It felt unreal, being so close to her again, and she was awake, warm and real. "You… you look better."

It was a clumsy compliment but Seunghun knew Jieun would have never let him get away with calling her pretty or something like that. She didn't like that and the boy never knew why but according to Jinah they were always compared based on their academics and looks too. Early signs of Jieun's rebellion came with her going against what their parents would have liked to see her as: the ideal, well-behaving, perfect little angel.

"Better than half-dead in the hospital? Jeez, thanks," the girl snorted and her tone made Seunghun wince. Joking with her almost dying wasn't funny to him. He didn't say anything though, so silence embraced them for an uncomfortable moment.

"I'm sorry," Jieun sighed eventually and she sounded sincere.

Seunghun wasn't sure why she apologized though. For the insensitive joke? For ignoring his messages? For not letting him visit her in the hospital once she was awake? Or for the reason she had been at the hospital in the first place? Nevertheless, Seunghun shook his head, not wanting her to blame herself.

"Don't be."

"I am," she insisted, her eyes intense when their gazes met. "I never wanted to hurt you."

The boy sucked in a breath.

He was at fault too: he cared too much. But he couldn't say it was okay nor he could say he wasn't hurt. He was so damn confused at the same time as he was just happy to have her back. Because she was back, right? She wouldn't disappear like that again?

He wanted to ask. He wanted to beg even though he didn't have the right to tell her what to do. He wanted her to stay, but they didn't talk about it, about the elephant in the room, since everything was still so fragile.

Instead Seunghun looked into her deep dark night of her eyes and smiled.

"I missed you," he said.

Stay with me, he wished.

"I missed you, too," she said with the smallest of genuine smiles in the corner of her mouth.

For then, it was enough.

Admittedly, Seunghun had feared that Jieun wanted to meet because she would have preferred to cut ties with him, that it would have been a goodbye, maybe her moving away or just trying to start a new life. He was terribly relieved when it turned out that she just didn't want to apologize over messages for being distant ever since she woke up. She just needed time and space and she didn't like the idea of him wasting his time beside her hospital bed like he had done with Yonghee, too. He wouldn't have called it a waste of time though, he'd had nothing better to do and he had wanted to be there for them. Since he hadn’t been able to help, this was something he could have at least done. But convincing Jieun something like this was a lost cause and he didn't want to argue. A part of him just wanted things to go back as they were but another part of him, the one that wasn't a coward, wanted to be mature about it and talk it through. But he was afraid Jieun would put her walls up and shut him out then and he didn't want to lose her. He knew how much she disliked that therapy already that she had to attend for a year.

So Seunghun did the next best thing he could think of: making sure Jieun had reasons to live. He started writing a list, a list that he hoped would never end, of things that he knew she wanted to do, achieve or see. Be it a band concert, a trip to Gangnueng or just a choker she bookmarked on her phone. He knew her well and long enough to easily come up with a dozen list items but the hardest part was being smooth enough at delivering these that Jieun wouldn't call him out on it.

Like when they were out late again one night and he thought using that excuse that he was hungry would be enough to suppress her doubts.

"It's just so random," she grumbled when he told her dinner would be on him. It wasn't even anything fancy, just bibimbap that she always loved.

"I wanted to take you out from my first paycheck but you weren't awake then, so here we are," he echoed the practiced explanation. Technically it wasn't even a lie, he had wanted to do that. But now he had one more reason to.

When they crossed an item off his unwritten list, Seunghun added two more points in its place. With time, it turned into a little bucket list about things he wanted to do with her. Hyunsuk teased him that it was almost like he was planning dates for them and Seunghun had to make him promise not to call them dates out loud in front of Jieun. So what if he wanted to try out the new bingsu place with her or watch falling stars together or discover old record stores? He just wanted to be with her.

He knew it was only a matter of time that Jieun noticed the pattern and actually said something about it and then it would end. Seunghun guessed she kind of already knew, she just entertained him by letting him throw in a new idea for every weekend. Sometimes she asked if he shouldn't have studied instead but eventually let him be after listening to his nonsense excuses like how taking a break would fuel his productivity eventually.

Seunghun thought he could act like nothing had happened. Because it seemed like this was what Jieun wanted.

But sometimes he just couldn't.

"Jinah told us that you went to a psychologist," he said quietly after they visited Yonghee and his steps halted when Jieun fell behind.

"She shouldn't have. She had no right," she snapped, sounding both cold and angry at the same time, brushing past him, clearly not wanting to talk about it.

It was exactly what Seunghun wanted to avoid, but the cat was already out of the bag, so he didn’t want it to be an affair to brush off. He caught up with the girl, grabbing her wrist just temporarily to stop her and slip in front of her vision.

"You could have told me," he added, quiet and gentle, and Jieun's anger seemed to fade. She always seemed to soften just a bit when it came to him. Maybe that was also a reason why he fell for her. Because she made him feel special.

"You were struggling already because of your mom on top of what happened with Yonghee," she reasoned and Seunghun wished that she would have been more selfish than that. How could she have thought that her struggles would have been too much on top of everything as if she mattered less to him?

The boy sighed, shaking his head.

"That's not the only reason," he argued because he knew her and she respected him enough not to deny.

"That's not the only reason," she agreed, keeping eye contact. Brave, brave Jieun, why was she so afraid of showing vulnerability as if it was a weakness? Didn't she know that he wouldn't have thought less of her because of something like that?

"Can you tell me now? What happened? I would have never thought that you…" Seunghun wasn’t sure how to finish the sentence and it was probably the worst timing and not the best location either. But at least the streets were vacant and they were the only people under this alcove. The stars would keep their secrets. 

"I wanted to know how Yonghee felt," Jieun shrugged, trying to play it off but Seunghun saw the nervousness in her movements, the way she put her weight from one leg to the other. “Was he scared? Was it fast? Did it hurt? Maybe if it was fast and painless, it would be easier to accept it.”

Seunghun imagined her walking over the bridge, watching the river rush by underneath her and thinking of Yonghee. Of the boy with the gentlest soul and all those bruises on his fair skin. He imagined her screaming and reckless, finding comfort in the dark and the waves. The impact of her jump held magnitudes. It could never be fast and painless, not for those who loved them.

“Do you know what was the last thing I told him?” Jieun asked but Seunghun didn’t answer.

How could he have known when she had never told him? What he knew was that she had gotten into an argument with Yonghee not much before he had left them. But that was nothing new, Jieun had got into her fair share of arguments with all of them, especially Byounggon, because she was like an ember, fierce and restless. Yonghee had known this, he had known that her words were sometimes harsher than she intended.

“I called him a coward. I told him he was weak. That if he wasn’t going to stand up for himself, it’s like he’s letting them kill him,” Jieun’s lips trembled and she looked away, her voice getting breathy. “We were his safe space and I made him feel like he was a disappointment. I…”

A sob escaped her. It was so sudden that Seunghun didn’t see it coming. He had never seen Jieun cry. Not at Yonghee’s funeral, not when she had broken her arm trying a skateboarding trick in their freshman year. Yet, it was like an instinct: winding his arms around her, pulling her into his embrace. He half-expected her to push him away, to build up the walls once again just to prove that she was strong and independent. But maybe, finally she knew that from time to time it was okay to be vulnerable, with the right people it wasn’t a bad thing.

“I… What if that was the last straw? What if it was like I pushed him over the edge?” She sobbed into his shirt and he held her tighter as if he could keep her together as she was spiralling down. He had no idea she held so much guilt and grief inside.

“It wasn’t your fault,” he whispered into her hair and murmured other reassuring words while storing her back. Yes, they were all bystanders and maybe they could have offered help, could have pushed more but Yonghee had loved them and he insisted that he was okay. There was no way they could have known what had been going on behind his smiles.

Jieun cried for a long time. Years worth of tears dried up on Seunghun’s white tee as she pulled back and wiped away the rest from her cheeks.

“Shit. I shouldn’t have dumped all that on you,” she sighed, her voice raspy from all that crying and the boy practically saw her build up her walls level by level as she composed her facial expressions and wiped away her smudged makeup. She was mentally running away, so the boy told her the only words he thought that could stop her.

"Jieun... you are the strongest person I know."

The girl blinked at him in disbelief, his reflection clear in her shiny eyes.

"Do you really still think that?" She asked ironically with the certainty of someone ragged and patched up, scars from her fall still fading into her pale skin. But to him, she had never been broken.

"Yeah, I really do," Seunghun nodded, convinced and genuine.

She had never looked stronger.

Seunghun was hovering over his textbooks in the pleasant warmth the coffee shop where Jinyoung worked provided when somebody stopped by his table. His first thought was the barista boy but the mellow female voice that greeted him proved him wrong. Even after months of knowing Jinah, sometimes the striking similarity of the twins still surprised him. Most likely because he had spent years without knowing about the other girl's existence. But now that he knew and the girl stopped pretending to be Jieun, it was also painfully obvious in just how many subtle ways they were different. It wasn't just about the lack of eyeliner – which Byounggon had noticed since day one –, but the way they styled their hair, the way they dressed or the way they talked. There was that warm smile on Jinah's face too that Jieun so rarely showed. Looking back it was impossible to not tell them apart.

