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Black Fox

2018.06.29 02:29 adam8866 Black Fox

A subreddit all about the Anime: Black Fox
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2024.05.11 13:31 devoid0101 New Kp-like planetary geomagnetic activity indices: Hourly (Hp60) and half-hourly (Hp30) indices

New Kp-like planetary geomagnetic activity indices: Hourly (Hp60) and half-hourly (Hp30) indices
It looks like we touched upon KP11, a G6 storm (if such a thing existed). Serious solarmax spaceweather
“The geomagnetic Hpo index is a Kp-like index with a time resolution of half an hour, called Hp30, and one hour, called Hp60. besides that, the Hpo index is not capped at 9 like Kp, but is an open ended index that describes the strongest geomagnetic storms more nuanced than the three-hourly Kp, which is limited to the maximum value of 9. Next to the Hpo we also provide the linear apo index (ap30 and ap60). The Hpo index was developed in the H2020 project SWAMI and is described in Yamazaki et al (2022).
Abstract The geomagnetic activity index Kp is widely used but is restricted by low time resolution (3-hourly) and an upper limit. To address this, new geomagnetic activity indices, Hpo, are introduced. Similar to Kp, Hpo expresses the level of planetary geomagnetic activity in units of thirds (0o, 0+, 1−, 1o, 1+, 2−, …) based on the magnitude of geomagnetic disturbances observed at subauroral observatories. Hpo has a higher time resolution than Kp. 30-min (Hp30) and 60-min (Hp60) indices are produced. The frequency distribution of Hpo is designed to be similar to that of Kp so that Hpo may be used as a higher time-resolution alternative to Kp. Unlike Kp, which is capped at 9o, Hpo is an open-ended index and thus can characterize severe geomagnetic storms more accurately. Hp30, Hp60 and corresponding linearly scaled ap30 and ap60 are available, in near real time, at the GFZ website (https://www.gfz-potsdam.de/en/hpo-index).
Key Points New Kp-like planetary geomagnetic activity indices, Hpo, are presented
Hourly (Hp60) and half-hourly (Hp30) indices are available from GFZ website
Hpo indices are open-ended without the upper limit at 9o
Plain Language Summary The geomagnetic activity index Kp is a measure of planetary geomagnetic activity, expressed in units of thirds (0o, 0+, 1−, 1o, 1+, 2−, …9o). Kp is widely used in the space physics community, as it is known to be a good proxy of the solar-wind energy input into the magnetosphere-ionosphere-thermosphere system. Kp has two important limitations. One is the temporal resolution. Kp is a three-hourly index, so that temporal features within 3 hr are not resolved. The other is the upper limit of the index. Kp does not exceed a maximum value of 9o, so that under extremely disturbed conditions, geomagnetic activity is not accurately represented. We introduce a group of new geomagnetic activity indices Hpo that overcomes these limitations. Hpo is designed to represent planetary geomagnetic activity in a similar way as Kp but with higher temporal resolution and without the upper limit at 9o. This paper describes the production of 30-min (Hp30) and 60-min (Hp60) indices, and demonstrates their properties in comparison with Kp. Hpo indices since 1995, including near-real-time values, are distributed through the GFZ website (https://www.gfz-potsdam.de/en/hpo-index).
1 Introduction Variations in the solar wind cause changes in electric currents that flow in the magnetosphere and ionosphere. The associated changes in the magnetic field can be observed using magnetometers on the ground. There exist various types of geomagnetic indices to monitor the intensity of geomagnetic disturbance associated with solar wind variations (Mayaud, 1980). The Kp index is one of the most widely used indices of geomagnetic activity. The derivation, application and historical background of Kp are detailed in Matzka, Stolle, et al. (2021), and thus are described here only briefly.
Kp is derived from K indices (Bartels et al., 1939) evaluated at 13 subauroral observatories from both northern and southern hemispheres. A K index expresses geomagnetic activity on a scale of 0–9 at each observatory for a given 3-hourly interval of the UT day (00–03, 03–06, …, 21–24 UT). It is based on the range of geomagnetic disturbance over the 3-hourly interval, which may contain geomagnetic pulsations (McPherron, 2005; Saito, 1969), bays associated with substorms (McPherron, 1970; Lyons, 1996), sudden storm commencements and sudden impulses (Araki, 1994), geomagnetic storm main phase (Gonzalez et al., 1994) and solar-flare and eclipse effects (Yamazaki & Maute, 2017). K is designed to have a similar frequency distribution regardless of observatory, and thus it does not depend on latitude. K indices are converted to standardized Ks indices, which take into account the influence of seasonal and UT biases. Kp is the average of the 13 Ks indices expressed in units of thirds (0o, 0+, 1−, 1o, 1+, 2−, …, 9o), thus it represents planetary, rather than local, geomagnetic activity. The complete time series of the definitive Kp index since 1932 and nowcast indices for the most recent hours are available from the Kp website at Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum GFZ (https://www.gfz-potsdam.de/en/kp-index/) with a digital object identifier (DOI; Matzka, Bronkalla, et al., 2021). Real-time Kp forecasts (Shprits et al., 2019) based on solar wind data are also available from the GFZ website (https://spaceweather.gfz-potsdam.de/products-data/forecasts/kp-index-forecast).
The Kp index has a wide range of applications in space physics studies. For example, Kp can be used to select undisturbed data from the measurements obtained from the magnetosphere, ionosphere or thermosphere to determine their climatological base states (e.g., Drob et al., 2015; Fejer et al., 2008). Kp is also often used for modeling the geospace response to solar wind variations. Just to give a few examples, Kp is used to drive the 3-D Versatile Electron Radiation Belt model (Subbotin et al., 2011), the Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model with thermosphere and ionosphere extension (WACCM-X; Liu et al., 2018) and the Naval Research Laboratory Mass Spectrometer Incoherent Scatter radar empirical atmospheric model (Emmert et al., 2021), among many other models of the magnetosphere, ionosphere and thermosphere. Thomsen (2004) argued that what makes Kp so useful is its sensitivity to the latitudinal distance from the Kp stations to the equatorial edge of auroral currents, which is tightly linked to the strength of magnetospheric convection.
Kp has two important limitations. One is the temporal resolution. Kp cannot resolve temporal features within 3 hr. For example, the onset of geomagnetic disturbance determined by Kp could be off from the actual onset by up to 3 hr. This could be an issue when Kp is used to drive a geospace model, because the state of the magnetosphere, ionosphere and thermosphere can change significantly within the 3-hr interval. As a compromise, some models use interpolated Kp values as input data, for example, thermospheric density models (Vallado & Finkleman, 2014), WACCM-X (Liu et al., 2018). The other limitation of Kp is its upper limit at 9o. Kp is not able to quantify geomagnetic activity after it reaches 9o. Extreme geomagnetic storms involving Kp = 9o are not necessarily equally strong in terms of geomagnetic disturbance. Extrapolated values of Kp above 9o are sometimes used for a better representation of geomagnetic activity during severe geomagnetic storms (e.g., Shprits et al., 2011).
The objective of this paper is to introduce a new group of Kp-like geomagnetic indices. The indices are collectively called Hpo, where “H” stands for half-hourly or hourly, “p” for planetary, and “o” for open-ended. Hpo has been conceived and developed under the EU Horizon 2020 project, Space Weather Atmosphere Model and Indices (SWAMI; Jackson et al., 2020). Hpo is designed to represent planetary geomagnetic activity in a similar manner as Kp but with higher time resolution and without an upper limit, to overcome the limitations of Kp described above. The derivation of 30-min (Hp30) and 60-min (Hp60) indices is outlined in Section 2, and their basic properties are described in Section 7.
