#the article also has new photos of the accident….

[jackies-ear]

.

So sometimes I’ll go and google the guy that killed Sarah just to like make sure he’s still in prison and pray for his death. he’s trying to appeal his conviction rn.

But I just found an article from January abt her parents suing him and the 3 companies he was working with. Which I knew they were doing, at some point, bc mom said she was gonna give the lawyers my info. I wasn’t contacted. But the trial is set for August, and a full jury this time. And her mom hasn’t brought this up w me for a bit, and I don’t want to like call and confront her abt it, but I need to know more and if they’re gonna be there, if I can be there too.

So how to I reach out to her mom to get more info abt this without being like ‘yea I googled him and found this and I didn’t know it was already happening??? wtf???’

Work was willing to give me the time off for the first trial 2 yrs ago, I can get the time off again, it’s just in the first month of school so I’d need to know like now

[reasonsforhope]

"In short: Thailand's Senate has approved a bill legalising same sex marriage in the South-East Asian country.

It will afford same-sex couples practical benefits such as being able to have children through IVF and make emergency medical decisions for their spouse.

What's next? The first weddings may take place later this year, 120 days after the law is announced in the Royal Gazette.

Thailand has become the first nation in South-East Asia to legalise same sex marriage, with the country's Senate approving the landmark bill this afternoon.

The legislation was expected to pass after it cleared the country's House of Representatives in a near-unanimous vote in March.

Despite Thailand's bustling gay bars and prominent transgender community making it a mecca for LGBTQ+ tourists, until now local same-sex couples there have been unable to marry.

The law will take effect 120 days after its announcement in the Royal Gazette, so the first same sex weddings may take place later this year.

Couples who have been waiting years have hailed the move as a historic moment that will afford them rights only reserved for spouses.

A Lifechanging Law

Photos of Anticha and Worawan [including the article picture], dressed in floor-length white gowns and trailed by rainbow flags, getting married at Bangkok's first Pride Festival two years ago went viral, but they are still not legally married.

Now they will be able to change that, and Anticha Sangchai is elated.

"This will change my life and change many Thai people's lives, especially in the LGBT community," she said.

"It is a historical moment and I really want to join with my community to celebrate this moment.

"I want to send a message to the world that Thailand has changed. Even though there are still many issues, this is a big step for us." ...

There were an estimated 3.7 million LGBT people in Thailand in 2022, according to LGBT Capital, a private company which models economic data pertaining to the community around the world.

For the young couple from Bangkok, being able to marry also has very real practical implications.

If they want to have children through IVF, Ms Sangchai says they will need a marriage certificate first.

"I am quite concerned about the time because we are getting older every day, and the older you get the more difficult it is to have a healthy pregnancy," she said.

"So we've been really wanting this law to pass as soon as possible."

Cabaret performer Jena is excited Thailand's laws are finally catching up with the nation's image...

She too had worried about the practical implications of being unable to marry.

"For example, if myself or my partner had to go to hospital or there was an accident that needs consent for an emergency operation, without a marriage certificate we couldn't sign it," she said.

She now wants the government to move forward with a law to allow transgender people to amend their gender on official documents." ...

An Economic Boost?

Thailand has long been famous for LGBTQ tourism and there are now hopes this new law could allow the country to cash in on the aging members of the community.

Chaiwat Songsiriphan, who runs a health clinic for people in the LGBTQ community, said laws preventing same sex marriage were the last barrier holding the country back from becoming a gay retirement hub.

[Note: They do not just mean for rich westerners; Thailand as a gay retirement hub would probably appeal most to and definitely benefit LGBTQ people from throughout Asia.]

"Thailand has an LGBTQ-friendly environment since Thai culture is quite flexible," he said.

"One of my foreigner friends, a gay friend, told me that when he's in his country he has to pretend to be straight … but when he comes to Bangkok he said you can be as gay as you want.

"When we talk about retirement or a long-term stay for the rest of their lives, what people need is … food, good healthcare services, transportation, homes.

"I think Thailand has it all at a very affordable price."

He said it could help give the country a desperately needed economic boost.

"This will have a lot of benefits for Thailand's economy because when we talk about retirement it's people literally bringing all the money they have earned for the rest of their working lives to spend and invest here," he said.

He said he, like the rest of the community, was thrilled by the news.

"It's not about a privilege, it's just equality," he said.

"We are we also humans, so we should be able to marry the one we love.""

-via ABC Australia, June 18, 2024

[thinking-emoji]

Photo-spoiler free PEOPLE article

wonderful article by the amazing Raven Brunner, but it unfortunately includes extremely cute photos of dnp on stage and in their stage outfits. So here's the spoiler free version for all you hardcore spoiler-fighters

Dan Howell and Phil Lester Say Seeing Fans on Tour Now That They're 'Older and Bit Gayer' Has Felt 'Radical and Freeing' (Exclusive)

Dan Howell and Phil Lester are currently one month into the North American leg of their tour Terrible Influence and PEOPLE has an exclusive first look

By Raven Brunner | Published on November 1, 2024 11:00AM EDT

Dan Howell and Phil Lester are cruising through the United States! 

The two British YouTubers are currently one month into the North American leg of their third joint tour Terrible Influence – and PEOPLE has an exclusive first look.

The duo will continue with stops in Chicago, Toronto, New York City, Nashville and more, before bringing their show to Australia in December. 

"Being able to see our audience in real life, now that we're all older ... and we're a bit gayer, feels so radical and freeing," Dan and Phil said in a statement shared with PEOPLE. "We've had so many people joke [that] this tour has felt 'healing' and to see people from all different walks of life feel like they are welcome at our tour makes us so happy."

They added, "Getting to perform a new show that contains so many spicy personal and professional revelations is a thrill. It's truly a DGAF new era and to see people hollering at some of the controversial moments and shedding a tear at the end makes it feel so good every night."

When it comes to traveling the states, the two continued, "The U.S.A. is so huge, we can't believe driving across the middle takes so long. From Texas and the midwest to the upcoming east coast leg - our propaganda is spreading across the nation and we're so happy to be here saving democracy, one brainwashed viewer at a time."

The show sees Dan and Phil on tour together for the first time since their 2018 hiatus from their shared YouTube channel DanandPhilGAMES, during which they both came out as gay and grew their personal brands. During this time, Dan wrote the #1 New York Times bestselling mental health book You Will Get Through This Night and embarked on a solo comedy tour We’re All Doomed, while Phil continued to grow his own YouTube channel AmazingPhil. 

In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE ahead of their arrival in the U.S., the two – who have been on YouTube together for over 15 years – spoke about the reactions to their first few shows as they began their tour in September with a stop in Belgium.

"We have had so many funny memes and reactions to it," Phil, 37, told us at the time. "Seeing the buzz on social media the first night we did the show, because no one knew anything about it or what it was going to be, was just a reminder of how hilarious our audience is.”

Dan, 33, added that the show is helping people come to terms with their past and also their future. 

"It has also been amazing seeing all the different kinds of people that come to the show because we have had people that are like, 'I’m old now and identify as a real person' – not someone that spends all their time on YouTube," he said. "All these people have grown up and gone on so many different journeys in the direction of their lives, and yet it feels like they all got to come together and feel like they were welcomed."

Dan continued, "They all got to laugh and feel like they could have some weight taken off their shoulders for who we were, for who they used to be [and] for how scared they should feel about the future. The fact that everyone’s left feeling invigorated about themselves for what the next chapters of their lives could be, I think we are really proud of that."

The new territory of the show also poses new "danger," as Dan said.

Phil has experienced two accidents while working on the show, the first of which occurred during a rehearsal and resulted in a broken rib. Then he fell off the stage during a tour stop in Sweden, after which he wrote on social media, "people think ‘phil is going to fall off the stage’ is an old joke until i actually fall off the stage."

"We joke about this,” Dan explained. “People are like, 'Dan and Phil need to stop exaggerating.' But you don’t even know the extent to which we don’t tell people half the stuff Phil has done."

"I need to be wrapped in bubble wrap at all times," Phil agreed, before adding, "To be fair, it is very dark on the stage. I thought I was leaning over the edge. There was no edge. I did a very stylish barrel roll off the front of the stage and thankfully it wasn’t very high."

He continued, "But the rib was another thing. I won't say much because it'd be a spoiler, but we were rehearsing a very active part of the show and I bent myself in a way I should not have bent myself."

Beyond the challenging physical aspects of the show, Dan noted that the specific scene also includes an emotional element where they are "jokingly being quite confrontational about a lot of things that would have, in the past, been considered sensitive topics – whether it is about us and our audience, or just like people on social media and what this culture is."

As for what the duo enjoys most about touring the United States, Dan quickly noted that "Phil is looking forward to sugar."

"Yeah, I have a sugar issue,” Phil confirmed. "Everything in the U.S. has more sugar in it. So that’s always quite exciting. The pancake stack I am going to get as soon as I arrive in America is going to be legendary."

Dan added, “You’ll find that’s essential. If someone wants a free selfie with Phil, just turn up to the local IHOP at 2 a.m. and see Phil just going, 'More maple syrup.'"

The two shared a story from their 2018 tour Interactive Introverts where their bus broke down "in the middle of Texas" and the only place nearby was a Denny’s. "So we ended up going there having a Breakfast Slam at like 3 a.m. I was like, 'I think I get American culture,' " Dan explained.

"This is it. The Slam,' " Phil added.

Meanwhile, Dan is most looking forward to "bus life."

"A lot of people go, ‘Touring! Don’t you just hate it? Imagine being on a bus cramped up with all those people?' And I’m like, 'I love it.' Get me out of the house," Dan shared. "We are not meant to just be spending all day in our head, being anxious about stuff. We are meant to go outside. And I found that the only way I can do that is to book a tour and commit to dragging myself outside of the house.'