"Hi, how's studying?" She asked, sounding sincerely curious as her fingers intertwined over her iced frappé.

"As okay as it can get,"  the boy shrugged, straightening his back, using her presence as an excuse to focus on something else other than the material. "And what are you doing here?"

"Just getting coffee while I wait for Gon to finish his shift," she explained and glanced at her watch, checking the time, before pointing at the chair across from Seunghun. "Can I join you until then?"

"Sure," the boy nodded, trying not to show any lingering awkwardness that remained from the time when she had been pretending to be Jieun. He wasn't angry at her anymore, he understood her reason no matter how wild it was but he still couldn't forget the confusion he had felt when he had thought he had been starting to lose Jieun to Byounggon only to realize that it hadn’t been her to begin with.

Small talk with Jinah wasn't as awkward as he thought though. He asked her about how she was holding up in the Korean summer weather and told her about his upcoming civil servant exam. Only when they seemed to run out of easy topics like that did she bring up her sister.

"Did Jieun tell you anything about Gon and me?" She asked, fidgeting with her napkin.

Seunghun furrowed his eyebrows. Why would they have talked about them? Was something up? Should he have known something? He thought things were going well.

"Uhm, no. Why?"

Jinah seemed a bit uncertain at the outright question. She was probably embarrassed to bring it up herself.

"She doesn't really like him, huh?" She whispered, tapping her nails against the glass. "And it's not like I need her approval but... she's still my sister, you know."

Well, Seunghun didn't know. He didn't have any siblings and up until last year he had no idea Jieun had. But after getting to know Jinah and their close bond with her twin despite being separated for years, he thought he understood why she felt that way.

"Jieun doesn't hate Byounggon or anything like that. They are just too similar in a way," he told her eventually, thinking of how vocal they both could be about their opinions, how fierce they could fight for their loved ones or how reckless they could be if they thought it was the right thing to do. They had similar enough personalities to clash because neither of them liked to be proven wrong... or seen vulnerable. They were the lone wolves that could lead packs. "Maybe the same reason why she doesn't think she is fit for happiness is why she would prefer if you stayed away from him."

Jieun was good at holding grudges but the one she forgave the hardest was herself. As if she didn't deserve it just because she made some honest-to-god mistakes.

"The same way she stays away from you?" Jinah asked and Seunghun's eyes widened, his ears on fire.

"Did she–"

"She didn't need to say anything, but I can tell that she is guarded whenever it's about you. She cares about you, a lot, but she doesn't want others to know," Jinah interrupted him before he could have asked and yeah, that sounded very much like Jieun. "While I was pretending to be her, I heard girls whispering that she didn't deserve you. That's also probably why she had 'bitch' written over her locker and who knows what else happened to her that made her think it would be a bad idea to… let you closer, I guess."

Seunghun hummed, more to himself than to her, his hands in fists, knuckles white in his lap. Was he a bad friend for not knowing about it? For thinking that something so petty couldn't get to Jieun?

He wasn't sure he had the right to ask more even if Jinah knew more, so he stayed silent and then watched Jinah's face brighten and following her gaze, he saw Byounggon by the door, with the same, small but happy smile on his face. They were so obviously in love that it made Seunghun wonder when it had stopped hurting for them.

Seunghun made a plan. It wasn’t a very thorough or foolproof plan but summer was ending and he really should have stopped being a coward. Life was short and he didn’t want to live with regrets.

He asked Jieun to meet at the playground in the park where they often hang out. This late it was empty and Seunghun was sitting on one of the two metal swings, enjoying the last of the summer breeze in his face. Jieun arrived with soft steps and a not so soft push on his swing. Her laughter that followed his yelp was a chime of bells in the night.

"So what's the occasion?" She asked, straight to the point, taking a seat next to him, not yet sensing his nervousness, so the boy decided it was better to just tip off the bandage.

"I thought we could get away from the city before you go back to school," he said once he was sitting up straight again. He reached into his backpack and handed her a return train ticket to Gangneung, her favorite beach town. She took it with a frown, her surprise morphing into something akin to embarrassment mixed with frustration. Not a good sign but the boy tried not to lose hope as he waited patiently for her to say something.

"You don't have to do this. You don't have to, I don’t know, trying to convince me that life is beautiful or whatever," Jieun scoffed but her fingers grazed across the paper ticket in her hands like it was something precious. Her addition almost sounded like resignation. "I don't want to die."

The not anymore echoed somewhere between them.

"I know. But I want to do these things with you," Seunghun insisted because it wasn't just about that. What happened to her made him realize that life was fragile and fleeting, he didn't have all the time in the world to wait around for a chance with her. He didn't want to procrastinate these plans anymore.

But it wasn't enough for Jieun, it never was. She liked logic and reasons and the truth.

"Why?" She asked firmly and Seunghun felt like he was held at gunpoint.

Because we are best friends sounded like a lie.

"I want to be the one you do these things with," he admitted and it sounded like a confession. He didn't plan it but his voice softened as he looked at her, his eyes were probably full of the longing he tried to hide so hard all these years because he knew she would reject him for a better or worse reason.

"Seunghun…" Jieun sighed and he thought this was it, she knew and she would reject him. Of course, she knew. He wasn't exactly subtle, even Jinah knew and she knew him for the least amount of time. Jieun looked at him and the boy held his breath, waiting for the blow. The invisible gun, aimed at his heart, fired. "You deserve better. I'm such a mess and a bad influence. You deserve a pretty girl who is kind and patient."

It didn't hurt as much as he expected. Jieun said nothing about her feelings or that his were ridiculous or one-sided. She just said what she thought was true because she had no idea how he saw her, how much he could thank her. She might not have been the conventional idea of pretty but to him, she was the prettiest. And bad influence? When it was her who pushed him to believe in himself and keep trying because he could do anything?

"I don't want anybody else," he said because he knew he couldn't have convinced her of anything else. “I like you.”

Jieun abruptly stood up from her swing and leaned over him, grabbing the metal chains to support herself just above his hands, her hair falling around them like a silk curtain and her warm breath fanning over his skin. Seunghun felt heat rush to his cheeks as he kept eye contact and warmth spread through his whole body from the point where her pinky brushed against his fingers.

"Why me?" Jieun asked and it was the most ridiculous question because the boy couldn't have said why it could not have been her.

The girl who had taken the blame when they had gotten caught being late from school because there had been a long queue for the waffle they had bought before classes. The one who had been there for more of his dance recitals than his own parents. The only one who had told him he could do it even when he hadn’t believed it. His safe place. His first love.

"It could never be anybody else," he whispered. He didn't mean it literally and she knew it. There were girls who had approached him before both in class and at the dance academy but he didn't care. To him, there was only Jieun.

"Idiot," she murmured but there was no edge to her words, only fondness. She sat back down on the swing next to him, feet kicking sand.

Seunghun turned to her, watching her expressions closely before he reached for her hand. First, he just tentatively held it, half-expecting Jieun to pull away, like she always did but when she didn't, he intertwined their fingers. They were both holding on.

What was love if not this? Feeling content just by sharing a space, this kind of closeness between two people? Knowing that by being vulnerable with them, they could hurt you and yet you willingly give them the power because you hope they wouldn't? Why? Because they love you too.

[scratchybongvt]

MASCOT CHALLENGES 2! (Sidemascots 1.7)

Sumi: Candidates, from the general, mostly mascotverse, public, we’ve received 30,000 votes!

Vinicius: You mean 3 votes?

Sumi: WHAT?!

Vinicius: Admit it - you said you want 50k likes every single episode while we can’t hit 5!

Sumi: THIS IS AN OUTRAGE!

Vinicius: Calm down, maybe Season 2 will be better.

Sumi: Fine.

Vinicius: The question is simple: Are you picked or dropped?

Sumi: Open the box, if the smoke is red, you’re dropped! If green, you’re picked! It’s like a gender reveal Miga always want to do.

Vinicius: Bandabi… you are…

(Bandabi reveals red smoke)

Sumi: DROPPED!

Bandabi: I’m due to babysit Moongcho anyway!

Sumi: Izzy, you are…

(Izzy also revealed red smoke)

Vinicius: DROPPED!

Burke: NOOOOOOOOOOO! MY ATLANTA BROTHER FROM ANOTHER MOTHER!!!

Sumi: Since when do you have such relationships with Izzy?

Vinicius: Yodli, you are…

(Yodli reveals red smoke… surprise, surprise.)

Sumi: DROPPED!

Yodli: I was robbed! But on the other hand, I have a yodel class due. YODE-LAY-EEE-OOOOOOOOO!

Vinicius: Tina, you are…

(Tina reveals… yellow smoke?!)

Tina: YELLOW?! WHO PUT THAT?!

Vinicius and Sumi: TIED!

Tina: TIED?! WITH WHO?

(Someity and Mandeville revealed yellow smoked too.)

Sumi: Someity and Mandeville!

Vinicius: 1 vote each!

Mandeville: TIED WITH TWO GIRLS?!

Someity: Technically I’m not.