2 Derivation of Hpo Hpo indices are derived using 1-min magnetic data from the same 13 subauroral observatories as Kp (see Section 2.2 of Matzka, Stolle, et al., 2021). Time series of Hpo starts from the year 1995, because 1-min digital data are not available from all the observatories before 1995. The procedure for deriving Hpo is similar to that for nowcast Kp described in Matzka, Stolle, et al. (2021), involving the steps described below.
2.1 Evaluation and Removal of Quiet Curve
Records of the geomagnetic field from a ground station contain regular quiet daily variation and geomagnetic disturbance (Chapman & Bartels, 1940). The estimation of the quiet curve for Hpo is based on the Finnish Meteorological Institute method (Sucksdorff et al., 1991), which uses 1-min data from the previous day, present day, and subsequent day. The quiet curve is obtained for the northward X and eastward Y components of the geomagnetic field, and subtracted from the corresponding data, which leaves geomagnetic disturbance.
2.2 Evaluation of the Magnitude of Geomagnetic Disturbance
The magnitude of geomagnetic disturbance is evaluated for every 30-min interval for Hp30 and 60-min interval for Hp60. For a given time interval, the range of geomagnetic disturbance (i.e., maximum minus minimum value) is compared with the maximum absolute value of geomagnetic disturbance, and the larger value of the two is adopted as the magnitude of geomagnetic disturbance. This contrasts with the derivation procedure for Kp, which always uses the range of geomagnetic disturbance. We found that this modification of the procedure improves the compatibility between Hpo and Kp. The magnitude of geomagnetic disturbance is obtained for the X and Y components, and the larger value is used in the next step.
2.3 Evaluation of H30 and H60 Indices
H30 and H60 indices are analogous to K indices for Kp, and are collectively called H herein. For the evaluation of K, an observatory-specific table is used for converting the magnitude of geomagnetic disturbance (in nT) to an integer K value (0–9). An example of the conversion table for the Niemegk observatory can be found in Table 1. New tables have been created for each observatory that convert the magnitude of geomagnetic disturbance to an H value (0–9). This was done, for each observatory, by generating a conversion table for H in such a manner that the frequency distribution of H is as similar as possible to the frequency distribution of K. The construction of the conversion tables for H is based on the geomagnetic data during 1995–2017, which were all the available data when the construction of Hpo was initiated. The conversion table for H30 and H60 for Niemegk is presented in Table 1. Furthermore, extended conversion tables are produced in order to allow H to go beyond 9. In the extended conversion tables, the maximum value of H is unlimited. The lower limit for H = 10 is given by the lower limit of H = 9 multiplied by a factor of 1.35. The lower limit of H = 11 is given by the lower limit of H = 10 multiplied by a factor of 1.30, and the lower limit of H = 12 is given by the lower limit of H = 11 multiplied by a factor of 1.20. For values of H greater than 12, the multiplication factor will be always 1.20, so that H can be defined no matter how large the magnitude of geomagnetic disturbance is. These multiplication factors were determined on a trial-and-error basis so that the behavior of the final Hpo index above 9o will be compatible with those of other open-ended indices (see Section 7).
Table 1. Lower Limits of H30, H60, and K for the Niemegk Observatory Index 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 H30 (nT) 0 2.16 4.46 8.89 17.9 33.9 65.7 119 190 267 H60 (nT) 0 2.97 6.11 12.1 24.3 44.7 82.7 144 218 337 K (nT) 0 5.00 10.0 20.0 40.0 70.0 120 200 330 500 2.4 Evaluation of Hp30 and Hp60 Indices
H indices are converted to standardized Hs indices using the same method for converting K to Ks. The conversion tables can be found in the Supporting Information of Matzka, Stolle, et al. (2021). The conversion of H to Hs minimizes the influence of seasonal and UT biases. Finally, the average of the 13 Hs indices is converted into Hpo values in units of thirds (0, 1/3, 2/3, 1, 4/3, 5/3, 2, …) in analog fashion as with the nowcast Kp (see Section 3.3 of Matzka, Stolle, et al., 2021) and expressed as (0o, 0+, 1−, 1o, 1+, 2−, …) following the convention for Kp. The Hpo value is derived using the H indices evaluated with the conversion tables capped at 9 (like the one shown in Table 1). If this initial Hpo value is 9o, all the H indices are re-evaluated using the extended conversion tables, in which H can go beyond 9, to re-calculate Hpo. This ensures that Hpo and Kp behave similarly up to 9− (and differently only at 9o and above).
Like Kp, Hpo indices are a quasi-logarithmic, rather than linear, measure of geomagnetic activity, and thus are not suitable for basic arithmetic operations such as addition and multiplication. To avoid this issue, linearly scaled ap30 and ap60 indices (collectively called apo) are produced for Hp30 and Hp60, respectively, by using the table that is used for producing ap from Kp (Matzka, Stolle, et al., 2021) but extending its higher end in a similar manner as the extension of H tables above 9. The relationship between Hpo and apo is illustrated in Figure 1a. Like ap, values of apo correspond to half the magnitude of geomagnetic disturbance at Niemegk.
Details are in the caption following the image Figure 1 Open in figure viewer PowerPoint (a) The relationship between Hpo and apo. (b–j) Frequency distributions of the occurrence of Kp, Hp60, and Hp30 values for different years. (k) Monthly mean values of ap, ap60, and ap30 during 1995–2020. The total sunspot number is also indicated.
Hp30 and Hp60, along with their corresponding ap30 and ap60, are archived since 1995 and available, in near real time, from the GFZ website (https://www.gfz-potsdam.de/en/hpo-index) with DOI (https://doi.org/10.5880/Hpo.0002) under the CC BY 4.0 license (Matzka et al., 2022, for data publication).
3 Some Properties of Hpo The frequency distributions of the occurrence of Hp30, Hp60, and Kp values are compared in Figures 1b–1j for every 3-year interval from 1995 to 2021. The distribution pattern of Kp is different in different solar cycle phases. For instance, during the solar minimum years 2007–2009 (Figure 1f) and 2019–2021 (Figure 1j), the occurrence rate of low Kp values (e.g., Kp ≤ 1o) is appreciably higher than during the solar maximum years 2001–2003 (Figure 1d) and 2013–2015 (Figure 1h). Hp30 and Hp60 reproduce different distribution patterns of Kp well, even for the later years not used in the construction of the conversion tables defining the H indices. The agreement of Hp30 and Hp60 with Kp during 2018–2021 (Figure 1j) suggests that the conversion tables for H indices are valid beyond the period 1995–2017.
The linearly scaled ap30 and ap60 indices are suitable for assessing average geomagnetic activity over a certain period. Monthly mean values of ap30 and ap60 are plotted in Figure 1k. They are in good agreement with monthly mean ap, showing 11-year solar-cycle variation. The sunspot number is also displayed in Figure 1k for comparison. Geomagnetic activity is known to be highest during the declining phase of solar cycle due to the effects of recurrent high speed solar wind streams (Lockwood et al., 1999).
In Figure 2, Hp30 (top), Hp60 (middle), and Kp (bottom) are compared with other geospace indices. The left panels show comparisons with Newell's coupling function (Newell et al., 2007), which is a measure of the energy input from the solar wind into the magnetosphere. The coupling function was derived using OMNI 5-min solar wind data (King & Papitashvili, 2005). Panels in the middle and right columns show comparisons with AE and PC indices, respectively. The AE index is a measure of auroral electrojet activity based on geomagnetic field measurements in the auroral region. The PC index represents geomagnetic activity in the polar region (Troshichev et al., 1988). Following Stauning (2007), the average of the PC indices from the northern (PCN) and southern (PCS) hemispheres were calculated using non-negative values. For comparisons with Hpo and Kp indices, 5-min solar wind data and 1-min AE and PC indices were averaged over every 30-min intervals. Hp60 and Kp are assumed to remain the same within their temporal windows. The solar wind data were shifted by 20 min to account for the delay due to energy transfer from the bow shock to the ionosphere (Manoj et al., 2008).