Following their return to YouTube and their joint brand, Dan said that they are living "in this radical present where we are just seeing how things go." However, they are still aware of the demand for them to take on more big projects, particularly in relation to their former jobs as presenters on BBC Radio 1 where they hosted a weekly radio show and interviewed A-list celebrities like Taylor Swift and Fall Out Boy at special events.

"Yeah, that was really fun," Phil recalled. "I think there was a lot of anxiety for me doing the radio because you have to press a lot of buttons, you are live – so I can say anything. Anyone knows that me, unfiltered and live, is a dangerous mix, especially when you are the BBC."

Dan added, "People keep asking us. They are like 'Dan and Phil, we need you to get back doing these presenting jobs. You want to come back? Do the radio, do this award show.' We are like, 'Oh, my! Maybe we’ll do it for the people.' "

He continued to note that people are also "begging" him to return to his solo YouTube channel, but for now, they are focused on the tour. 

"This Dan and Phil comeback was so lowkey," Dan said. "Literally we had no plan for it. Phil was like, 'Just sit down, play The Sims, play a little card game,' and it is the most light, casual content ever. People were so enthusiastic about it and now they are like, 'What is the future?' People are begging us to do radio, they want us to do a podcast, they want us to do all this other stuff that their favorite YouTubers are doing. So now, we are like, 'Okay, we hear you, Dan and Phil 2.0 when we get back from this tour.' Honestly, it sounds like a threat."

"Yeah," Phil agreed. "What is it going to be? We are not sure but we are excited about it."

Tickets for Terrible Influence are now on sale.

[lex-loudestwoman]

Kaylor Swiftgron: Which Muse Inspired Which Songs on Red & 1989

On the precipice of 1989 TV's release and amidst the Kaylorification of 1989 TV's rollout, I thought it'd be a good time to figure out which muses aligned to which songs. I did my research, which includes: lyrical analysis & music video analysis, the timing of when songs were written, which producers and co-writers were credited to each song, social media posts, and where the girls were in real time. Shout out to @sophietv for her incredible work on the Kaylor timelines and evidence, and to @swiftgronmasterpost and @swiftgronmasterpost for their work to outline everything from Achele to Rivergron to Swiftgron. Round of applause to you both!!

Let's get into it!! (and if you want to just see my conclusions for which songs are about which muse, scroooolllll to the bottom)

The Red Muses

2011

Red was written in two phases. First, she worked with her producer from Speak Now & Fearless, Nathan Chapman. They wrote 25 songs together between February and October 2011. She took these songs to Scott Borchetta and he congratulated her on a finished album, but she wanted to experiment with other producers and writers to play with new sounds. So, after October 2011 she started working with a handful of other producers to write more tracks for Red. Here's a breakdown of Red songs by producer.

Nathan Chapman:

State of Grace

Red

All Too Well

I Almost Do

Stay, Stay, Stay

Sad Beautiful Tragic

Starlight

Begin Again

The Moment I Knew

Girl At Home

Martin & Shellback:

I Knew You Were Trouble

22

We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together

Message in a Bottle

Bhasker: Holy Ground

Wilson: Treacherous, Come Back...Be Here

Walker: Everything Has Changed

Lind & Bjorkland: The Very First Night

McKenna: I Bet You Think About Me

The first time we know for sure Dianna and Taylor interacted was on September 4th, 2011 at the Fairfax Flea Market, which implied that the songs Taylor wrote with Chapman weren't about Dianna.

Karlie and Taylor dated (I think) starting in the summer or early fall of 2011. I think they weren't expecting anything super serious, but it was one of those flirtations that starts out strong and feels good with them and all of the sudden you're in love and you barely believe it and feel ridiculous for knowing but you have a feeling this person is for you, maybe forever... It sounds right for Taylor who has admitted how fast & hard she tends to fall for people when she's in love.

Taylor attended the Rodarte Spring/Summer 2012 fashion show during NYFW and sat front row next to Anna Wintour on Tuesday, September 13, 2011. Karlie walked in the show (slay). This was also the day that Taylor spent with a Vogue interviewer for her iconic January 2012 Vogue Cover and Article where she is quoted as saying "I love Karlie Kloss! I want to bake cookies with her!" She said this straight after leaving the Rodarte Fashion Show.

Interestingly, Karlie was quoted in a magazine as having been introduced to Taylor Swift at the Met Gala and they joked about baking cookies together! They both attended the Met Gala in May 2011, just four months before the Rodarte Fashion Show/Vogue Interview day! So it's pretty weird that Taylor would say the exact same thing, unprompted, when she saw a photo of Karlie Kloss at a fashion designer's studio on the exact same day she sat front row for a fashion show Karlie walked in!!

I imagine that Taylor and Karlie fell into something new and beautiful and sweet by accident. The Rodarte Show was on a Tuesday, maybe they met up for coffee the next day on Wednesday, September 14th in NYC? Who's to say!

All that said, I think Begin Again is about Karlie. It was written sometime between February and October 2011, which would've been a really, really fast turnaround for it to be about Dianna. Between the music video and the lyrical connections, it's very Kaylor coded. Starlight also could plausibly be about Karlie because they attended the Met together in 2010 and 2011, and their 2011 dresses were sparkly and tbh Karlie looked hot AF.

But, let's also remember that Taylor is on tour and just got herself out of two on-again-off-again, fairly toxic relationships, and as she said herself in Begin Again that the last 8 months she's been heartbroken and scared to get hurt from love (earliest would've been June 2010-February 2011 and latest would've been February-October 2011). Plus she's not even 22 years old, so she's not necessarily good at being in relationships yet. She's in a messy place, and she falls in love like a ton of bricks.

I think that this delicate, precious new thing with Karlie didn't work out (not for malice or hurting each other, just life) and over the winter they were distant but were still in contact.

2012

On January 17, 2012 we get tweets from BOTH Karlie and Dianna about the *iconic* Vogue article. This makes me think:

1. Karlie is still interested in exploring this new relationship with Taylor

2. Dianna and Taylor have kept in touch and have a lil something something going on, a little curiosity they might want to explore

3. Taylor likes public attention, and she likes feeling wanted, and she's got two hot ass women who want her. Do you blame the girl for being messy!?!

Dianna and Taylor attend the same pre-Oscars party on February 24th, 2012, and this is where I think Swiftgron starts to take off. Dianna is all happy and heart eyes online for the next three weeks until the Speak Now Tour ends. They're spotted together frequently in March and April. The Shirley MacLaine birthday party thing happens April 25th, Dianna's circus birthday party is April 28th, and I would bet anything they started hooking up sometime these first two months. I think Holy Ground was written about Dianna's birthday party, with the note on the door with the joke we made, and that was the first day.

Taylor writes Everything Has Changed and Run on May 15th, 2012, with Ed Sheeran, and records both EHC and The Last Time on May 28th, 2012. Everything Has Changed seems Swiftgron (thanks Gaylor twt for helping me figure out that the freckles are IN Dianna's green eyes bc girl bye I was full of questions). The Last Time is almost certainly about Liz.

But Run is very Kaylor coded! The pale blue eyes, use of darling, the laugh like a child (Begin Again), locket, picture frame...

On May 31st, 2012, Dianna is bearding hard with Henry Joost to distract from her appearance with GLAAD. I have a working hypothesis that Taylor Swift hates beards and is not a fan of having to use them or be with people who have them. I just don't think it works for her with how insanely famous she is, the guys are hyperscrutinized and she's honestly not very good at being a convincing heterosexual woman. I think there's some conflict between Taylor and Dianna because of the beard.

By June 10th, 2012, Taylor has written 22, WANEGBT, and IKYWT. I am inclined to believe that WANEGBT is about Emily or Liz. Same thing with IKYWT. 22 is about her besties and living life and being carefree and embracing all of the beauty and pain of falling in and out of love and everything that is your early 20s.

We get the whole Hyannis Port x Kennedys summer week of pap walks featuring Swiftgron all over the place! But it seems like they probably break up later in July. This was a hot and cold relationship for real.

WANEGBT is released on 8/13 and Dianna tweets at Taylor (like never ever?). On September 29, 2012 Dianna and Naya Rivera are on a cheeky, lil sexy vacation in Paris. Taylor goes to Paris that same weekend to film Begin Again at the Love Lock bridge (Karlie is also in Paris but there's no evidence to show that they saw each other at all).

However, I wouldn't put it past Taylor and Karlie to have seen each other while Swiftgron was cold. Perhaps in September 2012 right around when she filmed Begin Again?

October 17, 2012 Taylor writes This Love in LA according to her diary entries. So I think This Love is about the Swiftgron reconciliation for whatever happened this summer. Things are good for a bit, they go to the Ripple of Hope gala together on December 3rd, 2012. They're pictured together on December 6th, 2012 and Dianna's all cryptic online about her secret love.

Quick Aside: Karlie and Josh have been "officially together" ever since June 2012, but they were first seen together in November 2012 when they both attended the VS Fashion Show. I'm under the impression that these gay celebrities in their early twenties only needed a beard when they were in another relationship they were distracting away from. They didn't need a beard, they could just say they were focused on friends and their career (aka 1989 era). So who was Karlie dating in mid 2012 that needed to be covered up with plausible deniability? This would've been in the works for a bit before they launched it in November 2012.

Also, super interesting that Karlie also met Taylor for the "first time" at the 2013 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, hmm? Anywayssss.