Mandeville: I DEMAND A REPLAY!

Tina and Someity: Hear, hear!

OC IV: But I voted for Tina!

Vinicius: You voted?! Bias alert!

OC IV: Tina, you are PICKED!

Tina: FORZA INTER!

Sumi: You f**ker. But, you clever f**ker.

Someity: What about me?

Mandeville: And me?!

Vinicius: Don’t say you voted for Someity too.

OC IV: Who do you think I am?! A tactical voter?

Mandeville: Fair point.

OC IV: Let’s settle it with anything you want them to do! I’M OUT!

Sumi: Maybe a boxing match?

Vinicius: Save that for later. For now, let’s do…

MASCOT CHALLENGES: SOMEITY VS. MANDEVILLE!

For a place in…

THE SIDEMASCOTS!

Vinicius: Season 1!

Tina: FORZA INTER!

The (blindfolded) 100m sprint challenge!

Beibei: Contestants…

(Beibei gets squished again)

Burke: Keep it clean or I’ll smash your mommies!

Mandeville: Did I hear someone being squished?

Someity: Me too!

Burke: Uhhhhh… no.

Someity: Phew, if it is, we all know who’s squished.

Burke: On you marks, get set, GO!

(Someity, unsurprisingly, flies instead of running until she touches the finish line)

Someity: Touched it!

Mandeville: Woo, who won?

Someity: me! I did it fair and square!

Mandeville: Oh, well done Somei.

Vinicius: She didn’t run!

Sumi: She flied-

(Someity choked both Vinicius and Sumi with her telekinesis)

Burke: Well you all said to get to the finish line, not run! Point to Someity!

Someity 1 Mandeville 0

Finish or forfeit challenge!

Burke: (chugs 10 cans of Red Bull)

Vinicius: Holy- that’s too much caffeine!

Burke: *burps* Just get into the spirit. Mandeville, your challenge is: Pronounce Llanfair.

Mandeville: Llanfair. That’s easy.

Burke: I meant (opens text to speech)

Text-to-speech: Llanfair­pwllgwyngyllgogery­chwyrn­drobwll­llan­tysilio­gogo­goch.

Everyone: OOOOOOOOOH!

Mandeville: Llanfairpw… what?

Burke: Fail! You’re from the UK.

Mandeville: But I’m English! I can’t pronounce such ridiculous Welsh names! Who do think I am? Paul Mullin?

Burke: Fair point. Your forfeit is strand in a middle of a bar filled with Scots.

Everyone: OOOOOOOOOH!

Mandeville: The disrespect…

Burke: Someity (drinks another can of Red Bull) *burps*

Someity: Is there any need?

Burke: Your challenge is go to the US and find a working ice cream machine at McDonald’s!

Someity: My forfeit is…

Burke: That you have to be a carnivore for a week!

Someity: A WEEK?! I’m not risking that! Be right back! (Runs out of the studio)

(1 hour later)

Someity: Here’s your ice cream, Burke! It turns out it’s not as hard as I thought!

Burke: Wow, you- WHAAAAAAAAAAAT?! HOW?!

Someity: Well, I was lucky to find a McDonald’s that has a working ice cream machine on the first try.

(Cut to 10 minutes ago when Someity gave up, stole the office’s ice cream machine and make a cone on her own. Thankfully everyone was stupid enough to not notice.)

Burke: Pass! Oh, you don’t need to pass on the forfeit to anyone…

Someity: Why not?

Burke: Everyone else in this studio are omnivores.

(Everyone laughed)

Someity: Oh haha.

Someity 2 Mandeville 0

Millionaire Syndication challenge!

Vivi: Welcome back to Quiz$Millionaire, I’m possibly the cutest mascot for an expo pavilion Vivi, and we have two hot seaters today! The other Ironwork from the Thames, Mandeville, and default Paralympic mascot, Someity!

Someity: Ha- what?

Vivi: 6 questions, no save havens, no lifelines. Go!

Mandeville, where do West Ham sit in the Premier League currently?

Mandeville: Oh my, I don’t watch 11-a-side. Can I phone a friend?

Vivi: Of course, duh.

Mandeville: I’ll call my friend and football expert Wenlock!

Wenlock: I’m right here, behind you, in the stands!

Vivi: 30 seconds, GO!

Mandeville: Where does West Ham sit in the Prem currently?

Wenlock: 14th!

(Hungs off phone immediately)

Burke: That was fast.

Mandeville: 14th place is my final answer!

Vivi: The answer is… incorrect!

Wenlock: WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?! OBJECTION!

Vivi: Woah-oh.

Wenlock: I remembered that game against Brentford! WE WERE SHIT!

Sumi: I said the exact thing the last time we played this…

Wenlock: I have the Premier League table!

Vivi: 13, 14… Yes, I can confirm that West Ham finished 14th currently!

Wenlock: GET ON WITH IT!

Vivi: Someity, how many percent of the Japanese population is Vegan?

Everyone: OOOOOOOOOH!

Someity: I’m sensing… 2,1%!

Vivi: CORRECT! Wow…

Vinicius: (whisper) Can I tell everyone she cheated?

Sumi: (whisper) But she did won the Ice cream challenge fair and square.

Vinicius: (whisper) True, very true…

Vivi: Mandeville, in what year and month does the first comic strip of the “Adventures of Wenlock and Mandeville” published?

Mandeville: Even I don’t remember that. It’s like lost media. Maybe around late 2011-early 2012?

Vivi: Maybe be more specific?

Mandeville: Fine, December 2011.

Vivi: Well, the first comic strip was published on issue 3601 of the BEANO, which is released in…

…

September 2011!

Mandeville: Oh…

Wenlock: It’s relatively lost media!

Vivi: But don’t worry, you have a redemption question!

Mandeville: Phew.

Vivi: Pronounce Llanfair.

Mandeville: I quit.

(Everyone laughed)

Vivi: And so Mandeville walks away with a big fat zero. Someity…

Someity: I’m all ears.

Vivi: How many wood does a woodchuck chuck if woodchuck would chuck wood?

Someity: Can you repeat it again?

Vivi: How many wood would a woodchuck chuck if woodchuck would chuck wood?

Everyone: OOOOOOOOOH!

Someity: I’m sensing… 317,51kg.

Vinicius: I KNEW IT!

Someity: What?

Sumi: You just “sense” the outside world to find answers!

Vinicius and Sumi: ADMIT IT!

Vivi: Can you confirm all you do is just sense the outside world just because you don’t know anything?

Someity: I’m sensing… *groans* yes.

Wenlock: #charlesingram

Vivi: And there you have it, one who’s trying to cheat with her magical powers and one who at least know how to think.

Vinicius: We all know who gets the point…

Vinicius and Sumi: Point to Mandeville!

Mandeville: YES! THE COMEBACK IS ON!

Someity: Don’t get me started…

Someity 2 Mandeville 1

The pole vault challenge!

Burke: WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?! Save Palestinian kittens and children?! Who sponsored this billboard?

Vinicius: @verarussin8.

Burke: Save their anger for later.

Sumi: Watch your mouth! Who knows you’re going to get stomped for no reason!

Burke: I’m isolated from humans anyway.

Vinicius: The last to fail a pole vault gets $1,000,000- I mean a point!

ROUND 1

2 mascots remain!

Sumi: Mandeville!

(Mandeville passed!)

Vinicius: Finally, someone does a proper pole vault!

Sumi: PASS!

Mandeville: Yippee!

(Transition)

Vinicius: Someity!

(Someity also completed a pole vault!)

Vinicius: TWO SUCCESSFUL POLE VAULTS IN A ROW?! YIPPEE!!!

Sumi: Don’t be too excited.

ROUND 2

2 mascots remain!

Vinicius: With the height of the bar increased from 10m to 10,01m!

Sumi: #mondoduplantis

Mandeville: Are you just going to raise it every 1cm?

Sumi: Pretty much yes.

Someity: Let’s settle it on a tie.

Vinicius and Sumi: WHAT?

Mandeville: 1 point each!

Someity: Agreed!

Sumi: Well THAT is a waste of time.

Someity 3 Mandeville 2

The fish and chips eating challenge!

Mandeville: Are you trying to piss both of us?! I don’t have a mouth!

Someity: And I’m vegan!

Vinicius: Shoot. We didn’t have that in mind.

Sumi: All the work of hiring a British chef for nothing!

Vivi: How about we bring the dishes you guys made to our Mitsubishi Pavilion?

Vinicius: What?

Sumi: Didn’t the expo start next year?

Nana: Yes, but we want to have a test drive. For safety.

Vinicius and Sumi: DEAL!

Sumi: Oh, no point.

Someity and Mandeville: NOW THAT IS A WASTE OF OUR TIME!

Someity 3 Mandeville 2

Reverse boccia challenge!

Mandeville: REVERSE BOCCIA?!

Vinicius: It’s like Boccia, but instead of getting the ball close to the Jack (aka that small white ball), the object is get the ball as far from the Jack as possible!

Sumi: That’s why we’re outdoors!

Someity: This is going to be a walk in the park.

Vinicius: Mandeville, you’re up!