Details are in the caption following the image Figure 2 Open in figure viewer PowerPoint Dependence of (a–c) Hp30, (d–f) Hp60, and (g–i) Kp on (a, d, g) Newell's solar-wind coupling function, (b, e, h) AE index, and (c, f, i) PC index. For the PC index, the average of the northern (PCN) and southern (PCS) indices is used, considering only their positive values. In each panel, black dots indicate the average of the solar-wind coupling function, AE or PC index at each Hpo or Kp value (0o, 0+, 1−, …, 9−), with error bars representing the standard deviation and the green curve representing the best-fitting third-order polynomial function for Hpo or Kp below 9o. The gray dots in panels (a–f) are individual data points for Hpo ≥9o, and the yellow dot is their average value.
The solar-wind coupling function, AE and PC indices averaged at each value of Hpo and Kp from 0o to 9− are indicated in Figure 2 by black dots, with error bars representing the standard deviation. Curves in green show the best-fitting third-degree polynomial function for Hpo and Kp below 9o. The fitted curves for Hp30, Hp60, and Kp are similar to each other. The results suggest that for Hpo <9o, the dependence of Hp30 and Hp60 on the solar-wind coupling function, AE and PC indices is consistent with that of Kp. For Hpo ≥9o, the number of data points is rather small, and thus the average solar-wind coupling function, AE and PC indices were not calculated for each Hpo value. Instead, a single average value was derived using all the data corresponding to Hpo ≥9o (gray dots), which is indicated by the yellow dot in each panel of Figures 2a–2f. It is seen that the average value falls near the polynomial curve derived from the data for Hpo <9o. The results suggest that Hp30 and Hp60 can represent geomagnetic activity for Hpo ≥9o in the manner expected from their behavior for Hpo <9o.
The behavior of Hpo at its high end is further illustrated in Figure 3 based on five geomagnetic storm events. The selected geomagnetic storms are those in November 2003, March 2001, October 2003, November 2004, and July 2002, which are the five most intense geomagnetic storms during the period considered in this study (1995–2021) according to the minimum value of the Dst index. The left panels show time series of Hp30, Hp60, and Kp, as well as the Dst index, over a 7-day interval, in which the third day corresponds to the storm main phase. The temporal evolution of Kp is generally well captured by Hp30 and Hp60. Variations within 3 hr are seen in Hp30 and Hp60, which are not resolved by Kp. The maximum values of Hp30, Hp60, Kp, and the minimum value of Dst are (9−, 9−, 9−, and −422) for the November 2003 event, (10o, 10−, 9−, and −387) for the March 2001 event, (12−, 12−, 9o, and −383) for the October 2003 event, (11−, 9−, 9−, and −374) for the November 2004 event and (11o, 11o, 9o, and −300) for the July 2002 event. Thus, according to Hpo, the October 2003 event is the strongest among the five. Hpo ≥9o is seen mainly during the storm main phase, when the Dst index rapidly decreases. The right panels compare the 3-hourly mean of Hp30 (calculated from ap30) and Kp. The correlation is rather good; the correlation coefficient r is greater than 0.98 in all cases. Similarly good correlation is found for the comparison between 3-hourly mean of Hp60 and Kp (not shown here). These results suggest that Hpo can represent geomagnetic activity in a similar way as Kp even during the strongest geomagnetic storms.
Details are in the caption following the image Figure 3 Open in figure viewer PowerPoint (a, c, e, g, i) Time series of Kp, Hp60, Hp30, and Dst over a 7-day interval during strong geomagnetic storm events. Zero in the horizontal axis corresponds to 00 UT of the day with the storm main phase. (b, d, f, h, j) Comparison of Kp and three-hourly average of Hp30 during the strong geomagnetic storm events. The 3-hourly average of Hp30 is derived from the corresponding values of ap30. The correlation coefficient r is also indicated.
To provide some insight into variations of Hp30 and Hp60 within 3 hr, Figure 4 depicts the response of ap30, ap60, and ap to isolated substorms. The substorm onset list based on the technique described by Newell and Gjerloev (2011a) was obtained from the SuperMAG website (https://supermag.jhuapl.edu/). We selected isolated substorm events where there is no other substorm onset in the preceding 6 hr and following 12 hr. A total of 1947 isolated substorm events have been identified during 1995–2018. Figure 4a shows the variation of the AE index averaged over those substorm events. The average AE index peaks approximately 1 hr after the onset, and decays gradually to go back to the pre-onset level in 3–4 hr. The average ap30 and ap60 indices (Figures 4b and 4c) show the increase and decrease of geomagnetic activity that occur within 3 hr around the substorm onset. ap (Figure 4d) is not able to fully resolve such a short-term variation due to its low time resolution. The results suggest that variation of Hpo within 3 hr can contain physically meaningful information, which is not resolved by Kp.
Details are in the caption following the image Figure 4 Open in figure viewer PowerPoint Superposed epoch analysis of (a) AE, (b) ap30, (c) ap60, and (d) Kp over 1947 isolated substorm events identified during 1995–2018 based on the method of Newell and Gjerloev (2011a). Error bars represent the standard error of the mean. Zero in the horizontal axis corresponds to the substorm onset.
4 Summary and Outlook We have described a group of new open-ended geomagnetic activity indices Hpo. Hourly (Hp60) and half-hourly (Hp30) indices, along with their linearly scaled counterparts (ap30 and ap60), are available in near real time from the GFZ website (https://www.gfz-potsdam.de/en/hpo-index) with DOI (Matzka et al., 2022). Important properties of Hpo that are revealed by our initial analysis can be summarized as follows: The frequency distributions of the occurrence of Hp30 and Hp60 values are consistent with that of Kp at different phases of the solar cycle (Figures 1a–1i).
Month-to-month variations of Hp30 and Hp60 are consistent with that of Kp (Figure 1k).
The relationships between Hpo indices and Newell's solar wind coupling function, AE and PC indices are similar to those between Kp and these three quantities.
Hp30 and Hp60 can capture temporal variation of Kp during strong geomagnetic storm events (Figure 3).
Hp30 and Hp60 can reproduce short-term variation of geomagnetic activity within 3 hr associated with substorms (Figure 4).
These results demonstrate that Hpo can be used as a higher time-resolution alternative to Kp. Indeed, there are already a few studies that utilized Hpo for its advantage over Kp. Yamazaki et al. (2021) used Hp30 to select quiet-time measurements of the geomagnetic field from Swarm satellites. The orbital period of a Swarm satellite is approximately 90 min, thus using Hp30, geomagnetic activity can be evaluated for every one third of the orbit, while there is only one Kp value for every two orbits. The high-cadence output of Hpo enables a more accurate selection of quiet-time data than the three-hourly Kp index. Bruinsma and Boniface (2021) used Hp60 to drive a recent version of the Drag Temperature Model, DTM-2020, which is a semi-empirical model of the Earth's thermosphere, developed for orbit determination and prediction of spacecraft and debris. They showed that the use of Hpo leads to the improvement of the model compared with the predecessor model DTM-2013 (Bruinsma, 2015) that is driven by Kp. Similarly, Hpo may be used for improving other geospace models driven by Kp. Recalibration and validation are recommended when Hpo is used as an input for existing models that are parameterized with Kp.
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2024.05.01 09:00 SK33LA [Italia 2 HD - 01/05/2024] INCEPTION - con Leonardo DiCaprio