2013

I think everything Swiftgron blew up on February 14th, 2013 with the 'I Do' episode of Glee where Dianna Agron and Naya Rivera hook up on screen. Taylor made a whole big deal about this episode containing one of her songs and encouraged her fans to watch, but her song wasn't in the show (tweet was later deleted). But picture this: Happy Valentine's Day, watch your girlfriend hook up with the girl she told you not to worry about!! And then learn that they actually did hookup when y'all were on a break, like two weeks before y'all got back together!! Oooh boy!! I'm pretty sure this was what inspired Babe (in the music video Taylor was the mistress, but IRL Taylor was the main character who got cheated on instead of the mistress!!).

Dianna is a mess on Twitter after that and there might have been about two months of back & forth, maybe some breakup sex, but I think Swiftgron died dead by the time the article about them secretly dating dropped on April 16th, 2013.

The Red tour started on March 18th, 2013 and I can't imagine that made things any easier for Swiftgron. Meanwhile... I think Karlie and Taylor re-reconnected in this time period.

The 1989 Muses

2013

Taylor wrote 1989 while on tour for Red (except for This Love, according to the diary entry it was written on 10/17/2012). I think the breakup songs are about Dianna and the love songs (excluding This Love) are allllll Karlie.

If Taylor and Karlie did reconnect in Fall 2012, then Spring 2013 would be a long six months later...

Taylor and Karlie "meet for the first time" (which we have so much proof that it's not but like, okay, fine) on November 13, 2013 at the Victoria's Secret Fashion show. We know this isn't their first meeting or flirtationship, but it certainly is their first public outing to test what people say about their friendship.

Then, I'd wager Taylor plays "cat & mouse for a month or two or three" until they officially are girlfriends on March 6, 2014. Yay!!!

Songs About Dianna:

Red: Holy Ground, Everything Has Changed, Come Back...Be Here, Better Man, Babe

1989: Clean, Wonderland, All You Had To Do Was Stay, I Wish You Would

Songs About Karlie:

Red: State of Grace, Treacherous, Stay, Stay, Stay, Starlight, Begin Again, Message in a Bottle, Run, The Very First Night

1989: Welcome to New York, Blank Space, Style, OOTW, Wildest Dreams, How You Get the Girl, I Know Places, You Are in Love, New Romantics

[erikiara80]

Stranger Things and Wayward Pines parallels

I started watching Wayward Pines after @chirpsythismorning made this post, and I'm sure other people have already talked about it. The Duffers co-produced that show and also wrote some episodes.

Here some of the parallels that intrigue me the most. There will be spoilers, of course.

Wayward Pines is set in 4028-4032. An ambitious scientist, David Pilcher, discovers that the human DNA is mutating, so he and his sister Pam come up with a plan to save humanity. Pilcher builds a town, abducts a few selected, puts them in cryo hibernation, and then they all sleep for centuries, while the world collapses and a process of evolution mutates the human race into Abbies (Abberations)

First thing I noticed: many characters say that they woke up in Wayward Pines after a car accident, including the main character, Ethan Burke, a Secret Service Agent who was investigating the disappearance of two federal agents.

This makes me think about my theory that everything changed after a car chase/accident in 1976, here and here. And here what I think happened to Will and El in that accident (TW: mention of drowning and suffocation)

Hell and "Paradise"

Pilcher tells Ethan the truth about their little town: "You didn't think Wayward Pines ran itself, did you?"

Owens: "You didn't think we were working out of a shed, did you?" (In Wayward Pines, they find a tunnel system under a shed)

There are some very interesting parallels between Pilcher and his sister, Nurse Pam, and Brenner and Terry. We'll see if there's some surprise about Terry, if she was really just a student, or there's something more.

I always thought that this photo hinted at something, a deeper connection between Mama and Papa. Like the two Bonsai Trees books in Terry's house and Brenner's bonsai in S4 seem to imply.

When Pam starts to have doubts about their project, David orders her to be put back into cryo-suspension.

Pam gives Theresa a key card to help her find answers. Henry gives El a key card, too.

CJ plays chess, like Henry and El. For centuries CJ was the custodian of all the frozen, sleeping people in the mountain. He would wake up periodically for a brief period of time, to make sure that systems were online and that the facility was well cared for, and then he would go back to sleep himself. Every time he wakes up, he plays chess and talks to his girlfriend, but she's not really there...

And then there is Jason Higgins, who definitely makes me think about Henry Creel. Jason is the "chosen one", the kid that was raised by the Pilcher siblings to become the leader of Wayward Pines and what is left of humanity. He always felt different, he wanted to explore new lands...

Henry becoming an explorer.

And then this. In The First Shadow there are creepy vibes between Henry and his mother, and in S3 Robin and Steve talk about Back to the future and Lorraine being attracted to her own son, Marty.

Jason is in a relationship with Kerry Campbell, but he doesn't know that she is actually his mother! This is possible because he was awakened from cryo-sleep and grew up, while Kerry kept sleeping. Also, Pilcher lied about his family. He wanted to adopt Jason, the son of a pregnant student, but when she lost the baby, Pilcher and his sister adopted Kerry's baby.

So, we also have something similar to the "babies switched at birth" thing that has been hinted a lot on Stranger Things. In the newspaper article in 1x08, Terry's story is Joyce's story, word by word, so...

I will make a post about Back to future and the possible meaning of Steve and Robin's dialogue about Lorraine being attracted to her son, and Steve not calling Fox's character Marty, but Alex P. Keaton, another character played by Fox. There's a lot to say!

Anyway, on Stranger Things, the characters have said that something's wrong (Nancy to Murray: "Your timeline is wrong", and Hopper in the play: "My timeline is off") So, IF they are stuck in a time loop and we're dealing with many timelines, there could be some big surprise, even something similar to the Jason-Kerry plot twist. Similar, not the same.

[ingravinoveritas]

Okay but is it a good thing for people to look at your family Christmas photo and say that it looks photoshopped and edited? Just wondering since so many people have that same thought over on twitter who believe that Georgia and Anna were edited in

It's been so overwhelming to see the response to these new pics. I am sure probably everyone has seen them by now, but I will put up the visual just in case:

I think I would agree with you that, in the most general sense, saying that someone's family Christmas photo looks Photoshopped/edited is probably not a positive thing. In the interest of fairness, looking at the pictures of the other people who were photographed at the event, it does seem like it was a problem with the lighting or editing overall that is affecting every photo, not just these pictures.

One thing I want to be clear on is that I think it's absolutely precious that Michael and David did this outing together, and are spending so much time together overall while Michael is in London. We had an inkling of that up until this point, but we literally went from a blurry photo to Michael and David gazing at each other across a crowded room on press night for Macbeth, to...this...in the span of less than a month. And I am glad that their kids are getting to spend time together and enjoy all of these holiday festivities as well. It's all very sweet and lovely, and in no way is it my intention to diminish that.

Thinking about the matching sweaters (jumpers), this is where I start to feel slightly less enthusiastic. It seems that the jumpers were Georgia's idea, which makes sense, as she previously had everyone wearing matching sweaters for a viewing party for "The Star Beast" (the first DW 60th anniversary episode). But having sweaters for Michael, AL, Lyra, and Mabli isn't an accident, or something that happens on the fly--it has to be planned. So for me, that makes it seem less like "spontaneous family outing" and more like "planned photo op meant to garner publicity."

What particularly gets me is that the both the matching sweaters for DW and the matching sweaters here feels like a gimmick...but Michael and David have never needed a "gimmick." Because Michael and David just being themselves has always been enough to be memorable. I'm not sure if Georgia thought she needed a gimmick to make herself and Anna stand out or what, but to me it almost feels like the sweaters are a diversion. As if Georgia perhaps knew the four them in a photo together would look awkward, so what better way to deflect than to give everyone something else to talk about. (Perhaps the same could also be said for Michael's hat, which...why, Michael? Haha.)

But it seems that Georgia's idea worked, because right after these pictures came out, an article was published about them in the Daily Mail. So all of this put together does give that feeling of being planned, especially because the four of them were so much the focal point of the DM article, more than any of the other celebrities at the event.

This brings me back to the aforementioned photos. Again, what seemed notable to me wasn't just what we did see, but what we didn't: No photo of Michael and Anna together, nor of David and Georgia, and not one of Georgia and AL, either. Instead, we have this group photo (where no one is actually touching and Georgia and AL's arms are awkwardly hanging side by side), and a photo of Michael and David where they are, with their arms around each other and Michael leaning into David, in contrast to his much stiffer posture in the group photo.

Looking at the Getty Images page, all of the other twosome photos are of couples, and none of them have the same unusual energy as Michael/David/Georgia/AL's group photo. So I do wonder if the fans pointing out the "Photoshopped" nature of the picture (and specifically that Georgia and AL appear to be edited in) have ever considered that maybe that is just how Georgia and AL look together. Because we're not talking about Staged, or social media posts. This is them, face to face, in real life, and the difference between Georgia and AL vs. Michael and David just seems pretty striking.

(I am also aware that there was another family photo that Georgia posted in an Insta story, and it is an incredibly cute picture, but I will say that what struck me is how Georgia and AL are pressed close together, but there is a very noticeable amount of space between Anna and David, and he seems to be giving off a lot of 'closed' body language (one hand in his lap, one folded behind him). Make of that what you will...)

So yes, those are my thoughts on the new pictures. I would love to hear any observations that anyone else has, of course, so feel free to share your thoughts in the comments. Thanks for writing in! x

[nelapanela94]

Nelaaaa!!! BB TODAY I AM HERE FOR SOME NELA X LEVI HEADCANONSJDJD .. tell me the little stufff toooooooo 🤍

Hi lovely. This one was so fun to write. <3 thank you for the request and please let me live in my delulu world 🌎

Levi and I currently live in Marley (What's left) in a coastal town where the streets finish at the beach.