Mandeville: Why do I always go first… (throws ball as hard as possible, which hit someone’s satellite dish)

Sumi: Miraitowa, can you do the honors?

Miraitowa: Sure thing!

(Mirai teleported to where the ball landed then back to the jack)

Miraitowa: 68m!

Mandeville: Result!

Sumi: Someity?

(Someity throws the ball which hit the antenna on top of the Tokyo Skytree and landed)

(Miraitowa teleported to where the ball landed again, this time it’s a bit longer, then back to the jack)

Miraitowa: 1035m, impressive Someity!

Someity: Thanks!

Mandeville: OVER A THOUSAND METERS?! HOW CAN I THROW IT THAT FAR?!

Vinicius: Point to Someity!

Someity: Yippee!

Someity 4 Mandeville 2

Darts challenge!

Sumi: Someity, (drinks can of Red Bull) *burps* you’re up!

Someity: Is there any need?

Sumi: Yes, there is any need. It’s Saturday Night Darts and it’s LIVE in London!

Someity: Pffft… (Throws three treble 20s in a row)

Announcer: 180!

Mandeville: For f**k sake, how am I supposed to win now?

Someity: You can’t.

Burke: Hey Mandeville, I know how to get past 180 in darts!

Mandeville: How?

Burke: Get more darts than Someity, forget three, how about 100?

(Everyone laughed.)

Announcer: Point to whoever the heck just scored a 180!

Vinicius: Point to Someity!

Mandeville: Oh no…

Someity 5 Mandeville 2

The follow the car challenge!

(Someity and Mandeville stares at the car on the screen)

(The video on the screen cuts to Sumi)

Sumi: DONATE TO MY PATREON!

(Mandeville suddenly has a heart attack because of shock, he collapsed, whoops.)

Someity: Phew, thank goodness I’m already familiar with Sumi’s scary face and scary ads.

Sumi: DONATE TO MY PATREON!

Someity: No.

Sumi: *sniffs* Why?

Someity: No one in this platform is as greedy as you.

Sumi: IT’S TRUE!!! *sobs*

Vinicius: Bonus points for making Sumi cry! Let’s be honest, he haven’t cried since he was 3.

Someity: Oh, haha.

Someity 7 Mandeville 2

Don’t get distracted while meditating challenge!

Vinicius and Sumi: SHOW US YOUR FEET, SHOW US YOUR FEET, SHOW US YOUR FEET, SHOW US YOUR FEET!

Mandeville: You guys are annoying!

(Everyone laughed)

Vinicius: Point to Someity!

Someity: …

Sumi: Stop.

Someity: …

Vinicius: God, this is going to be a long night…

Someity 8 Mandeville 2

THE FINAL CHALLENGE!

Mandeville: The final challenge, are you serious?! Now I can’t win!

Vinicius: Yes, but you do get a consolation point. After all, three points the charm.

(Everyone laughed.)

Someity: Aren’t you aware that I’m the most powerful Paralympic mascot in the first place?

Mandeville: No?

Someity: It’s in my name!

Mandeville: Someity, Someity… SO MIGHTY?!

Everyone: OOOOOOOOOH!

(Mandeville collapses)

Someity: Good luck!

Sumi: Wake up Mandeville. Wake up.

(Transition)

Announcer: IT’S THE THIRD PPV EVENT OF THE AGES! IT’S SOMEITY VERSUS MANDEVILLE!

Someity: Boxing? We didn’t have that in the Paralympics!

Vinicius: Oh, but you guys are, at the very least, good at punching people right?

Someity and Mandeville: NO!

Burke: Come on guys, GET UP AND FIGHT!

Someity and Mandeville: NO!

Burke: Are you scared of something?!

Someity and Mandeville: NO!

Burke: Are you just a bunch of idiots?!

Someity and Mandeville: NO!

Burke: Then WHOOP ASS!

(Someity and Mandeville nervously punches each other)

(Someity punches Mandeville’s eye!)

Mandeville: MY LENSES!

Everyone: OOOOOOOOOH!

Burke: FINAL RESULT, Mandeville receives a TKO! Someity, obviously, WIN!

Someity: Yippee!

Someity 9 Mandeville 2

The same score line as an average Bayern Munich home game in the Champions League..

Someity WIN!

THE SIDEMASCOTS!

Vinicius: Season 1!

Sumi: Starring Cortina D’Ampezzo’s biggest Inter fan…

Tina: Tina! FORZA INTER!

Vinicius: And default Paralympic mascot and powerful being…

Burke: Show off!

Someity: Someity! Haiiiiiiiiii!

Honohon: Is that Someity? I want to give her cuddles.

Soohorang: Mirai, shouldn’t you do that every other week?

(Everyone laughed)

Crackhead: WHO PUNCHED MY BOY MANDEVILLE?!

Someity: Woah-oh…

(Someity is being chased by Crackhead with a fire extinguisher)

Wenlock: @crackheadfromsainsburys, I thought you were doing you cash-in battle for Olympus!

Tom: SOMEITY ADMITTED?! HA, SHE’S SH-

[boltedgarlic]

taglist~

you’ll have to use the search function unfortunately :( i am no longer linking all my tags. if you’re on desktop, my theme should have a search bar!

dated by year

1980 | - | 1994 | - | 1997 | - | 1999 | - | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | - | 2039

dated by month

january | february | march | april | may | june | july | august | september | october | november | december

holidays/seasons

christmas | easter | fall | halloween | valentines day | winter

locations

australia | belarus | belgium | brazil | bulgaria | canada | china | france | georgia republic | greece | holland | india | ireland | italy | japan | medellín | netherlands | new zealand | palestine | peru | poland | spain | sweeden | switzerland | syria | russia | thailand | uk | ukraine | uae | usa

alabama / alaska / arkansas / california / connecticut / idaho / illinois / indiana / iowa / kansas / kentucky / louisiana / maryland / missouri / new mexico / new york / north carolina / ohio / oregon / pennsylvania / tennessee / texas / utah / west virgina / wisconsin

Chuck E Cheese | Dongdaemun Market | Hershey Park | Moody Gardens | NASA | Rocky Mountain National Park | Treasure Island Beach | Walmart

animals

anemone | birds | bees | bugs | bunnies | cats | chickens | cicadas | cows | crabs | deer | dogs | ducks | ferrets | fish | goats | goldfish | guinea pigs | horses | kittens | sheep | snakes | swans

pets

Abby | Augustine | Azuki | Bert | Bob | Mr. Boot | Bruce | Cupid | Donna | Dusty | Ellsie | Fiona | Fudge | Gizzy | Huckleberry | Itzl | Kiwi | Mattie | Mookie | Muffy | Newt | Noose | Ollie | Pepe | Mr. Punky | Ramses | Shika | Smokey | Tamako | Tucker | Xoco | Ziggy | Zoey

art/mediums

art car | ceramics | collage | crayons | crochet | drawings | food art | glass art | installation | knitting | miniatures | mural | oil pastels | origami | ornaments | paint | painting | paper crafts | patchwork | quilt | sculpture | tapestry | tiles | yarn

artists

Anne-Sophie Landou | Enrico Delponte | Jen | Keith Haring | Mark Schaer | Ryan Gander | Terry Ravan

Ween

colors

red | orange | yellow | green | blue | purple | pink | brown | black | gray | white | silver | gold | multicolor

food & drink

baking | batter | bento | birthday cake | bread | breakfast | cake | candy | cereal | cheese | coffee | cookies | cooking | curry | dessert | drinks | fake food | fruit | hot pot | ice cream | meat | onigiri | pancakes | pastries | pie | potluck | pumpkins | salad | sashimi | smores | soup | sushi | tea | torte | vegetables | wine

characters/licenses/media

animal crossing | anpanman | boognish | candy land | dora | doraemon | evangelion | garfield | giant microbes | hannah montana | hello kitty | hoops & yoyo | joe cool | miffy | moomin | moppy | muppets | nasa | powerpuff girls | sanrio | sesame street | snoopy | sonic (the hedgehog) | spongebob | texas chainsaw | universal studios japan | wallace and gromit | winne the pooh | yotsuba | yugioh

interior

apartment | attic | bar | basement | bathroom | bedroom | cabin | chandelier | dining room | dorm | foyer | hallway | home | hostel | hotel | kid’s room | kitchen | library | living room | mall | playroom | shelves | stairs | studio | unfurnished | window

bead curtains | beds | bookshelf | computer | crt monitor | chairs | curtains | desk | fishtank | fridge | furniture | kitchenware | lamp | laptop | lava lamp | salt lamp | sewing machine | stove | tablecloth | tables | tv | vase | whiteboard | wood paneling | wood stove

exterior/outside

backyard | balcony | beach | bridge | building | canal | car show | cemetery | chapel | chicken coop | church | city | clothesline | dam | fair | fence | ferris wheel | gate | highway | hills | house | iron gate | mailbox | neighborhood | park | patio | picnic tables | plants | pool | porch | road | street | tables | train | train station | tunnel | wind chimes | wreath | yard

clouds | creek | dirt | field | flowers | fog | forest | frost | garden | mountains | mushrooms | nest | night | lake | lawn | ocean | path | plants | rain | rainbow | sky | snow | snowman | sunset | topiary | trail | trees | waterfall | woods

miscellaneous tags

altar | angel | antlers | astrology | beekeeping | baby shower | bamboo | basket | bicycle | birthday | birthday cake | blankets | books | brick | bowling | camera | candles | chain | cherub | chess | clock | clothing | car | card game | cards | chess | cigarettes | collection | construction | decor | desk | dollhouse | dolls | dusty | figure | figurines | flowers | fortune telling | gift | globe | gloves | hay | installation | karaoke | kite | knife | knives | lace | landmark | lanterns | leak | lock | machinery | mannequins | market | moving | nursery | objects | orbs | party | pearls | people | piano | pillows | plane | playing cards | plush | polaroid | posters | preschool | pyrex | rail | remodel | religion | retail | roadtrip | school | school bus | sculpture | seashells | shoes | sign | silverware | smoke | spirits | suburbia | sunlight | stained glass | swords | tech | toys | trinkets | vehicle | vhs | video games | visual clutter | water | wedding | window

blur | edit | fisheye | flash | frame | glow | low quality | panorama | photo collage | text | timestamp | video | vignette | watermark

my tags

11:11 | baby tag | birthday tag | fav | grandmas house | magic tag | personal | thank you post

updated: 09/13/2024

[brookstonalmanac]