[Italia 2 HD - 01/05/2024] INCEPTION - con Leonardo DiCaprio
featured image
Trasmesso il 01/05/2024 alle 21:15 su Italia 2 HD
FILM AZIONE (142') USA, Gran Bretagna, 2010. Regia di Christopher Nolan. Con: Leonardo DiCaprio, Ken Watanabe, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard, Ellen Page - Dom Cobb e' in grado di inserirsi nei sogni altrui, per prelevare i segreti nascosti nel piu' profondo del subconscio.Viene contattato da Saito, un potentissimo industriale giapponese, il quale gli chiede di tentare l'operazione opposta: inserire un'idea, che si radichi nella mente di una persona. Il film ha ottenuto 8 candidature e vinto 4 Premi Oscar, 1 candidatura ai Nastri d'Argento, 1 candidatura a David di Donatello, 4 candidature a Golden Globes, 9 candidature e vinto 3 BAFTA, 1 candidatura a Cesar.
I commenti sono aperti!
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2024.04.27 17:18 Mission-Raccoon9432 Theory: Aqua's Responsibility & The Culprit

Now that Hikaru confirmed that Aqua's plan is about "killing" Hikaru through public malice, I want to take the opportunity to sum up everything that follows from that and how it's connected to Aqua's responsibility as the author of the script.

https://preview.redd.it/rbuusc66i0xc1.png?width=767&format=png&auto=webp&s=3ab50527aa09ddfd82d55e005a7baadab15dfef8
Of course the irony of this scene in CH 143 is that Aqua is fully aware of this. It's his intention from the very beginning, that those accused of something could get hurt by his story.

https://preview.redd.it/jhoav0qji0xc1.png?width=2061&format=png&auto=webp&s=3723c39330643bd76528c70c60164ecb9a39cdd9