Levi, though he doesn't admit it, is still afraid of the elevator. He just can't trust it. It jars him when it quivers right before stopping, and he hates it's tight and stuffy. He prefers swallowing the pain in his leg to risking getting stuck and climbs the stairs up to the third floor. And it is worse when the chains start to screech pleading for maintenance. In his defense, he claims it is a great exercise. He takes his time and says hi to the brats who live in the second floor. Sometimes he brings them desserts from the tea shop.

Levi loves sea food, specially shrimps. That is why I took some cooking classes with Niccolo. Steamed, stir-fried, tempura, in pastas, salads, rice and ceviche, I had to learn every preparation. Though we usually eat at home, we love trying new restaurants in town. From fancy to fast food. Once I tried to cajole Levi to a street food stall but he refused, questioning their cleaning procedures.

Levi owns a tea shop downtown that has been awarded twice by the city's chamber of commerce for excellence, quality and service. He was interviewed and his photo appeared in the newspaper, with Gabi and Falco thumbing up behind him. We still have the clippings of the articles, and Levi had the stars framed. He spends all day drinking tea, doing accounts, making payments to suppliers, bossing everyone around, the latter his favorite. When he loses his patience, he jabs the staff with his walking stick on the back of their knees. He also likes to go on Sundays to the spice market where herbs and spices from all corners of the world are found. He takes them home and experiments with them to develop new blends. Although sometimes we have purged by accident.

Meanwhile, I work at the post office right across the street and in my break time we had lunch together in his office and take naps.

We spend hours in the cleaning supplies aisle because Levi can't decide between lavender, cinnamon and apple or citronella. In any case, he decides on all three. One day after work, he brought home a wooden barrel with a crank handle. He explained that it was for washing clothes, although it took me a while to understand how it was operated. He acquired it at a home novelty fair after the inventor convinced him by promising to make our lives easier. I thought it was a scam, but he made it work! It really saves us time and I don't have to ruin my manicure anymore.

On my last birthday, Levi got me a gramophone. We love dancing in the living room despite our clumsy feet, and we’re often off the beat. But who cares, with a drop of wine sprinkling the mix, we hardly notice it. I’ve been collecting discs from thrift stores and garage sales, cramming our place, so Levi felt compelled to build a box to store them safely.

As you might guess, Levi is little fond of PDA. He only feels confortable holding hands, however, from time to time I’d steal a kiss to tease him. He grunts and mellows right after, blushing like a teenage boy kissing his crush for the first time. In private, on the other hand, he’s embarrassingly clingy (don’t ever mention it). When we’re reading in the sofa, he’d snuggle on my chest and loves it when I drop kisses on his head and coddle him. He loves hugs from the back and unexpected kisses on the cheek. Levi is milk with sugar but needs to keep a reputation.

We love traveling. For our honey moon, we visited a tropical island in hizuru. Roasted on the beach all day. He’s still wary of the sea water, can’t stand the slimy animals brushing his legs. But he enjoyed the scenery, the food, drinks and long loving sexy sessions in our suite with ocean view. We’ve been to other places, even though the voyage makes us seasick. We’ve seen temples, museums, archeological sites, lavender fields, all captured in photo albums.

Levi and I live a slow, tranquil life after the war. I think that we deserve that respite. <3

[cottoncandy-cult]

Babification Octavinelle

INTRO/Dorm Selection Includes: Azul, Floyd, Jade

@azulashengrottospiano I finally did it! Now just 5 more dorms and 18 characters to go XD

Remember this is a fem reader insert with she/her pronouns

Azul had been in the Octavinelle dorm lounge with Floyd and Jade discussing work, it was one of their few days off and they were talking about some new renovations Azul planned to do to the monstro lounge. Floyd believed they needed some kind of gift shop, while Jade believed they needed a garden cafe. Azul had planned to consult with his sweet (Y/n), she had been lending him a hand in the creativity department for a while now. It helped that she seemed to know so many people, but given how deeply involved she has been in each dorm it isn't much of a surprise. As Azul was checking his phone had was also attempting to tune out the rambles of the tweels, Floyd trying to correct something that Jade said involving fashion as usual. Azul often tried to tune those conversations out, he couldn't understand a word Floyd said when he was talking about fashion. Though this chaotic peace had been interupted when Lilia just seemed to drop out of the sky infront of them, the twins near jumping behind the couch from the sudden and silent appearance. It took every ounce of muscle control in Azul not to do the same thing, he had an image he had to uphold and getting scared behind the couch was not something that helped said image. "Hello Lilia, to what do I owe the pleasure?" He had spoken to Lilia on occasion, especially since he often showed up to events in Malleus's place, but he never expected to see the short male in the Octavinelle dorm. The monstro lounge maybe, he did come in every now and then for a treat, but the fact that he was in the dorm lounge caused a few pink flags to pop up. Though those pink flags were soon crimson read as he spotted the child cradled against the male's chest, especially since the child was swaddled in an oversized ramshackle dorm uniform jacket. The fae male chuckled as he noticed the vague way the merman paled, tilting his head with a closed eye smile. "(Y/n) actually, is the reason I'm here. You see, this sweet little girl was the victim of small potionology accident." Azul quirked an eyebrow as the tweels were peaking down at the sleeping prefect in Lilia's arms, he himself was trying not to swear as he already knew where this was going when Lilia started retelling the events in class.

At the end of it Azul was squeezing the bridge of his nose, what God did she piss off to be in the middle of the most chaotic accidents EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. "Don't worry though, Professor Crewel is working with the headmage to fix this. He should be by soon with what he called a 'Baby bag' so that she can be taken care of in the meantime." Lilia carefully passed the sleeping girl to Azul, helping the tense male hold the small girl when he realized that he didn't know how to hold a baby. He then sat her school bag by Floyd, her other clothing articles were hidden inside because Lilia was a gentleman like that. "My number is in her phone; I've raised a few babies in my day so if you need some help just call."

-

It had been a few hours since then, the professor having come by to drop off the baby bag with a book borrowed from the college library about unplanned parenting for young adults. A book he never in his life thought he would EVER be reading; she has been the first of many things for him and at this point he was curious how she managed to create such a chaotic balance of experiences. He had relaxed a bit after getting used to holding her for a while and soon enough he found himself staring at her, he never thought about what she may have looked like as a baby even after she had seen some of his childhood photos. Currently he sat in the pool that was built into his dorm leader room, he was leaning back against the wall of the pool as he watched (Y/n). She had been awake for a while; he had thought that maybe she was aware of the situation because she had been fairly quiet and wasn't very fussy. Currently he was in his merform, something he had grown comfortable with her being around after their many trips to the beach. His sleek black tentacles held her in the water, she was in a little (F/c) swim dress and sat comfortably on his curled tentacles. Her tiny hands gently grabbing at the other tentacles that would poke her nose or tickle her sides or cheeks, he hadn't had any prior experience with human children, so he had found himself quite distracted by her reactions to him. He especially loved how her nose crinkled when she giggled, something he noticed before in her regular age but was much more obvious now in this form. "It isn't fair angel fish; how can you be so cute after causing so much trouble." He chuckled as he brought her closer, rubbing his cheek on hers as he rested her against his chest. It was a quiet night and all things considered he was in a content mood. He watched her tiny hands move against his pale grey skin, tiny eyes marveling at the odd texture. He felt so proud of himself, adoring just how curious she was about HIM. It was definitely an ego boost, he knew she cared for him and found him interesting but as an infant it was such innocent and blatant curiosity. And since she was a baby, he didn't have to feel embarrassed about anything! I mean who are you going to tell? The stuffed dalmatian toy professor Crewel had put in the baby bag? His eyes widened a bit when he felt her tiny hands grab his cheeks, laughing away at something he had no clue about. He didn't know how long it would be till she was turned back, but these moments would certainly make any hassle or stress until that point worth it. He went back to using his tentacles to help her play and swim in the water, buying him some time to think of the future. He found himself hoping, now more than ever, that his future would involve her for many years to come.

Floyd had been running laps at the start of gym class when Coach Vargas had called him over to his office, he noticed Lilia was sitting in front of the coach's desk and he could tell the male was holding something but didn't quite know what. "What's goin on? Why is Mendako here?" (Yes, I'm using the Japanese nicknames cause calling Lilia a flapjack octopus in English just feels insulting. LMFAO) Floyd put his hands on his hips, tilting his head slightly as Lilia stood from his seat. "Well, young Lilia said there was some sort of accident in potionology involving the ramshackle prefect. I'll let him explain, I got stretches to demonstrate!" With that Vargas had left the room, as if he didn't just stir something in the merman. Lilia seemed to sense Floyd's shift in behavior, approaching him with a jacket swaddled infant. "Don't worry (Y/n)'s just fine, she just a little…little." He chuckled as he motioned to the infant, watching Floyd squat to be able to look at her better. Lilia took the chance to show him how to hold her while he explained the situation, chuckling to himself at the end as he saw how Floyd had the small girl resting perfectly on his large forearm. "So, I'm just supposed to take care of shrimpy til Ishidai finds a way to turn her back?" Floyd's heterochromic eyes gazed down at the child in his arm, tilting his head. His shrimpy was already pretty small, but now she was TINY. He couldn't help but chuckle, her cheeks were just so chubby he couldn't help but poke them. Are all human babies so warm and squishy? Or was his cute little shrimpy just extra special like that? "Yep, that sums it up. Professor Crewel should be by to drop off a bag of supplies for her soon. For now, he just asked I bring this to you since he knows you would probably need your hands free." Lilia held up a black and teal harness, a little gold charm dangling from the zipper on the back. "Huh, I didn't know they made functional harnesses." The male was aware that they were sometimes worn simply as decoration for an outfit, but he didn't know humans had harnesses just for baby carrying. "Mhm, let me hold her while you put it on. Once we get her settled, I need to get back to Diasomnia before my own kids stir up trouble." He chuckled at Floyd's confused look, but true to his word once the sleeping child was comfortably snug to Floyd's chest the batty male had left for his dorm. Floyd had left the office and took his lover's stuff to where his own was, looking down at the small girl and wondering how long it would take to have his normal shrimpy back. He had already tried to talk to her 3 times, each time forgetting she couldn't talk back, and he really missed his shrimpy's voice.