Holidays 9.27

Holidays

Ancestor Appreciation Day (a.k.a. Honor Your Ancestors Day)

Answering Machine Day

Arbor Day (US Virgin Islands)

Banana Slug Day

Battle of Boquerón Day (Paraguay)

Bloodstone Day

Book Matches Day

Castor 927 Day

Crush A Can Day

Dave Matthews Band Day

Day of Preschool Employees (Russia)

Doris Day Day (Cincinnati, Ohio)

European Myeloma Day

1stLinePit Pitch Day

French Community Day (Belgium)

Fun and Fancy Free Day

GNU Day

Google Commemoration Day

International SEO Day

Julien Alfred Day (Saint Lucia)

Lendemain du Magal de Touba (Sénégal)

Manit Day (Culture Day; Marshall Islands)

Memorial Day (Azerbaijan)

Morning Show Hosts Day

National AJ Day

National Boccia Day (UK)

National Butt Plug Day

National Day of Forgiveness

National Doodle Day

National First Responder Appreciation Day

National Gay Men's HIV/AIDS Awareness Day

National Mustache Day

National 911 Telecommunications Suicide Awareness Day

National No Excuses Day

National Prescription Take-Back Day

National Scarf Day

National Youth Day (Turks and Caicos Islands)

NICU Giving Day

Oski the Bear Day (Berkeley)

Polish Underground State’s Day (Poland)

Post and Telecommunications Service Day (Indonesia)

Shut Up and Let Somebody Else Talk Day

Venom Day

World Freight Train Day

World Pet Day

World Tourism Day (UN)

Food & Drink Celebrations

National Chocolate Milk Day

National Corned Beef Hash Day

National Cats Curry Day (UK)

Saloon Day

Tabasco Sauce Day

Independence & Related Days

Consumación de la Independencia (End of Independence War; Mexico)

Elleore (Declared; 1944) [unrecognized]

Glebiania (Declared; 2012) [unrecognized]

Mexico (Date Consummated, 1821)

Turkmenistan (from USSR, 1991)

Zekia (Declared; 2012) [unrecognized]

4th & Last Friday in September

Ask a Stupid Question Day [Last Weekday]

Butterbrot Day (Germany) [Last Friday]

Comfort Food Friday [Every Friday]

Field Trip Friday [Last Friday of Each Month]

Finally Friday [Last Friday of Each Month]

Five For Friday [Every Friday]

Flapjack Friday [4th Friday of Each Month]

Flashback Friday [Every Friday]

Flatbread Friday [Last Friday of Each Month]

Flirtatious Friday [4th Friday of Each Month]

Friday Finds [Every Friday]

Fry Day (Pastafarian; Fritism) [Every Friday]

FSC Friday [Last Friday]

Go Gold Day [Last Friday]

Hug A Vegetarian Day [Last Friday]

Love Note Day [4th Friday]

Make Way Day [Last Friday]

Michigan Indian Day (Michigan) [4th Friday]

National BRAVE Day [4th Friday]

National Good Hair Day (Australia) [4th Friday]

National Hug Your Boss Day [4th Friday; also 9.13]

Native American Day (California) [4th Friday]

Save the Koala Day [Last Friday]

Sport Purple For Platelets Day [Last Friday]

TGIF (Thank God It's Friday) [Every Friday]

Vegan Baking Day [Last Friday]

World's Biggest Coffee Morning (UK) [Last Friday]

Weekly Holidays beginning September 27 (4th Full Week of September)

National Drive Electric Week [f.k.a. National Plug-In Week] (thru 20.6)

Festivals Beginning September 27, 2024

Anderson County Burgoo Festival (Lawrenceburg, Kentucky) [thru 9.29]

Apple Festival (Gays Mills, Wisconsin) [thru 9.29]

Beach n' Chili Fest: ICS World's Championsihp Chili Cookoff (Myrtle Beach, South Carolina) [thru 9.29]

Cannstatter Volksfest (Stuttgart, Germany) [thru 10.13]

Chester County BBQ Festival (Henderson, Tennessee) [thru 9.28]

Chicago Gourmet Hamburger Hop (Chicago, Illinois)

Chilhowie Community Apple Festival (Chilhowie, Virginia) [thru 9.29]

Coca-Cola Days (Atlantic, Iowa) [thru 9.28]

Downtown Chandler Oktoberfest (Chandler, Arizona) [thru 9.28]

Downtown Ithaca Apple Harvest Festival (Ithaca, New York) [thru 9.29]

Galway International Oyster & Seafood Festival (Galway, Ireland) [thru 9.29]

Georgia State Fair (Metro Atlanta, Hampton, Georgia) [thru 10.6]

Harvest Festival & Parade (Arroyo Grande, California) [thru 9.28]

Harvest Festival & Street Fair (Emmett, Idaho) [thru 9.28]

Honeybee Festival (Paris, Illinois) [thru 9.29]

International Sandsculpting Championship (Virginia Beach, Virginia) [thru 10.6]

Irmo Okra Strut Festival (Irmo, South Carolina) [thru 9.28]

Joy of Jazz (Johannesburg, South Africa) [thru 9.28]

Las Vegas Greek Food Festival (Las Vegas, Nevada) [thru 9.29]

Marino Grape Festival (Marino, Italy) [thru 10.7]

Marion County Country Ham Days (Lebanon, Kentucky) [thru 9.29]

Mississippi Pecan Festival (New Augusta, Mississippi) [thru 9.29]

Monterey Jazz Festival begins (California) [Last Friday thru Sunday]

Morgan County Sorghum Festival (West Liberty, Kentucky) [thru 9.29]

New Mexico Prickly Pear Festival (Albuquerque, New Mexico) [thru 9.28]

New York Film Festival (New York, New York) [thru 10.14]

Oktoberfest (Waterloo, Iowa) [thru 9.29]

Oktoberfest (Yachats, Oregon) [thru 9.29]

Oktoberfest Chicago (Chicago, Illinois) [thru 9.29]

Oktoberfest in Canada (Kitchener-Waterloo, Canada) [thru 10.19]

Pumpkinfest (South Lyon, Michigan) [thru 9.29]

River Falls Bacon Bash (River Falls, Wisconsin) [thru 9.29]

Saint Charles Oktoberfest (Saint Charles, Missouri) [thru 9.29]

Sisters Folk Festival (Sisters, Oregon) [thru 9.29]

State Fair of Virginia (Doswell, Virginia) [thru 10.6]

Texas Rice Festival BBQ Cook-Off (Winnie, Texas) [thru 9.28]

Virginia Beach Neptune Festival, Boardwalk Weekend (Virginia Beach, Virginia) [thru 9.29]

Warrens Cranberry Festival (Warrens, Wisconsin) [thru 9.29]

WineFest (North East, Pennsylvania) [thru 9.29]

Feast Days

Adheritus (Christian; Saint)

Aequinoctium Autumnale I (Pagan)

Bernard Waber (Artology)

Birth and Rebirth Day (Starza Pagan Book of Days)

Caius of Milan (Christian; Saint)

Cosmas and Damian (Christian; Martyrs)

Elzear, Count of Arian, and Delphina, his wife (Christian; Saints)

Feast of Eileithyia (Minoan Midwife Goddess)

Feast of Mashiyyat (Baha’i)

Fergus Mac Roith (Celtic Book of Days)

Festival of Namakungwe (The Originator; Zambia)

Festival of Varuni (Goddess of Wine; India)

George Cruikshank (Artology)

Horacio Sandoval (Artology)

Hieronymus Bosch Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Insult a Narcissist Day (Pastafarian)

Irvine Walsh (Writerism)

Jack Goldstein (Artology)

Jim Shooter (Artology)

Jim Thompson (Writerism)

Meskel (Discovery of the True Cross; Eritrea, Ethiopia)

Mookie (Muppetism)

Moon Hare Festival (Everyday Wicca)

Romano Scarpa (Artology)

Sesage (Positivist; Saint)

Sophie Crumb (Artology)

T.C. Cannon (Artology)

Thanksgiving Day for Disappearance of Kelp-Koli Again (Shamanism)

Thomas Nast (Artology)

Vincent de Paul (Christian; Saint)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Tomobiki (友引 Japan) [Good luck all day, except at noon.]