This is the "social phenomenon" Gotanda discussed with Kaburagi when they were just beginning to plan the movie.


https://preview.redd.it/btx6a2uhj0xc1.png?width=1934&format=png&auto=webp&s=db541822df8b07ce6129354640c24769b10bb22d

We predicted this to be Aqua's plan nearly a year ago, And we basically used the exact explanation Hikaru gave us in the recent chapter. But what we back then pointed out and what I think has yet to be fought out is what kind of "movement" the movie will produce. And this is I think tightly connected with the postponed decision to either condemn or to forgive the culprit through Ruby's play.
I think, Aqua and Gotanda are basically fighting over this. Each of them has their own vision. Aqua wants condemnation, he wants it to play out exactly as Hikaru predicts it. Aqua wants to create malicious outrage, in which he needs to insert himself as the fullfiller of the publics hateful wish as the punisher of Ai's murderer.
And this is indeed his responsibility which he can't run away from at this point, at least if it plays out according to his plan, if the movie ultimately condemns the culprit. Because if he doesn't act on his own - not to speak that he obviously wants to be the one to avenge Ai anyway - he basically would allow some poor otaku to be groomed to become a murderer on his behalf. Aqua would never let this happen, it's - in the words of Yoriko - his responsibility (and Saito's? Don't know if he still wants to insert himself in a crime?).
On the other hand there is Gotanda's vision of forgiveness. First of all what's the evidence for that? Well, mainly it's of course the conveniency that we have two authors and a undecided movie ending. This in itself is a strong hint, that this weird approach to let Ai's actress decide how it will end was the result of a disagreement what Ai's true wish or true intentions are. And allthough Gotanda's views are still kept a secret and weren't discussed yet properly, it was yet again hinted during the script reading chapter, in which Gotanda monologues about "the problem" of Ai's "I can't love you" line on Aqua's DVD.

Ch 128
And the third hint is the follow up conversation between Aqua and Kana in the same chapter. Kana congratulates him on this great script. She says that what is so good about it is that it's hard to tell if there is hatred in it or not. Aqua explains that it was rounded by Gotanda. But essentially what I think it yet confirms again is that silent conflict of a disagreement what this movie should actually publicly archieve. The script is basically in total balance to such a degree that Kana is complimenting Aqua on it. However there is in the end one decisive variable that will decide if it either leans towards hatred or forgiveness. And that's Ruby's acting: What is Ai's true intention?

Responsibility vs. Acceptance
Now there are at least two questions I think we have to ask ourselves. Lets say Gotanda "wins" and the public reaction won't be malice. First of all it wouldn't be Gotanda's personal victory, but by design of this plot and Aka's premise that truth through compassion can actually be found it would most of all just be the reflection of the true Ai. And wouldn't this essentially mean, that Aqua needs to subordinate under her true intentions? Wouldn't it ask from him to come to different terms in his relationship with Hikaru and himself? Would he still have the right to murder him and kill himself? Wouldn't he betray Ai by that? Wouldn't he also betray the genuine love she had for her children even after being the victim of her lover and their father? Wouldn't his responsibility to murder Hikaru turn into the responsibility to accept the forgiving result of the movie and accept to continue living and perhaps living happily?

Ch 110
Well, we know for a fact that Aqua believes to act in Ai's interest. So in a way we can already guess and say: Yes, Aqua would need to come to terms with the new reality. He'd need to accept that he was in the wrong, that his plan with the movie was never her real wish but just his own selfish desire.
As his revenge is intertwined with the self-sacrifice, his vision for the movie was always conflicting Ai's wish, as he by nature of his plan was always excluding his happy (!) existence as her child as part of her wish, basically excluding his right to exist in this new body and life in general. That has ultimately always been his blind spot in understanding Ai's true wish, created by his guilt and self-hatred.

https://preview.redd.it/4fzdsry7v0xc1.png?width=1989&format=png&auto=webp&s=22d9a20cea3b7b22fc006f6490dd975cffc93eb9
Accepting Ai's intentions falls ultimately together with finally accepting himself as "Aqua", the gifted child with a bright future, who isn't responsible what happened to her but who's responsible now to live this new life and accept it as something he deserves. Ultimately the same can be said about Ruby too, although she was always on a better fooding than Aqua, especially since "Sensei" is back in her life. And thus the conflict in Aqua is still also Ruby's. If he dies she's back to zero.

Ch 118
"Boy A"
I also want to use this opportunity to celebrate our accurate prediction about how Aqua intends to link Ai's murderer to Hikaru Kamiki. As we pointed out in the essay, it is of vital interest for this whole project to include Gorou's murder into the script. And CH 147 delivered:
https://preview.redd.it/w03ywfrbs0xc1.png?width=1531&format=png&auto=webp&s=15cede2a1be8110a1da310fbe2db7423f8fca5f4
We wrote:
But what's the crime? Ryosuke killed Ai, so there is no direct involvement of Hikaru. You can't title him "Boy A" for that + it would appear as a stretch to claim that only because Ai apparently gave Hikaru her new address he had to be affiliated with the crime. Because although celebrities and their agencies are cautious, human error can always occur which eventually led to Ryosuke finding out by himself where Ai lives. A plausible connection to Hikaru as "Boy A" and father would be rather difficult.
Therefore "Boy A"'s debut has to be in Takachiho, where another murder occurred, for which we can't necessarily account Ryosuke for but where for the first time the pattern gets established: Ai gives out her address -> somebody gets killed. The same pattern that originally made Aqua realize that a second culprit exists. But what is even more important about Takachiho is that we probably have Ai's testimony on that matter. There is no proof of how Ryosuke killed Gorou, however there might be information that indicates that Hikaru was at that night in Takachiho. And Ai had to pass down that information. Probably on Aqua's DVD. Either she secretly met with Hikaru in Takachiho and mentioned this meeting while the script writers Aqua and Gotanda made a murder plot out of it or it's literally connected to the reason why Ai felt the urge to make the DVD's in the first place: What if Hikaru told Ai that he was at the night of their children's birth at the hospital too and that he is responsible for Gorou's disappearance?
If they have Ai's own recorded words testifying that Hikaru visited Takachiho after she gave him the address + that Gorou disappeared at that night (and his corpse was later actually found, so that he was murdered is a fact since somebody MOVED his corpse to a safe place to hide it, didn't die by accident) then we indeed have created our "Boy A" crime debut and can connect it plausible for the audience to her own murder 4 years later.