Because he had the prefect in his care, he didn't have to do the daily exercises, instead being told to just walk around the basketball court until free time started. He could feel eyes on him as he walked around, he didn't really care because if they were smart, he knew they'd keep their mouths shut about him with his baby shrimpy. He slowly came to a stop when she started squirming, he rested his hand on her back as he watched her closely. Observing how her tiny (E/c) eyes opened with a whiny yawn as she soon began watching him back, tiny head tilting as she looked at him curiously. He chuckled a little at how her tiny hands reached up and padded at the bottom of his cheek, making him lean down as best he could so she could do her thing. He quietly observed with a lazy smirk as she tugged gently on his bangs and patted his cheeks, he didn't know if she was trying to communicate or was just being a curious baby, but he found it quite amusing in an adorable way. Though his moment was interrupted when professor Crewel approached him with a large bag on his arm, cartoon fish covering the outside of it. "Glad to see you aren't breaking down yet, surprising given how most of the students in this school would probably react in your situation." Floyd looked up to Crewel, chuckling some as he scratched the back of his head. "Well, she did just wake up, hopefully shrimpy will be a good girl until we can get back to the dorm." He followed Crewel after the professor motioned him to follow, watching as they made their way to the lockeroom. "Well, we hope to have her sorted out by the end of the week, till then I need to at least make sure you're prepared for childcare. Tell me, what do you know about diapers?" Crewel couldn't help but chuckle at the male's confusion, this was going to be an adventure. Thankfully Floyd was a quick learner, especially when it came to something he cares about. So, it wasn't long before he was returning to class, his shrimpy in a cute little mermaid jumper and the baby bag resting on his shoulder as he filled a bottle with some juice. Free time had started and those that weren't gathering things to take outside were now gawking at the tall male, especially those like Jamil and Riddle who were quite familiar with the male.

Riddle had been the very first to approach him at that, his curiosity getting the best of him. "So Floyd, who's baby is that?" Riddle tilted his head as he observed the child, something about her feeling oddly familiar. Floyd looked down at the little red head, chuckling as he held the bottle for her so she could have a drink. "My shrimpy had a little accident in potionology, so I've gotta watch her until Ishidai can turn her back." That made Riddle's eyes widen, he seemed so calm despite the fact his significant other had been turned into an infant. "That's certainly interesting, never a boring day with the prefect around huh?" This had been Jamil; he was standing nearby as he looked for a volleyball in the ball cart. When he finally found one, he stood up straight and approached the two as he looked at the little girl. The innocent look in her eyes reminded him of when Kalim was still real young, he was actually pretty cute back then in Jamil's opinion but that could have been because there wasn't much Kalim could do. "Wait if you're watching (Y/n)… Who's watching Grim?" This thought had Riddle freezing a bit, the group going silent before Floyd shrugged. "Idunno, not my problem though." And with a chuckle he walked away, the two male's making eye contact and agreeing to go see Crowley since they knew it wasn't wise to leave the fiery cat unsupervised.

The calmer leech twin smiled as he sat in the vip room of the monstro lounge, Lilia had brought (Y/n) to him earlier and professor Crewel had just left after dropping off the baby bag and teaching him a few things about human babies. He had the small girl cradled to his chest as he fed her, it felt oddly domestic to the male as he was usually helping Floyd deal with problematic people or trying to balance a busy schedule. He had always had a tendency to try and be much lighter handed and gentle since coming on land, it wasn't until now that he realized just how essential that was. She weighed practically nothing to him; he was almost concerned but trusted Crewel when he had said she was just fine aside from being babyfied. "What am I going to do with you darling? How is it you manage to end up in these situations even without Grim?" He chuckled as he poked her cheek, his smile widening as she grabbed his finger with a huff while still drinking from the bottle. He hadn't had much experience with babies before, especially not with human babies, so he was fascinated by everything she did. Trying to see what she does differently compared to when she is her regular self, as well as just enjoying her reactions to the things he has done and showed her. He had just brought her back from the giant fish tank in the lounge to feed her, the way her eyes lit up and her tiny hands gently touching the glass as she watched all the colorful fish had made him delighted. He knew no matter what he'd be even more attached to his sweet angel fish, for once she was completely reliant on him. He could spoil and care for her the way he wanted, and she couldn't stop him and didn't seem aware enough to feel guilty as she usually does when he tries to tend to her. Granted there were some things he wasn't looking forward too, but he understood the naturalness of it all and was more than capable of overlooking and forgetting about anything that may make her selfconscious. His goal was just to keep her healthy, safe and loved until she could return to her normal self. He reached over for his phone with a grin, quick to turn on the camera. He decided to make the best of the situation, and that included getting plenty of pictures of her cute pudgy face. He couldn't wait to show the pictures back to her, so he was careful and picky about the selfies he took with her and of the pictures he took of her as a whole. He wanted the absolute cutest ones to show her, and possibly any other poor soul who might be curious. Though he was quick to put his phone away when she pushed the mostly empty bottle away, which he moved to sit on the coffee table as he placed his legs together and rested her along his thighs. Crewel had showed him this video he claimed would be better for her than burping her like they do on tv shows, in which he was slightly moving her body and somewhat rubbing her stomach. This was supposed to reduce the chances of her spitting up and help her digest better so the milk isn't just setting in place in her stomach. It was a somewhat complicated explanation, but he understood that it was meant to be the better method and that was what he was going to do. Her little giggles made him chuckle, and the slight surprised face she made at her little burp had him slumping over a little as he laughed. Being an infant, she didn't have much conscious control over her actions or expressions, and he was absolutely loving it. "Always so interesting my little angle fish, you always manage to make my day so fun." He was careful as he lifted her to rest on his chest, leaning back some as he moved a small cover over her back. He rested a large hand over her body, observing how it covered the small space and taking note just how tiny she was compared to him.

"Come on (Y/n) it's nap time, you've been awake for a while now. When we get back to the dorm, I'll set up some toys for you to play with on the bed." He moved his other hand to gently cup the back of her head, smiling down at her half-lidded gaze as her tiny hands crumpled his shirt. Since it was her first day as a baby, he figured she may be pretty low energy, at least for a while after the transformation. Because of this he knew things may be a bit more hectic tomorrow, but Crewel promised to make the other teachers aware of the situation so he should be able to step out of class when she gets fussy or maybe even just pick up some notes and class work until she is back to normal. He'd make it work either way, after all she was turned on school property and in class, so they were technically responsible for this transformation. He knew Crowley wouldn't push his luck with the octo-trio, it would be bad for business as they say. Afterall Octavinelle does a lot in means of helping with school funding and events, and Azul was smart enough to find a way to get what he wants without jeopardizing himself. But that was nuclear level thinking, right now he just needed to worry about not falling asleep himself.

[detectivereads]

Superman Vs Meshi vol 2 by Satoshi Miyagawa & Kai Kitago

5/5

This post is for fan entertainment, I’m not being paid.

Click here to see Vol 1

Click here to see Vol 3

Yay! Vol 2 of Superman Vs Meshi! I am glad I picked up the first 3 volumes when I did and didn’t just get Vol 1. I am hooked on this series. I am wondering if they would make an anime of this. But now I am in a rabbit hole of watching Japanese food videos. Watching train bentos is oddly relaxing.

Now reading volume 2, Superman has been paired up with some new Justice League members (Wonder Woman, The Flash and Batman also Cyborg.) Each person got their own chapters with Superman treating them to lunch and them being smitten by Japanese cuisine.

The one chapter I did like a little more than anything is the chapter with Cyborg, it shows a side of Cyborg that we don’t really get to see much. I remember an episode of Teen Titian (not Teen Titian Go!)  that it was a Cyborg chapter and Teen Titian was the thing I want to say that got me more interested in DC superhero more than Marvel. This chapter shows Cyborg’s insecurities, that when I read it when Cyborg had his accident and was made into Cyborg that he kind of fell into be more robotic (lack of a better term).

But Superman show him one of his favorite restaurants that he likes and when Cyborg eats some bombastic beef curry that is what sets a spark in Cyborg that he reflects on himself, and he gush about how great the curry is.

Another chapter I enjoyed reading is when Superman gets in a photo war on social media with Lex Luther. Luther had posted delicious, expensive looking meals. Does our boy Superman take that declaration of war lying down…no he does not.  So, (and this is why I love this chapter) Superman picks the restaurant that will help him beat Luthor a gyoza restaurant he also orders this amazing looking crab omelet and several different gyoza.

We also see Luther in later chapters, still saying the same old thing that earth doesn’t need Superman.

The last chapter that I read I did feel pity for the man of steel, that Superman does put his life and safety on the line for earth and we got people like Luther complaining about him. But during the chapter I gushed at Superman after reading article that Lois was forced to write about Luther still voicing his opinions and about earth not needing Superman. Superman is naturally hurt by this goes to place to eat his feelings. Introvert ramen bar!!!!!!! At the end of the chapter I was rolling on the floor, I was laughing.

This series is definitely filling that void that Delicious in Dungeon is going to leave me.

[learnwithmearticles]

Moon Missions

What’s going on with the moon?