Premieres

Abominable (Animated Film; 2019)

The Affair, 16th Jack Reacher book, by Lee Child (Novel; 2011)

Bananaphone, by Raffi (Children’s Album; 1994)

A Bird in a Bonnet (WB MM Cartoon; 1958)

Bongo (Disney Cartoon; 1947)

Boogie Woogie Man (Song Symphony Cartoon; 1943)

Born to Run, by Bruce Springsteen (Autobiography; 2016)

Caballero Droopy (Droopy MGM Cartoon; 1952)

Chilly’s Hide-A-Way (Chilly Willy Cartoon; 1971)

The Cleveland Show (Animated TV Series; 2009)

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 (Animated Film; 2013)

Cracker (UK TV Series; 1993)

Dolly! (TV Series; 1976)

Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert (Music TV Series; 1973)

Don’t Stand So Close to Me, by the Police (Song; 1980)

Elementary (TV Series; 2012)

The Fever Code, by James Dashner (Novel; 2016) [Maze Runner #5]

Fun and Fancy Free (Animated Disney Film; 1947)

The Garden of The Prophet, by Kahlil Gibran (Poetry; 1931)

The Goal Rush (Noveltoons Cartoon; 1946)

Goodbye to Berlin, by Christopher Isherwood (Novel; 1939)

The Harlem Globetrotters Meet Snow White (Hanna-Barbera Animated TV Movie)

The Invisible Mouse (Tom & Jerry Cartoon; 1947)

The Journey of Natty Gann (Film; 1985)

The Karate Guard (Tom & Jerry WB Cartoon; 2005)

King of the Mardi Gras (Fleischer Popeye Cartoon; 1935)

The Last King of Scotland (Film; 2006)

Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder (Novel; 1935)

Memphis Blues, by W.C. Handy (Song; 1912) [1st Blues Song]

Mickey and the Beanstalk (Disney Cartoon; 1947)

Monster, by R.E.M. (Album; 1994)

Mumbo Jumbo (Ant and the Aardvark Cartoon; 1970)

New Jersey, by Bon Jovi (Album; 1988)

Nightmare, recorded by Artie Shaw (Song; 1938)

The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (Film; 1939)

Ran (Film; 1985)

Ringo's Rotogravure, by Ringo Starr (Album; 1976)

Rush (Film; 2013)

Sand and Foam, by Kahlil Gibran (Poetry; 1926)

Secret Diary of a Call Girl (TV Series; 2007)

Silent Spring (Nature Book; 1962)

Sweet Home Alabama (Film; 2002)

Tepee for Two (Woody Woodpecker Cartoon; 1963)

Thanks for the Memory, by Bob Hope (Song; 1938)

The Tonight Show (TV Talk Show; 1954)

2 Days in the Valley (Film; 1996)

Under the Table and Framing, by The Dave Matthews Band (Album; 1994)

The Village Barber (Ub Iwerks Flip the Frog MGM Cartoon; 1930)

We Didn’t Start the Fore, by Billy Joel (Song; 1989)

Wet Blanket Policy (Woody Woodpecker Cartoon; 1948)

Today’s Name Days

Dietrich, Hiltrud, Vinzenz (Austria)

Berislav, Gaj, Vincent, Vinko, Vinko (Croatia)

Jonáš (Czech Republic)

Cosmus (Denmark)

Elo, Loone, Õrne (Estonia)

Vesa (Finland)

Vincent (France)

Dietrich, Hiltrud, Vinzenz (Germany)

Akylini, Epicharis, Kallistratos, Zenon, Zinon (Greece)

Adalbert (Hungary)

Cosma, Damiano, Vincenzo (Italy)

Ādolfs, Ilgonis, Ronalds (Latvia)

Adalbertas, Damijonas, Daugilė, Kęsgailė, Kovaldas (Lithuania)

Dagmar, Dagrun (Norway)

Amadeusz, Amedeusz, Damian, Kosma, Przedbor, Urban (Poland)

Antim (Romania)

Cyprián (Slovakia)

Vicente (Spain)

Dagmar, Rigmor (Sweden)

Cosima, Cosimo, Cosmo, Damian, Damiana, Damien, Damion, Damon (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 271 of 2024; 95 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 5 of Week 39 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Muin (Vine) [Day 27 of 28]

Chinese: Month 8 (Guy-You), Day 25 (Jia-Wu)

Chinese Year of the: Dragon 4722 (until January 29, 2025) [Wu-Chen]

Hebrew: 24 Elul 5784

Islamic: 23 Rabi I 1446

J Cal: 1 Orange; Oneday [1 of 30]

Julian: 14 September 2024

Moon: 22%: Waning Crescent

Positivist: 19 Shakespeare (10th Month) [Miss Edgeworth]

Runic Half Month: Gyfu (Gift) [Day 6 of 15]

Season: Autumn or Fall (Day 6 of 90)

Week: 4th Full Week of September

Zodiac: Libra (Day 5 of 30)

Calendar Changes

Orange (Month 10 of 12; J Calendar)

[airconditioninggloucester]

Mastering the Art of Bleeding a Central Heating Pump

Introduction Heating your home is essential, especially during chilly seasons. But what happens when your radiators aren't heating up as they should? That's where knowing how to bleed your central heating pump comes in handy. In this guide, we'll walk you through the step-by-step process of bleeding a central heating pump, ensuring your home stays warm and cozy all year round.

[zerosecurity]

Russia's APT28 Cyber Espionage Group Targets Czechia, Germany Using Outlook Exploit

Czechia and Germany have exposed a long-running cyber espionage campaign conducted by the notorious Russia-linked APT28 hacking group, drawing harsh criticism from international organizations like the European Union (EU), the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the United Kingdom, and the United States. The Czech Republic's Ministry of Foreign Affairs revealed that certain entities within the country were targeted using a critical Microsoft Outlook vulnerability (CVE-2023-23397), allowing Russian state-sponsored hackers to escalate privileges and potentially gain unauthorized access. Germany Accuses APT28 of Targeting Social Democratic Party Similarly, Germany's Federal Government attributed the APT28 threat actor, also known as Fancy Bear, Pawn Storm, and Sofacy, to a cyber attack aimed at the Executive Committee of the Social Democratic Party, exploiting the same Outlook flaw over a "relatively long period" to compromise numerous email accounts. The targeted industries spanned logistics, armaments, air and space, IT services, foundations, and associations located in Germany, Ukraine, and other European regions. Germany also implicated APT28 in the 2015 cyber attack on the German federal parliament (Bundestag). Widespread Condemnation of Russia's Malicious Cyber Activities NATO stated that Russia's hybrid actions "constitute a threat to Allied security," while the Council of the European Union condemned Russia's "continuous pattern of irresponsible behavior in cyberspace." The UK government described the recent APT28 activity, including targeting the German Social Democratic Party, as "the latest in a known pattern of behavior by the Russian Intelligence Services to undermine democratic processes across the globe." The US Department of State acknowledged APT28's history of engaging in "malicious, nefarious, destabilizing and disruptive behavior," and reiterated its commitment to upholding a "rules-based international order, including in cyberspace." Disruption of APT28's Criminal Proxy Botnet Earlier in February, a coordinated law enforcement action disrupted a botnet comprising hundreds of SOHO routers in the US and Germany believed to have been used by APT28 to conceal their malicious activities, such as exploiting CVE-2023-23397 against targets of interest. Cybersecurity researchers warn that Russian state-sponsored cyber threats, including data theft, destructive attacks, DDoS campaigns, and influence operations, pose severe risks to upcoming elections in regions like the US, UK, and EU, with multiple hacking groups like APT28, APT44 (Sandworm), COLDRIVER, and KillNet expected to be active. Securing Critical Infrastructure from Pro-Russia Hacktivist Attacks Government agencies from Canada, the UK, and the US have released a joint fact sheet to help critical infrastructure organizations secure against pro-Russia hacktivist attacks targeting industrial control systems (ICS) and operational technology (OT) systems since 2022, often exploiting publicly exposed internet connections and default passwords. The recommendations include hardening human-machine interfaces, limiting internet exposure of OT systems, using strong and unique passwords, and implementing multi-factor authentication for all access to the OT network. Read the full article

[thebumblecee]

Real life is stranger than fiction. Some of the instances in 9-1-1 Lonestar plots with real life examples.

The examples have been fictionalised and sensationalised and made to fit Texas even if they’re from across the world.