https://preview.redd.it/ipjbpvyru0xc1.png?width=2018&format=png&auto=webp&s=450d092e8f3c2c5c0763d791eb1f74e4979f5336
Hikaru knows and understands all that too. He doesn't mean that his involvement in Airi's and Sejuros drama makes him the culprit, but Gorou's and Ai's muder of course. As far as I'm concerned I'm yet not seing evidence that suggests that the movie shows ill intent behind Hikaru's decision to tell Seijuro the truth. Did he expect him to kill Airi? Maybe in truth he did but is the movie communicating the same message? I doubt it for now. Thus when he explains that the public will hunt the culprit, he means the culprit of Ai's and Gorou's murder as this is obviously the actual involvement that would "kill" him publicly. Nobody would really care about his revenge on a child abuser. That's not what drives the public malice against him personally, I believe.

https://preview.redd.it/itciru0qv0xc1.png?width=2193&format=png&auto=webp&s=c0e363581f86865bcc29e66c6d6304bdbd180995
But the most thought provoking panels for me personally are these, as they perhaps also confirm a theory that we wrote almost a year ago in the "Meaning of White Roses" essay:
If I'm right with the assumption that Hikaru actually voluntarily wants to be involved with the movie, then lets look at if chapter structure can tell us more about his intentions besides the white roses. Hikaru kills Yura in Chapter 109 and reveals his black starry eyes. A chapter later we see the scene of Ai showing her black starry eyes to Gotanda while saying "Please film the real me". Because these two chapters follow on each other it almost seems like these words of Ai are basically also Hikaru's goal. [Basically confirmed by Hikaru's conversation with Kaburagi and his latest conversation with Nino]
Ai probably didn't speak about Hikaru in her documentary, because the information about LaLa Lai and the box office star wasn't part of the script and only added by Aqua. And even if she did, she probably only spoke about "his nice side". But this could actually mean that Hikaru's intention to lure Aqua to hunt him was so that Aqua can collect enough information about the "real Hikaru". Perhaps Hikaru himself wants to be portrayed as the main antagonist of this legendary movie?
[...] [His murder cases:] So what if Hikaru himself can actually provide more bulled proof evidence? Because there is in fact one item that wasn't in possession of Gorou's corpse... his mobile phone! A mobile phone was also an item that we saw several times in Yura's possesion. One time she showed him the mountains she hiked and later we saw her phone in an extra panel while she was dying. So by the hiking list Hikaru could provide evidence where they can find Yura, maybe he also took her one shoe. Likewise Gorou's phone background of Sarina in the hospital provides undeniable evidence that it's actually Gorou's phone. Hikaru also said that Yura "deserves to be immortalized in one way or another" which basically implies that her death must be revealed. Instead of being immortalized as a heroine of the movie, she will be immortalized as one of the victims of Hikaru. And just as Ai "loved by everyone and worth every penny" got killed by him.
Does Hikaru plan to insert himself into the movie as a killer, as "the real me"? If that's the case then yeah, he deliberately wanted Aqua to find him and gather information about "his real me". Hikaru by this is the third author of the movie script and it seems that he just as Aqua wants to shoulder the guilt?... But why?
Especially the line about immortalizing Yura seems to play out according to Hikaru's Ch 147 line about rotting along with the many lives he's carried on his back. It would imply that he'll make it really esay to shoulder the guilt by providing evidence or at least prepare evidence that leads to all his crimes undeniably. Yura will be immortalized as one of those he carries. In Ch 147 he is basically implying that he will tell the public that he killed her too.
However this might create another level of ambiguity... In that essay we also explained, that he actually killed Yura because she was in Ruby's way to play Ai's role. What will happen when this comes to light? How will Ruby feel about that?
For him to actually possess Gorou's mobile phone requires alot more schizo rambling though, as it would imply that he as a middle schooler knew already exactly what he was doing by letting Gorou be killed (to reincarnate him basically) and that he himself is reincarnated too and was building this entire plot for the entire time. Nevertheless we saw in Ch 147 that Gorou's fate will in fact be immortalized through this movie for which Hikaru convenientely prepared a body to be discovered through crow girls help almost two decades later...
But until this point everything concerning Hikaru played out exactly to our predictions.... So.. we'll see how Aka will answer the ultimate question: "But why?"

Thanks for reading!

submitted by Mission-Raccoon9432 to OshiNoKo [link] [comments]


2024.04.24 06:19 littlegreenbob78 48 and 46 groups top 10 debut age, graduation age and days in group