The United States recently had a solar eclipse on April 8th, 2024, and some might be surprised to learn that the moon is, in fact, affected by solar radiation. The charged particles emitted by the sun, called the solar wind, reach the moon with no interruption from its atmosphere, as it has none. It also has no global magnetic field, another layer of protection that Earth does have, in comparison.

The moon does, however, have small areas of magnetic fields. We can see this because these areas remain lighter in photos whereas chemical reactions from radiation darken the unprotected areas.

Fortunately, most of these charged particles cannot pass through the hulls of space stations, so astronauts are safe in orbit. Cosmic rays, made of stronger and faster-moving particles, are more dangerous. Even on Earth, under the atmosphere and magnetosphere, cosmic radiation reaches humans, though not enough to be considered damaging to our health.

A lander and rover launched in 2018 delivered the first measurements of radiation levels on the moon 4. Based on those data, astronauts on the moon can be exposed to up to 150 times higher radiation levels than on Earth.

Radiation is a leading reason for the pause in lunar landing missions. It raises risks of cataracts, heart diseases, radiation illness, cancer, and other ailments. Longer missions, of course, would heavily exacerbate these radiation doses.

Other Health Concerns

Cosmic rays contain High-Energy (HZE) ions. In different exposure such as from nuclear accidents or irradiation therapy, HZE ions have been found to cause dysregulation in the mitochondria and damage to DNA. Because of this, prolonged exposure is linked to health effects often associated with aging, such as hippocampus synapse loss and metabolic disruption caused by damage to mitochondrial DNA.

Long-duration space flights have also been linked to cardiovascular disorders. For astronauts on the Apollo missions, heart attack was “the second leading cause of death” 8. For additional space flights outside of Earth’s magnetosphere, astronauts also had a higher mortality rate due to cardiovascular diseases.

In a previous article, we discussed the relationship between circadian rhythms and health. These rhythms are another thing that space travel can impact, causing sleep and mental health disturbances in astronauts 9.

While various studies are investigating the conditions of these health risks, a current NASA mission is specifically investigating radiation protection.

Long-term Mission

NASA plans on eventually returning to human-manned missions to the moon.

First, they have to address the issues discussed above.

In November of 2022, Artemis I launched with two manikins bearing radiation detectors. From this mission, NASA was able to confirm the success of the intended trajectory, launch of ground systems, and the Orion spacecraft. The radiation results from this mission are still being analyzed.

The Artemis missions are intended to explore more of the moon than ever before, and lay groundwork for eventual missions to Mars.

Artemis II will not launch any earlier than September of 2025. It is planned to last ten days, consist of a 4-person crew, and be a lunar flyby to ensure the proper functioning of the spacecraft’s systems.

It has seemed for years that lunar exploration has halted. Manned missions have indeed been paused, for good reasons. Ensuring the safety of astronauts is a priority, and they face serious health risks even when missions go as expected. But NASA intends to continue exploring space, the moon, and Mars. The current Artemis missions are discovering improved, new ways to ensure the safety of astronauts while making scientific progress.

Additional Resources

1. https://science.nasa.gov/moon/solar-wind/

2. https://phys.org/news/2012-01-solar-flares-astronauts.html

3. https://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/1211/1211.3962.pdf

4. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11214-020-00725-3

5.https://www.nasa.gov/missions/artemis/orion/orion-passengers-on-artemis-i-to-test-radiation-vest-for-deep-space-missions/

6.https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/how-space-radiation-threatens-lunar-exploration-180981415/

7.https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/analysis-confirms-successful-artemis-i-moon-mission-reviews-continue-2/

8.https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/physiology/articles/10.3389/fphys.2020.00955/full

9. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9818606/

[maryrouille]

∼ August ∼ Life update

Hi, I am Mary and this is a blog where I combine everything that interests me - cultural phenomena, sociology and art. As a scientist and journalist, I try to smuggle here knowledge and inspiration.

The most beautiful month of the year has arrived, so it's time for a little update. First of all, I've been soaking up the sun and enjoying the beach for a while now because all my big projects so far seem to be going in the right direction!

⚘️ My first article to be published in a scientific journal has received a positive review from a major authority in the field of culture, so I am very happy.

⚘️ My major research project seems to be almost complete and ready to be presented to a wider audience and evaluation. The road to its completion was very long and required familiarization with difficult things, so I had to limit writing here a bit. My professional work also took a backseat, but I don't regret these decisions.

⚘️ In this whole reality, where my brain had to work at top speed… I found a new hobby. It happened by accident, but it came at a great time, because it relaxes me and stimulates creativity. And what do I do? Collages from photos and fragments from newspapers. I didn't know that glue and scissors can bring so much joy to an adult. Maybe I'll show something of my works soon.

P. S. Recently I managed to write quite an extensive post about film The Piano Teacher (2001), so if you know it, it is worth checking out.

[vandelopa-x]

Hiii guys! THEORY TIME

So um I've been thinking quite a lot about the new DS2 trailer, I rewatched it like 20 times and also the first trailer again and I wanna make a theory about the possible timeline of the second game + some other ideas in the middle. It probably won't be accurate at all cause Kojima's brain works in mysterious ways but hey, I wanna try cause I just keep thinking about it night and day.

So! The scenes in trailers aren't really in any order (duh) so I tried to figure out the timeline. 

This scene. A lot of people were worried that there's no Sam here and is Fragile the one taking care of Lou? I would say that she's just babysitting. Maybe Sam had to leave for something (Go to town grab food, supplies, who knows, maybe it was all planned and someone orchestrated the whole situation so Sam would leave the base so he wouldn't be a threat.) Since Fragile is a person he trusts, he might have asked her to come by and take care of Lou. The place where Sam was cooking food in the 2nd trailer and the place from the 1st one looks similar, so I would say it's the same.

Listen, I don't know anything about little kids, so I used the internet. The measure here is in inches, and the first smallest handprint is at 18 inches. According to an article I read, newborn girls measure at around 19.4 inches, and Lou was still a fetus when she came out of the pod, so it makes sense she would be a bit smaller. The biggest mark it at 28 inches, and the same article stated that babies can grow 10 inches by their first birthday, so I would say Lou is around 1 years old when the whole attack happened. Is it relevant? Who knows.

Then we have the whole this situation. By the look of this person, and the color of the gun, it appears to be red. Who else has everything red?

Higgs' lovely cult friends in black masks. I don't think its Higgs himself, it might be someone he send, but also it could he Higgs? I don't know.

I mean, the hood, the everything, the golden shine on the hands that reflects in the light, his hands appear to be more smooth than fully robotic like the other guys? If you look very hard the crimson color is still there in the first photo, it just appears dark.

No clue what the hell happened here 😭 But there we see that Lou is on the ground and then she dies? I have a theory that Lou could be a repatriate like Sam. Sam became a repatriant because Amelie/Bridget ressurected him on the beach. If I remember correctly, Sam did the same to Lou when the crater exploded at the beginning of the game. That's why they both "survived it". It could be possible that because of that, Lou also gained the ability to become a repatriant. But what if something went wrong?

Here we see that Lou "appears" in the pod. But her silhouette looks very similar to a BT. BT's don't age. What if little Lou tried to repatriate by herself but by accident she split her Ha and Ka. Her soul ended up trapped in the pod, or near Sam, and her body was taken by Higgs/to Higgs. He wanted ravage from what was said in the trailer, and what better ravage than taking his beloved kid's life? It would hurt Sam way more than actually doing anything to him directly.

This is when Sam notices that Lou's soul is trapped in the pod perhaps. See the red lightning? It could be when Sam got back to his base.

Since after the attack the lights in the base turned red.

If we look at the 2nd trailer more, we can see that Sam I walking with an empty pod, so he is aware that Lou's soul is in the pod, thanks to it Odradek can still detect threat. This is so interesting!

When Sam and Higgs meet and Higgs takes the empty pod in his hands, touches it and feels something, he's like, kinda in awe?

Then there's the big red cyborg ninja (lmao). It has Odradek's face and we already figured its "possessed" by Lou and tries to protect Sam. I've also seen a theory about Higgs calling himself a ghost and the Ghost in the machine thing, I forgot the user but y'all are genius 🙏🙏

If Higgs is a ghost in a machine, so his soul possesses the cyborg suit, then Lou also can posses a machine, right?

Also I wanna talk about the whole puppet thing and control stuff here because I have thoughts. I don't know if I remember everything correctly 100% so feel free to fix my mistakes, but in the first game Higgs was sort of Amelia's puppet, right? He was the tool she used to get Sam to her, a tool that would push Sam to go thru America and connect it, to connect all the beaches together so she could destroy the world, as it was her destiny. She have Higgs these crazy DOOMS powers. That's why I keep wondering if in the second game Higgs is still a puppet, or did he get tired of it and decided that this time he will be the puppeteer? We see the strings that are on older Lou, we see the strings of the robots that Sam fights with a gun, I'm wondering if Higgs is also pulling the strings of something much bigger.

What if Higgs is responsible for APAC? The private corporation, the patron that gave Fragile the money and tech for the ship? They apparently never saw face-to-face (Higgs' mask), Higgs has a factory with tech, he has all kinds of robots, weapons, he has to have money, and in the 1st trailer it's said that APAC made the final decision, whatever it means. If Higgs sponsors the whole thing, he can also make the decisions. But that's just the thought that I had.

Also the "chrysalis" in which Lou'a body was in kinda reminds me of the sarcophagus in which Higgs was in, just a thought.

Also these weird ass trypophobia inducing things on Lou's arm remind me of the octopus' suction cups on their arms. It's quite similar to the octopus arm in the pod in one of the photos above.