Season 2 of Lonestar

02x01 Back In The Saddle - a man steal a tank and goes on a rampage

Real life: the story of Shawn Nelson who stole a tank and went on a rampage in 1995

02x02 - 2100° - Pilot Knob volcano erupts

Real life: The volcano that erupts in this episode, Pilot Knob, is a real (although extinct) volcano located south of Austin, Texas. (IMDb) obviously it’s never erupted but others have and fiction doesn’t that’s to be realistic, it has to be believable. I believed there was a volcano so I’m going to let it pass.

02x03 - Hold The Line - wildfires spread across Texas

Real life: they’re wildfires they happen everywhere. Here is a resource if you’re Texan or really into statistics.

02x04 - Friends With Benefits - a wedding suffers terrible food poisoning

Real life: (there were so many examples)

02x05 - Difficult Conversations - Grace helps a woman in a domestic abuse situation who ordered ‘pizza’

Real life: this is very common and we’re told to do it if we need help. Here is the domestic abuse helpline for the UK for those that need it and here is an org for the USA.

02x06 - Everyone and Their Brother - a conspiracy theorist tries to protect his property with land mines.

Real life: I won’t lie I struggled here and read some heart breaking statistics about landmine deaths. I also found a Reddit where men argued they should be allowed to put landlines on their property so it’s out there, I just can’t find a specific source.

02x07 - Displaced - a stowaway fell from a plane into a funeral

Real life: this happens more than you expect. The latest case happened in London where a man fell from a plane and landed in a residential garden. Article here

02x08 - Bad Call - a man with a fake bomb robs a bank and claims he was forced to do it

Real life: this happened in Scotland (again)

02x09 - Saving Grace - Grace and Judd’s car go over a bridge and into a river below.

Real life: this happens almost every day all over the world.

02x10 - A Little Help from My Friends - teenager gets hands caught inside an ice cream machine

Real life:

02x11 - Slow Burn - serial arsonist

Real life: they talk about this in the show but John Orr

02x12 - The Big Heat - again arsonist plot and Charles aneurysm

Real life: here is how to spot an aneurysm but I hope you never have too.

02x13 - One Day - A man starts a hostage situation to save his son on life support

Real life:

02x14 - Dust To Dust - A dust storm envelopes Texas (also known as a Haboob)

Real life: again freak weather is a common thing across the world but here is the USA weather guide to dust storms

Season one here

[brookston]

Holidays 6.12

Holidays

Anne Frank Day

Bedstraw Day (French Republic)

Blue Galaxy Day

Children’s Day (Haiti)

Crowded Nest Syndrome Day

Dia dos Namorados (Brazil)

Flag Day (Brazil; New Zealand)

Ghost in the Machine Day

Grimace Day

Helsinki Day (Finland)

Idol Day

Indiana Jones Day

International Adobo Day

International DDX3X Day

International Dubbing Day

International Shia Day

Interracial Marriage Day

June 12 Commemoration (Lagos State, Nigeria)

Lancaster Day (UK)

Little League Girls Baseball Day

Lover’s Day (Japan)

Loving Day

Magic Day

Man of Steel Day

Mother’s Day (Luxembourg)

National Automotive Service Professionals Day

National Black Men Don’t Cheat Day

National Button Battery Awareness Day

National Cancer Thriver Day

National Chiropractic Health Assistant Day (Canada)

National Control Room Worker’s Day

National Cougar Day

National Dairy Goat Awareness Day

National Dame Day

National Esther Day

National Great Dane Day

National Harm Reduction Day (Canada)

National Hospital at Home Patients Day

National Magic Day

National X Day

Orlando United Day (Florida)

Peace Day (Kosovo)

Perfect Game Day

Portland Trail Blazers Day (Oregon)

Pulse Remembrance Day

Queen’s Birthday (Pitcairn Islands, Tuvalu)

Railway Day (Japan)

Red Rose Day

Rock Around the Clock Day

Russia Day (Russia)

Science Day (Turkmenistan)

Senior Race Day (Isle of Man)

Sharon Needles Day (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)

612 Day (Minnesota)

Spoonful of Sugar Day

Spousal Abuse Day

State Protection Service Day (Poland)

Stock Market Employees Day (Ukraine)

Superman Day

Swiss Army Knife Day

Tear Down This Wall Day

Valentine’s Day (Brazil)

Welsh Bands T-Shirt Day (UK)

We Remember 612 Day (Hong Kong)

Women’s Veterans Day

World Day Against Child Labour (UN)

Food & Drink Celebrations

Chuy’s National Taco Day

International Cachaca Day

International Falafel Day

National Apple Cinnamon Muffin Day

National Jerky Day

Peanut Butter Cookie Day

Pink Spaghetti Day

Poultry Day

Independence & Related Days

Act of Settlement Day (UK; 1701)

Bill of Rights Day (Virginia; 1776)

Chaco Armistice Day (Paraguay)

Constitution Day (Turks & Caicos Island)

Democracy Day (Nigeria)

Philippines (from Spain, 1898)

2nd Wednesday in June

National Time Out Day [2nd Wednesday]

Worshipful Company of Vintners of the City of London Annual Procession [2nd Wednesday]

Weekly Holidays beginning June 12 (2nd Full Week)

California State Parks Week (thru 6.16)

International Listening Association Week (thru 6.16)

Raggedy Ann and Andy Days (thru 6.13)

Festivals Beginning June 12, 2024

Emmett Cherry Festival (Emmett, Idaho) [thru 6.15]

Ice Cream Days (Le Mars, Iowa) [thru 6.15]

Mattituck Strawberry Festival (Mattituck, New York) [thru 6.16]

North by Northeast [NXNE] (Toronto, Canada) [thru 6.16]

San Diego County Fair (Del Mar, California) [thru 7.7]

Taste of London (London, UK) [thru 6.16]

Teapot Day (Tea, South Dakota) [thru 6.15]

W. C. Handy Blues & Barbecue Festival (Henderson, Kentucky) [thru 6.15]

Feast Days

Adriaen van Stalbemt (Artology)

St. Anthony’s Day Eve (Portugal)

Antonina (Christian; Martyr)

Bannocks Day (Celtic Book of Days)

Basilides, Cyrinus, Nabor and Nazarius (Christian; Martyrs)

Be More Paranoid Day (Pastafarian)

Bob Katz (Muppetism)

St. Charles Borromeo (Positivist; Saint)

Dave Berg (Artology)

Egon Schiele (Artology)

Enmegahbowh (Episcopal Church)

Eskil of Sweden (Christian; Martyr)

Feast of the Blessed Polish Martyrs of World War II

Festival of Mut (Ancient Egypt)

First Ecumenical Council (Lutheran)

Gaspar Bertoni (Christian; Saint)

Gerard Hoffnung Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Gin Day (Pastafarian)

Guy of Cortona (Christian; Saint)

Henry Scott Tuke (Artology)

Hildegard Burjan (Christian; Blessed)

Johanna Spyri (Writerism)

John of Sahagún (Christian; Saint)

Korean Rice Farmers Stream Hair Washing Day (Everyday Wicca)

Len Wein (Artology)

Leo III, Pope (Christian; Saint)

Media Ver VII (Pagan)

Odulf (Christian; Saint)

Onuphrius (Christian; Saint)

Peter of Mount Athos (Christian; Saint)

Sparky Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Ternan, Bishop of the Picts (Christian; Saint)

Zeus’ Day (Ancient Greece)

108 Martyrs of World War II (Christian)

Hebrew Calendar Holidays [Begins at Sundown Day Before]

Shavuot, Day 2 (Judaism) [6-7 Sivan] (a.k.a. …

Feast of the Harvest

Feast of Weeks

Festival of Weeks

First-Fruit festival

Wheat Harvest

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Prime Number Day: 163 [38 of 72]

Taian (大安 Japan) [Lucky all day.]

Unfortunate Day (Pagan) [34 of 57]

Premieres

Admission Free (Betty Boop Cartoon; 1932)

All About Dogs (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1942)

Andy Warhol’s Blue Movie (a.k.a. Fuck; Adult Film; 1969)

Are You My Mother?, by P.D. Eastman (Children’s Book; 1960)

The Brighter Buccaneer, by Leslie Charteris (Short Stories; 1933) [Saint #12]

Bullet Park, by John Cheever (Novel; 1969)

Can’t Hardly Wait (Film; 1998)

Chesapeake, by James A. Michener (Historical Novel; 1978)

Chuck Berry Is On Top, by Chuck Berry (Album; 1959)

Clash of the Titans (Film; 1981)

Cleopatra (Film; 1963)

Clockwork Angels, by Rush (Album; 2012)

Coming Up for Air, by George Orwell (Novel; 1939)

Deep Throat (Adult Film; 1972)

Donald’s Garden (Disney Cartoon; 1942)

Donovan’s Reef (Film; 1963)

Farmer Al Falfa’s Bedtime Story (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1932)

Food, Inc. (Documentary Film; 2009)

Foundation and Empire, by Isaac Asimov (Novel; 1952) [Foundation #2]

Go Bo Diddly, by Bo Diddly (Album; 1959)

History of the World: Part 1 (Film; 1981)

The Horse Soldiers (Film; 1959)

I’ll Chase the Blues Away, recorded by Ella Fitzgerald (Song; 1935)

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot (Science Book; 2010)