Just some stats I've compiled for idol debut age, graduation age and days spent in the group. Data is from Stage48.net and has been gradually compiled over time. May be some slight variations or errors. I might also not be up to date with more recent graduations. List includes full members only (not baito or temp).
Debut Age (youngest)
Fujimoto Sara (10.11) (AKB48 4th Generation)
Oku Manami (10.20) (AKB48 2nd Generation)
Ishimatsu Yuina (10.27) (HKT48 6th Generation)
Hayashi Mirei (10.69) (SKE48 10th Generation)
Tanaka Natsumi (10.91) (HKT48 1st Generation)
Kamimura Ayuka (11.09) (SKE48 Draft 2nd Generation)
Ihara Hanna (11.19) (HKT48 6th Generation)
Michieda Saki (11.20) (AKB48 16th Generation)
Yasui Hina (11.24) (HKT48 6th Generation)
Ando Erina (11.27) (NMB48 Draft 2nd Generation)
Debut Age (oldest)
Wada Miyu (23.46) (NMB48 7th Generation)
Maeda Eiko (23.01) (SKE48 2nd Generation)
Yoshioka Saki (22.66) (AKB48 4th Generation)
Ohori Megumi (22.44) (AKB48 2nd Generation)
Noro Kayo (22.26) (AKB48 2nd Generation)
Sato Mieko (22.10) (SKE48 1st Generation)
Osaki Serika (21.94) (STU48 2nd Generation)
Kojima Aiko (21.89) (STU48 2nd Generation)
Kato Tomoko (21.84) (SKE48 2nd Generation)
Ichihara Yuri (21.80) (SKE48 2nd Generation)
Graduation Age (youngest)
Maemura Himea (12.47) (STU48 2nd Generation)
Maekawa Aika (12.56) (SKE48 1st Generation)
Hayashi Seika (12.86) (SKE48 2nd Generation)
Shimazaki Momoka (13.10) (NMB48 4th Generation)
Fujimoto Sara (13.24) (AKB48 4th Generation)
Taniguchi Airi (13.43) (HKT48 1st Generation)
Yamamoto Honoka (13.48) (Nogizaka46 1st Generation)
Wakita Aoi (13.48) (SKE48 11th Generation)
Mori Sayuki (13.51) (SKE48 1st Generation)
Noguchi Nanami (13.54) (AKB48 16th Generation)
Graduation Age (oldest)
Oki Yuka (33.58) (STU48 Draft 3rd Generation)
Kashiwagi Yuki* (32.79) (AKB48 3rd Generation)
Suda Akari (31.00) (SKE48 3rd Generation)
Oba Mina (30.13) (AKB48 9th Generation)
Shinuchi Mai (30.05) (Nogizaka46 2nd Generation)
Oya Shizuka (30.00) (AKB48 4th Generation)
Akimoto Manatsu (29.45) (Nogizaka46 1st Generation)
Takayanagi Akane (29.42) (SKE48 2nd Generation)
Matsumura Kaori (29.29) (SKE48 3rd Generation)
Yokoyama Yui (29.00) (AKB48 9th Generation)
Kojima Haruna (29.00) (AKB48 1st Generation)
Days in 46/48 group (least)
Adachi Reina (4) (SKE48 9th Generation)
Otoshima Risa (9) (HKT48 4th Generation)
Miyawaki Riko (10) (SKE48 6th Generation)
Suzuki Mizuho (11) (sakurazaka46 1st Generation)
Seya Moka (12) (SKE48 10th Generation)
Wakita Aoi (25) (SKE48 11th Generation)
Wako Junna (27) (SKE48 2nd Generation)
Nakajima Hikari (30) (NGT48 3rd Generation)
Yamauchi Ayaka (35) (NMB48 1st Generation)
Maemura Himea (37) (STU48 2nd Generation)
Days in 46/48 group (most)
Kashiwagi Yuki* (6352) (AKB48 3rd Generation)
Minegishi Minami (5718) (AKB48 1st Generation)
Saito Makiko** (5533) (SKE48 2nd Generation)
Oya Shizuka (5355) (AKB48 4th Generation)
Miyazaki Miho (5305) (AKB48 5th Generation)
Suda Akari (4748) (SKE48 3rd Generation)
Ishida Yuumi** (4742) (NMB48 2nd Generation)
Uno Mizuki** (4737) (NMB48 2nd Generation)
Sasaki Yukari (4711) (AKB48 12th Generation)
Matsui Jurina (4657) (SKE48 1st Generation)
Days in unit / team (excludes 46 groups) (most)
Kashiwagi Yuki* (6156) (team b)
Matsui Jurina (4590) (team s)
Takayanagi Akane (4358) (team kii)
Takahashi Minami (3842) (team a)
Matsuoka Natsumi (3836) (team h)
Arai Yuki** (3712) (team kii)
Fukushi Nao** (3712) (team e)
Kitano Ruka** (3712) (team kii)
Kumazaki Haruka** (3712) (team e)
Matsumoto Chikako** (3712) (team s)
Saito Makiko** (3712) (team e)
*Kashiwagi Yuki has not yet graduated but last activity was cited to be 30 April
**These members are still active
submitted by littlegreenbob78 to AKB48 [link] [comments]


2024.04.08 07:00 Kodvihar Need inspiration

Hi! So its time to make a new tattoo. I already have: 1 Miho / 1 Saori / 1 Hana / 2 Yukari All of them in my arms. So from Anglerfish i only miss Mako. I not found a good image about her. Can i ask some idea here? Only one thing, plz no NSFW. I like every single one of them but I dont want to see this type of images.
Thanks everyone !
(Sorry for my bad English)
submitted by Kodvihar to GIRLSundPANZER [link] [comments]


2024.04.02 19:42 bv-brc Viral Sub-Species Classification Workshop Topics

We are a week away from the sub-species classification workshop and we are excited to announce the topics for discussion. We would love your feedback. Each subsection will be posted here on Reddit for conversation, feedback and any questions you want to ask our speakers.
Our speakers include: Tavis Anderson, Justin Bahl, Andrew Beck, Rachel Colquhoun, Celeste Donato, Eneida Hatcher, Angie Hinrichs, Bette Korber, Jens H. Kuhn, Philippe Le Mercier, Elliot Lefkowitz, Dr Rosamund Lewis, Richard Neher (University of Basel), Áine Niamh O'Toole, Krista Queen, PhD, Cornelius Roemer, Don S., Peter Simmonds (University of Oxford), Derek Smith Xiong(Sean) Wang, Andrew Warren, Christian Zmasek

Our sessions include (links to threads for each one)

Session I: Tracking virus evolution through sub-species classification
Session II: Unraveling the complexities of RNA and DNA viruses
Session III: Diverse Viewpoints: Exploring Classification from Different Perspectives
Session IV: Virus classification schemes
Session V: Virus classification tools
Session VI: Analytical and visualization tools
Session VII: The Public Health Impact, Challenges and the Path Forward
Brainstorming Sessions