Alright, that's it for now!!! I have no brain cells left, I probably didn't write everything that I wanted cause I forgot, but tell me your ideas if you want, I would love to read your theories!! Does any of it make sense? I don't care because it's a Hideo Kojima game so common sense or any other kind of sense doesn't apply 😍😍

I love analysing this shit it's like crack with some other good stuff

[cindylouwho-2]

Etsy's Adult Content Ban: Some Things You Might Have Missed, & Some Reasons Almost Everyone Has Missed

As almost everyone knows, Etsy announced a wide-ranging ban of many types of sex-related items on June 27, to take effect on July 29, 2024.

While the corporation was predictably vague about the reasons for this change, it's not overly-difficult to figure out why this happened, although at least one reason seems to have slipped by many. It's slightly more trying to make the logic work when we consider what they still allow. It may be more interesting (and vital, for some sellers) to consider what Etsy might ban next, or ban by accident when this policy takes effect.

While this post isn't intended to be a deep dive into all of the revisions to Etsy's official policies, I will briefly go through certain highlights of the new rules, followed a few alternative ideas for both sellers and shoppers. I'll then discuss why Etsy did this, and we should expect in the coming weeks, months and years.

First. here are the relevant materials:

the much-quoted announcement

Etsy's new Adult Nudity and Sexual Content Policy

the revised Mature Content Policy

as well as some of the media coverage:

Mashable was the first large outlet to publish

The New York Times (soft paywall)

The Guardian

The BBC

Modern Retail (soft paywall)

What's Out, And What's Still OK to Sell or Display

As has widely been reported, Etsy will no longer allow sex toys that touch genitals or enter the body, a female product model's nipples in photos, photos or "photo-realistic" images of sexual acts, types of nudity with "sexual context", fetish items such as used underwear and foot pics, and "sexual language referencing familial relationships". (Pornography was already banned before now.)

Plenty of other items are still permitted, though, including:

BDSM accessories

body harnesses

kegel weights

sex furniture

non-photorealistic nudity and "sex acts without visible genitalia or anuses"

female nipples in photos if the photo is the product and the first listing image obscures them

These exceptions lead to all kinds of questions. For example:

Etsy likes to position itself as LGBTQ2S+ positive. That means a topless photo of a trans male with visible nipples is ok even if they never had top surgery, right? Especially if they have legally transitioned and have government-issued ID that lists them as male, correct?

Where is the "non-photorealistic" line drawn? If a painter attempts to be photorealistic, but is not very skilled at the process, is that painting ok to sell on Etsy?

I am sure you can think of plenty more. But holes in the policies are not my main concern in this article, so I will move on (after noting that Etsy is going to have some enforcement messes with the policies as written).

Where Should Sellers and Shoppers Go After July 29?

(Mention in this section is not an endorsement of the platform. Please carefully research any option before signing up. Some links are not "safe for work".)

Etsy gave business owners just one month's warning that they were no longer wanted on the site. Many are still scrambling to replace their steady income that their Etsy shop provided. The alternatives are not always simple, and it does depend on what a shop sold.

There are a few small marketplaces for adult items, including https://spicerack.market/ and https://charmskoolshop.com/ (links not safe for work). These are not going to have the level of traffic Etsy had, but that also might improve now that many businesses and shoppers are looking for new venues.

There are also larger marketplaces that do allow many of the products Etsy banned, but each has its own restrictions and exceptions, making it risky to copy existing Etsy listings over directly. Always carefully research the rules everywhere. Amazon does have a sexual wellness category, but it is not part of Amazon's Handmade section. eBay also has sex toys. The Artisans Cooperative currently has some adult items listed, but the site is still in beta, so only coop members can sell there at the moment.

Freestanding websites and self-promotion are another approach, but this can be daunting for makers who chose Etsy for its built-in traffic, plus some platforms and payment processors do have rules against certain types of adult content. Shopify's Shop app bans pornography and "sexually gratifying" fetishes, and the bot filters can sometimes block allowed content by mistake.

If you have a favourite seller, they have likely already posted where they plan on going next; if not, ask them.

Why Did Etsy Ban Many Adult Listings, and Why Now?

The various media articles lay out numerous possible reasons for the new sex policies. They include:

Some jurisdictions have laws that limit what children or under-18s can see online, which is likely why Etsy's short announcement uses the word "safe" in 3 different places.

Some social media sites restrict adult content - "evolving industry standards", perhaps?

Some payment processors restrict what adult items can be sold.

We're forced to speculate, because Etsy has refused to answer questions or release additional statements since June 27. That's problematic when talking about destroying livelihoods, because none of these reasons seem to dictate an absolute ban.

As mentioned above, many sites still allow most of the prohibited products, either openly, with age minimums, or with siloed categories that don't appear in generic searches. A big tech company should easily be able to program for this. There's been no indication that any of Etsy's payment processors have withdrawn due to this content, either. So that list simply doesn't add up.

Instead, it's clear that the core explanation is that Etsy wants a bigger slice of the ecommerce pie, and is willing to reject long-standing sellers and product lines to better appeal to shoppers who find sex and related topics distasteful. But again, why not just separate the categories better, as Amazon and eBay do? Amazon is certainly not lacking for customers despite having a sexual wellness category where many things Etsy disallowed still happily reside.

This all boils down to a key reason few are discussing: Etsy's faulty algorithms don't seem capable of keeping such merchandise out of sight of really picky shoppers. They've in fact been trying to do that for a few years now, as the 2022 Transparency report detailed. Etsy stated that the “mature content classifier” led to "a 17% decrease in flags of mature content from our member community". Let's be honest - 17% isn't a great reduction. Even worse, that classifier led to shadow banning such innocuous items as dog diapers and "nude" coloured leggings, while endlessly missing actual porn, including deep-fake AI celebrity images [Forbes; soft paywall].

CEO Josh Silverman has made it clear that Etsy isn't going to focus on improving search relevancy any more, and will instead be focussing on product quality and shops' customer service records to determine search ranking. Problem is, niche searches still display tons of irrelevant items - go check; I'll wait - and this is frequently where one might see things they weren't looking for. If the search and other algorithms aren't able to give shoppers accurate results even when Etsy is attempting to filter out mature items, then Etsy's alternative is to ban the items outright.

Let's face it: if the real problem was female nipples being seen by kids, they'd all have to be blurred out, instead of just the first image. The first image is what shows up in search, ads, and recommendations across the site, so that is what Etsy is censoring. Kids are welcome to look at butt cracks to their hearts' content, as long as they click on the listing first. The real problem is instead that Etsy can't deliver accurate searches and tailored recommendations that people want to see, and regularly serves up things shoppers were not expecting.

But why now? Other than the recent promises to change the search focus from relevancy to quality, what made Etsy drop this notice on unsuspecting sellers on June 27?

The answer appears to be Etsy's new creativity standards, released on July 9. Those standards codify previously unofficial exceptions to Etsy policy, such as allowing 100% commercial goods to be sold in gift boxes. They are also the first official mention of Etsy permitting AI art to be sold on the site, although Silverman had already announced that unofficially.

The policy changes are likely to increase the number of listings on the site that are not handmade, vintage or craft supplies, and Etsy obviously felt the need to stem the eventual tide of sexual gift boxes of dildos from AliExpress - yes, there are already some listed on Etsy - and even more AI-generated nudity etc.

Note as well that July 29 falls just 2 days before the second quarter report is given to investors, providing Etsy with a topic to discuss during that call. They can claim they are taking action against mature listings without being expected to have removed 100% just 2 days after the ban, and the topic will likely be forgotten 3 months later when the third-quarter call happens. It's possible that, 3 months from now, no analysts will check to see if the ban was actually successful. Perfect timing, I'd say.

What Next?

First, any experienced Etsy seller knows that Etsy attempts to remove now-banned items will result in plenty of legitimate listings being deactivated as well; see the dog diaper example above. Items won't even have to be related to the prohibited categories, as the image recognition bots can be particularly bad. Every time Etsy bans something, even if only within one country or area, there is always collateral damage in the form of non-offending listings being removed. (I've had items deactivated for being amber, drug paraphernalia and illegal plant material, when they were nothing of the sort.)

At one time, you could expect Etsy to reinstate such items after an investigation, but that is less common these days, and frequently takes weeks to months when it does happen. This means all sellers should be alert and watch their deactivated listings folder in the coming weeks, and be resigned to losing best-selling products for no good reason, due to bad bots.

Long term, I doubt this is the last time Etsy narrows what can be sold in the interests of appeasing sensitive shoppers. Even if you 100% support Etsy banning everything that they did last month, you should be uneasy about what could be coming next. If age-limit laws were really behind some of this recent decision, what happens when some US jurisdictions start restricting no-fault divorce? Everything from party supplies to t-shirt slogans to happy divorce gifts could be on the chopping block.

It's also possible the company will try to continue to refine its bots and algorithms instead of outright banning other products. Since Etsy is already shadow banning items for certain searches, are shops with a few LGBTQ2S+ articles invisible right now in places where laws are discriminatory? In places where birth control is illegal or severely restricted, are birth control pill cases still ok? I am not sure we can assume Etsy won't continue down this path.

Whatever your thoughts on the listings Etsy is currently banning, remember that these are businesses who were allowed to sell their wares on the marketplace until this month, and have therefore done nothing wrong. Things you believe in could be the next target.

[tallerthantale]

the problem is that Johnny Depp also blatantly lied about stuff that was evidently untrue and somehow this did not taint his credibility with the jury. he claimed that damning texts sent from his phone must have been sent by someone else who managed to reproduce his unique writing patterns. he insisted that she broke his finger despite the multiple texts of him admtting to have done it himself. he denied to have ever headbutt her but then got exposed admiting to it on tape. there are entire articles breaking down his lies and inconsistencies on the cross examination.