Jurassic World (Film; 2015)

Line of Duty (BBC TV Series; 2012)

Love and Kisses, recorded by Ella Fitzgerald (Song; 1935)

Mariah Carey, by Mariah Carey (Album; 1990)

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (Film; 2015)

Moon (Film; 2009)

Palestrina, by Hans Pfitzner (Opera; 1917)

Predator (Film; 1987)

Raiders of the Lost Ark (Film; 1981)

Rhapsody in Blue, by George Gershwin (Orchestral Jazz; 1924)

The Sailor’s Home (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1936)

She’s Not There, recorded by The Zombies (Song; 1964)

Some Time in New York City, by John Lennon (Album; 1972)

Speedway (Film; 1968)

Superman vs. The Elite (Animated WB Film; 2012)

Surfer Girl, recorded by The Beach Boys (Song; 1963)

Swingers (Film; 1997)

Take Off Your Pants and Jacket, by Blink-182 (Album; 2001)

Testimony of Two Men, by Taylor Caldwell (Novel; 1968)

Toreadorable (Fleischer/Famous Popeye Cartoon; 1953)

2 Cool 4 Skool, by BTS (Album; 2013)

The Witches of Eastwick (Film; 1987)

Today’s Name Days

Florinda, Guido, Leo (Austria)

Bazilid, Gašpar, Leon (Croatia)

Antonie (Czech Republic)

Balisius (Denmark)

Eskel, Esko (Estonia)

Esko (Finland)

Guy (France)

Florinda, Guido, Leo (Germany)

Onoufrios (Greece)

Villő (Hungary)

Basilide, Guido, Onofrio (Italy)

Ija, Narda, Nora (Latvia)

Anupras, Dovė, Kristijonas, Kristis, Ramūnas (Lithuania)

Sigfrid, Sigrid, Siri (Norway)

Antonina, Bazyli, Jan, Leon, Onufry, Wyszemir (Poland)

Onufrie, Pavel, Petru (România)

Zlatko (Slovakia)

Juan, Onofre (Spain)

Eskil (Sweden)

Onopriy (Ukraine)

Ahmad, Ahmed, Aisha, Asia, Mohamed, Mohammad, Mohammed (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 164 of 2024; 202 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 3 of week 24 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Duir (Oak) [Day 4 of 28]

Chinese: Month 5 (Geng-Wu), Day 7 (Ding-Wei)

Chinese Year of the: Dragon 4722 (until January 29, 2025) [Wu-Chen]

Hebrew: 6 Sivan 5784

Islamic: 5 Dhu al-Hijjah 1445

J Cal: 14 Blue; Sevenday [14 of 30]

Julian: 30 May 2024

Moon: 36%: Waxing Crescent

Positivist: 23 St. Paul (6th Month) [St. Charles Borromeo]

Runic Half Month: Dag (Day) [Day 4 of 15]

Season: Spring (Day 86 of 92)

Week: 2nd Full Week of June)

Zodiac: Gemini (Day 23 of 31)

[jess-moloney]

Jess Moloney claims to be in celebrity management, that it's her full-time occupation but the evidence to support that claim is severely lacking. If you were to look at her website you would note the failure to have any professional quality anything compared to more legitimate websites. For example, you can look at the website of Donna Management where she worked prior to having her own company. If you were to compare these two websites side by side you would see that Jess has little to no idea how to present a management website of her own, which is odd, considering she was the director of a successful management company for a little over a year before leaving.

The majority of the clients Jess lists on her current management website were clients that she worked with directly when she was with Donna Management. It is unclear if she went on to continue representing them after she left and established her own company or if she's attributing work she did at Donna Management to her own company to appear more successful. For example: When she mentions representing Machine Gun Kelly, she actually did that when she was working at Donna Management. There is no evidence to support that she ever managed him after she left or currently has anything to do with managing him. The same can be said about Vivienne Westwood, Millie Mackintosh, Naomi Shimada, and Justine Skye (among others).

Whatever the case may be, public information shows that Jess has not updated her management website since 2019. Yet she still continues to file the company as a business in the UK and still continues to claim this job title when it's doubtful she has any clients at all if she's not even bothering to update her website. Legitimate management websites don't just list random names of celebrities, claiming to have managed them. They have profiles, photos, and other clients listed as well as examples of what they do as a management company and ways to hire them. Jess has none of these and very little evidence to support she's helped many of these people that she has claimed to manage (independently). It's safe to assume when she worked at Donna Management she worked with a team of people.

Since this is the case, it's also safe to assume that Jess believed when she left Donna Management to start her own company she was going to take all of these high-profile clients with her. Something known as poaching, which is extremely unethical for anyone in business to be doing. She even admitted herself that you do not need an education to do what she does:

"You don’t have to go to university to do what I do." -Jess Moloney on Celebrity Management and running her own business [Source].

This would show that she doesn't have a formal education in business, management, or accounting. She just started this business on a whim because she had the money and she had some reason to believe she would be successful. Perhaps, as stated, that her high-profile clients at Donna Management would all just follow her to her company and, somehow, completely by herself, she'd be able to handle all of them. It very obviously did not work out that way.

Considering her very shaky history with Ice Studios and what she actually does for them as an occupation, it's questionable how she got work at Donna Management in the first place, why she was promoted to director, and why she only spent a year in that position before deciding to start her own company only to stop doing anything for it in 2019 when she stopped updating her website.

Theoretically, the lack of updating her website would show she has no need to update it because she had no active clients. She did not start promoting anything for Ice Studios on her IG account until 2021 which is the first time I can find any usage of the hashtag for promotion (on a post that seemingly had nothing to do with the studios). This would indicate that she hasn't had any sort of clients, officially, for a number of years, and the "work" she is getting is fabricated or out of pity, handed to her by some people she already happens to know.

This is all the information currently known about Jess and her role in celebrity management. If anything else is found out it will be added to this post.

[letssgolesbians]

a collection of eco friendly lifestyle ideas + swaps from various sources around the web:

reusable makeup remover wipes/cotton rounds - i use these and they’re way softer on the skin and bigger so you can use multiple times before washing either in sink or with a laundry load.

cutting products open when they are almost finished - will acc save a lot of money and means that even if buying sustainably is inaccessible to you (valid!) you can make products last for longer

freeze your overripe fruits for smoothies - all tastes the same, means you can make ur own cute lil smoothie mixes and they are often thicker!!

wash dry and reuse plastic bags - they’re almost unavoidable, but you can reuse them easily (i do this for my lunch!)

buy slow fashion - to some this might be too pricey which is totally fine!! but for my uk ppl: run and fly, lucy and yak, and fat face all look rly good and have fun clothing.

eat plant based food - you don’t have to be a vegetarian, you can do meat free monday or just choose the mcplant over a normal burger at maccies! quorn has acc aamzing chicken nuggets and often supermarkets have vegetarian aisles!

support your local farmers market - they often do not wax their apples and you will actually be able to support local businesses instead of big corporations! they also are just fun to go to :)

use a bar dish soap and a bamboo brush

to wash your body, buy bar soap and a net type pouch for it to be able to save it and exfoliate, often less expensive and not packaged in plastic, more scents or you can even make your own!! i’ve heard black african soap is rly good!

use a recycled plastic toothbrush over a normal one - you can use bamboo, but for me bc of sensory issues i can’t, so this is a nice compromise!

use beeswax wraps for food instead of clingfilm - they are more sticky and thick so accessible for people with motor issues (maybe, correct me if i’m wrong but less delicate?) and they have fun patterns and are available from lots of small businesses

instead of liquid hand soap, either use a bar soap or my preference would be a glass pump bottle and tablets that you can dissolve as i find bar soap hard to handle, but bar soap you can keep in tins!

use a reusable water bottle - you can fill them with fizzy drinks or energy drinks, there’s no rules against this!! they keep your drink cold and are sturdier then plastic, and definitely cheaper!! you can also draw on some or stick stickers on to make them more ‘you’!

use cloth napkins and ‘unpaper’ towels instead of rolls of paper towels

buy in bulk

use an ice tray or machine instead of buying big bags from the store - less heavy definitely, and you can add fruits and make ice pops with trays!!

use a refillable or natural deodorant- i use wild (uk ppl!!) and it smells nice, the refills are easy and come in paper and i have a rly cute metal holder!!

you can get reusable cupcake papers - esp for my ppl who like the lick the bottom, they won’t fall apart XD!

use a kindle - reduces the amount of paper books you have to buy, easily transportable, can lend books out to ppl and cheaper books!

bring your own lunch - esp if ur a picky eater like me, i often bring a cheese sandwich and some crisps places so i’m not stuck not eating or choking down food i don’t like and leaving leftovers, also means you can use your own plastic tupperwares instead of store bought single use things lol

grow your own things - i used to grow strawberries as a child and it was surprisingly easily, some ideas are bottle tower gardens and a kitchen herb gardens, you can also grow cat grass and catnip for all my cat parents out there :)

collect rainwater for your plants - just keep a mason jar in your backyard if you have one, or journey out when it’s raining and fill a jar, will last you a bit!!

that’s all i have for now but feel free to add more!!