Credibility is not a binary. I would argue Depp did lose some credibility with the jury, given that he lost on one of Heard's defamation counterclaims.

The texts to the doctor where Depp mentions the finger injury were framed in a way that is very normal for a person who didn't want to press charges at the time. Imagine the classic architype of a battered woman who shows up to a hospital with a broken arm, claiming she fell down the stairs. Imagine she comes into court years later, and the medical records are pulled. Imagine a lawyer grandstanding that "this woman is a proven liar, because when she was still in the relationship, she admitted herself that she broke her own arm hurling herself down the stairs!" I don't buy that argument. Not in the classic case, and not in this one either.

Differences in how events are characterized are pretty normal for witness testimony. Depp describes the 'headbutt' incident as an accidental head to head impact while he was trying to defend himself. In recordings, he accepts Heard's framing of it as a 'headbutt.' I don't think we are required to take the framing either uses in the tapes as face value confessions. Heard argues herself that you shouldn't, because if you take their statements in the tapes as face value confessions, you have to recon with the fact that Heard confesses to an avalanche of horrific things in them. Listen to the full tapes for yourself.

For me the biggest failure of Depp's credibility is how many holes there likely are in his memory. If he says something didn't happen, I'm instantly translating that into he doesn't remember if that happened. I think the mystery text issue falls into that. It is entirely possible that he sent it but has no memory of it. IIRC he also has multiple phones that he switches between based on the country he's in, and has staff handling them. Given his particular life context, I think it is plausible that he would think that he didn't send it.

The list of things Heard has done that damage her credibility on that sort of scale are beyond counting, and I'm not going to rehash them. The reason I bring up the hue / saturation adjusted photo lies is because there is no plausible explanation. There is no room for accident. There is no good faith interpretation. There is no benefit of a doubt to give her. It is not reduced credibility, it is demolished into the negative credibility.

Depp is a very poor quality witness as to what he didn't do, but he generally reads like someone who is at least attempting to be honest. In comparison, Heard will blatantly metaphorically piss on you and tell you it's raining. She treated the jury that way to their face. So by the preponderance of evidence, I think it is reasonable for them to give more credibility to Depp. But also, for the sake of people who haven't seen my previous comments on this topic, I don't rule out the possibility that he abused her at some point, and I absolutely condemn the misogynistic hate mobs that have formed around the case.

Part of why I'm going so hard on raising awareness around the NG allegations (all of which I find highly credible and highly damning) is that I do not trust the news media to handle it well when cases don't fit into stereotypical narratives. The discrepancy between what happened in the Depp v. Heard case and how it was described by the media was absolutely appalling. I followed the full actual case, not people's curated characterizations of it.

[redundant2]

Mystery Solved! Pippa Middleton and James Matthews have purchased Sir Terence Conran's previous estate in Berkshire: Barton Court.

Reports about the Princess of Wales' sister Pippa's new estate in Berkshire have been quite vague, but today I finally found the planning permits.

The Matthews paid £15 million for Barton Court, located in Kintbury, Hungerford, Berkshire.

"Barton Court was built in 1772 for Admiral Lord Dundas: a typical, red-brick, early Georgian house of five bays with a projecting central open-pedimented entrance front, enhanced by round-headed windows in the upper storeys."

The top yellow star in the right part of the above map is the estate where Michael and Carol Middleton live in Bucklebury, and the solid red dot on the left is the location of James and Pippa Matthews' new estate. Close enough for a short car drive to visit, but far enough apart to allow each family some private time.

The planning permit request is for "Relocation of an outdoor swimming pool and construction of a tennis court within the walled garden, and conversion of a potting shed to associated changing room and plant room."

Below is the celebrated walled garden that will be replaced with tennis courts and possibly a very large swimming pool:

Sir Terence Conran was a famous British designer who passed away in September 2020. He founded the Habitat and Conran shops. He was also renowned for designing restaurants, office buildings and stores. Conran ran several restaurants and wrote more than 50 books about design.

House and Garden UK did a nice feature on the property with many color photos taken by Princess Margaret's ex-husband, if you're curious about the interior of Pippa's new home.

From the article: "In earlier days a stone-flagged hallway ran from the door to the stairway between the enclosing walls of adjacent rooms. These rooms have now been gutted to provide a combined hall and living room of vast area: over a hundred feet in length." Looks like the original tile is still in place.

Apparently, some of the family of Sir Terence Conran was very upset that his estate was sold, as it was said to have been his dream for the estate to remain in the family.

"Both the house and the estate, according to one visitor, were to be 'overseen by the Conran family'. But no longer: I can reveal that the house has been sold for £15 million, despite Conran's vision, which included selling fruit and vegetables from greenhouses and a massive walled garden.

Members of the family appear to be in the dark about quite why the sale has gone ahead. One tells me that it is the executors of Conran's will who are selling the property, not his widow, Lady Conran.

The interior designer Vicki Davis married Sir Terence in 2000 at Chelsea Town Hall. His children — Sebastian and Jasper by his second wife, Superwoman author Shirley Conran, and Tom, Sophie and Ned by his third, cookery writer Caroline Herbert — only learned of it later.

That was no accident: Conran's children, it was playfully said, needed an appointment to see him.

The executors of his will decline to comment. But I can disclose that Vicki has already left the house and a new family has moved in."

Little did we know in June 2022 that it was Pippa Middleton and her family who bought the estate!

But here is another article interviewing Conran's widow, Vicki. She felt the house was too much for one person to maintain, and that none of his many children would want the upkeep. Conran apparently did not die of Covid either. It's a good article, detailing his vast collections and giving you a better idea of what he was like. After living there 50 years, Conran's widow was given 8 weeks to pack up everything and move out by the new owners...

Here is the planning application map showing the property outline:

Interestingly, the large buildings to the left of Barton Court are actually a very large custom furniture workshop and retail store. The owner, Sean Sutcliffe, "met Terence Conran and a firm friendship was made over a shared interest in making, wood, design and sustainability. They founded Benchmark together and our workshop and showroom are situated in the grounds of Terence’s country home."

That should prove very interesting for Pippa and family - perhaps those who are royal watchers might plan to do some furniture shopping in the near future! I'm sure, however, that the Matthews family will have plans in place to secure the perimeter of their new estate - or perhaps Mr. Matthews will just buy Benchmark Furniture outright and have its premises moved. Pretty sure he can afford it, since they recently sold their Chelsea mansion for £22.5 million, £5.5 million more than he paid for it.

[andiatas]

"Miss" on "miss" on "miss": -One time is an accident

At least three yellow cards. When do they get red?

Photo: Helge Mikalsen / VG

Princess title on specially made gin bottles. This is not the first time that Märtha Louise (52) and her fiance, Durek Verrett (49), have broken the agreement with the Royal House on the use of titles in a commercial context.

Here is the whole story shortly summarised.

May 2019: There is a storm around Princess Märtha Louise and the shaman Durek Verrett when they embark on a joint workshop and lecture tour in Copenhagen and several places in Norway under the name "The Princess and the Shaman". The marketing received criticism from several quarters.

August 2019: The Palace engages in dialogue with Märtha Louise regarding the use of her title and her business activities. Märtha Louise informs the press that she does not want to use the princess title in a commercial context.

November 2022: The Royal House develops new rules for how Princess Märtha Louise and her fiancé can interact on social media. The princess's title must not be used in connection with their business activities, but Märtha Louise retains the title of princess.

The rules mean in practice that the princess and Verrett must refrain from:

Mentioning this association through, for example, @/tagging

Use of the princess title

Or use of images or mention of other members of the Royal Household in channels where commercial activity also occurs.

This includes interviews whose primary purpose is to draw attention to commercial activity, it says on the Royal House's website.

Nevertheless, the couple has broken these rules several times.

January 2023: Only two months after the new arrangement, Durek Verrett talks about the King, Queen, and Crown Prince Haakon in live broadcasts on Instagram and TikTok. At the time, the communications manager at the Royal Court, Guri Varpe, said that the royal family continued to talk to each other while the arrangement was being worked out.

May 2023: Durek Verrett reposts an Instagram video joking about his new song and King Harald. In a message to VG, he admits the mistake and lies flat. Verrett himself points out that he has now broken the agreement twice: once in a live video and now in this episode.

But all good things come in three?

Wednesday, June 26, 2024: The couple presents a specially made gin from Oslo Håndverksdistilleri and drinks they will serve at their wedding in August. They have invited the press themselves. The princess title is used to market the gin.

"The gin was made for the wedding of Princess Märtha Louise and Durek Verrett," they write on their website. They break the agreement with the royal house for at least the third time. The exact text can be found on the bottle VG obtained Thursday morning.

Märtha Louise's manager, Carina Scheele Carlsen, calls the princess's marketing "a miss".

- Therefore, the title has now been removed from the website and will also be removed from the next batch of bottles, she wrote in an SMS to VG on Thursday.

The bride and groom stated that they would receive no profit from selling the drink. But how many "misses" can the couple have before there are consequences?

Royal house expert Ole-Jørgen Schulsrud-Hansen believes Märtha Louise and Durek should "watch out for these misses".

- Once is an accident, twice is a coincidence, and three times a pattern.

When asked how rules can be broken without having consequences, Schulsrud-Hansen replies that it is "very difficult".

- The agreement with the Royal Family is not bound by any law. It's just an agreement that needs to be upheld.

The Royal Palace has not responded to VG's inquiries about the gin or breach of the agreement but refers to the Princess's manager.

She has not responded to VG's inquiries, specifically concerning repeated breaches of the agreement with the Royal Family.

Translation and editing for clarity by me of an article by Filippa Vale Frogner for VG (Verdens Gang), published on June 27, 2024, at 18:54.