Reading Material for Workshop

General References Hodcroft EB, De Maio N, Lanfear R, MacCannell DR, Minh BQ, Schmidt HA, Stamatakis
A, Goldman N, Dessimoz C. Want to track pandemic variants faster? Fix the bioinformatics bottleneck. Nature. 2021 Mar;591(7848):30-33. doi: 10.1038/d41586-021-00525-x. PMID: 33649511.
Tavis Anderson (The evolution of influenza A virus at the human-animal interface)
Markin A, Wagle S, Grover S, Vincent Baker AL, Eulenstein O, Anderson TK. PARNAS: Objectively Selecting the Most Representative Taxa on a Phylogeny. Syst Biol. 2023 Nov 1;72(5):1052-1063. doi: 10.1093/sysbio/syad028. PMID: 37208300; PMCID: PMC10627562.
Andrew Beck (CDC: Public Health Perspective: Federal Level)
Masters NB, Beck AS, Mathis AD, Leung J, Raines K, Paul P, Stanley SE, Weg AL, Pieracci EG, Gearhart S, Jumabaeva M, Bankamp B, Rota PA, Sugerman DE, Gastañaduy PA. Measles virus transmission patterns and public health responses during Operation Allies Welcome: a descriptive epidemiological study. Lancet Public Health. 2023 Aug;8(8):e618-e628. doi: 10.1016/S2468-2667(23)00130-5. PMID: 37516478; PMCID: PMC10411127.
Rachel Colquhoun (Pango beyond the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic)
Rambaut A, Holmes EC, O'Toole Á, Hill V, McCrone JT, Ruis C, du Plessis L, Pybus OG. A dynamic nomenclature proposal for SARS-CoV-2 lineages to assist genomic epidemiology. Nat Microbiol. 2020 Nov;5(11):1403-1407. doi: 10.1038/s41564-020-0770-5. Epub 2020 Jul 15. PMID: 32669681; PMCID: PMC7610519.
Celeste Donato (Rotavirus diversity, evolution, and lineage classification)
Tran H, Friendship R, Poljak Z. Classification of group A rotavirus VP7 and VP4 genotypes using random forest. Front Genet. 2023 May 30;14:1029185. doi: 10.3389/fgene.2023.1029185. PMID: 37323680; PMCID: PMC10267748.
Angie Hinrichs (UShER and autolin: Identifying virus lineages)
McBroome J, de Bernardi Schneider A, Roemer C, Wolfinger MT, Hinrichs AS, O'TooleAN, Ruis C, Turakhia Y, Rambaut A, Corbett-Detig R. A framework for automated scalable designation of viral pathogen lineages from genomic data. Nat Microbiol. 2024 Feb;9(2):550-560. doi: 10.1038/s41564-023-01587-5. Epub 2024 Feb 5. PMID: 38316930; PMCID: PMC10847047.
Hinrichs A, Ye C, Turakhia Y, Corbett-Detig R. The ongoing evolution of UShER during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Nat Genet. 2024 Jan;56(1):4-7. doi: 10.1038/s41588-023-01622-5. PMID: 38155331.
Jens H. Kuhn (Filoviruses; The ICTV):
Kuhn JH, Bao Y, Bavari S, Becker S, Bradfute S, Brister JR, Bukreyev AA, Chandran K,Davey RA, Dolnik O, Dye JM, Enterlein S, Hensley LE, Honko AN, Jahrling PB, Johnson KM, Kobinger G, Leroy EM, Lever MS, Mühlberger E, Netesov SV, Olinger GG, Palacios G, Patterson JL, Paweska JT, Pitt L, Radoshitzky SR, Saphire EO, Smither SJ, Swanepoel R, Towner JS, van der Groen G, Volchkov VE, Wahl-Jensen V, Warren TK, Weidmann M, Nichol ST. Virus nomenclature below the species level: a standardized nomenclature for natural variants of viruses assigned to the family Filoviridae. Arch Virol. 2013 Jan;158(1):301-11. doi: 10.1007/s00705-012-1454-0. Epub 2012 Sep 23. PMID: 23001720; PMCID: PMC3535543.
Siddell SG, Smith DB, Adriaenssens E, Alfenas-Zerbini P, Dutilh BE, Garcia ML, Junglen S, Krupovic M, Kuhn JH, Lambert AJ, Lefkowitz EJ, Łobocka M, Mushegian AR, Oksanen HM, Robertson DL, Rubino L, Sabanadzovic S, Simmonds P, Suzuki N, Van Doorslaer K, Vandamme AM, Varsani A, Zerbini FM. Virus taxonomy and the role of the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV). J Gen Virol. 2023 May;104(5):001840. doi: 10.1099/jgv.0.001840. PMID: 37141106; PMCID: PMC10227694.
Elliot Lefkowitz (Monkeypox virus sub-species evolution)
Ndodo N, Ashcroft J, Lewandowski K, Yinka-Ogunleye A, Chukwu C, Ahmad A, King D, Akinpelu A, Maluquer de Motes C, Ribeca P, Sumner RP, Rambaut A, Chester M, Maishman T, Bamidele O, Mba N, Babatunde O, Aruna O, Pullan ST, Gannon B, Brown CS, Ihekweazu C, Adetifa I, Ulaeto DO. Distinct monkeypox virus lineages co-circulating in humans before 2022. Nat Med. 2023 Sep;29(9):2317-2324. doi: 10.1038/s41591-023-02456-8. Epub 2023 Sep 14. PMID: 37710003; PMCID: PMC10504077.
Philippe Le Mercier (Virus sub-species in ViralZone and UniProtKB)
De Castro E, Hulo C, Masson P, Auchincloss A, Bridge A, Le Mercier P. ViralZone 2024 provides higher-resolution images and advanced virus-specific resources. Nucleic Acids Res. 2024 Jan 5;52(D1):D817-D821. doi: 10.1093/nagkad946. PMID: 37897348; PMCID: PMC10767872.
Rosamund Lewis (Does viral evolution influence the public health response to mpox outbreaks?)
Laurenson-Schafer H, Sklenovská N, Hoxha A, Kerr SM, Ndumbi P, Fitzner J, Almiron M, de Sousa LA, Briand S, Cenciarelli O, Colombe S, Doherty M, Fall IS, García-Calavaro C, Haussig JM, Kato M, Mahamud AR, Morgan OW, Nabeth P, Naiene JD, Navegantes WA, Ogundiran O, Okot C, Pebody R, Matsui T, Ramírez HL, Smallwood C, Tasigchana RFP, Vaughan AM, Williams GS; WHO mpox Surveillance and Analytics team; Mala PO, Lewis RF, Pavlin BI, le Polain de Waroux O. Description of the first global outbreak of mpox: an analysis of global surveillance data. Lancet Glob Health. 2023 Jul;11(7):e1012-e1023. doi: 10.1016/S2214-109X(23)00198-5. PMID: 37349031; PMCID: PMC10281644.
Cornelius Römer (Clade and lineage assignment with Nextclade) Nextclade: clade assignment, mutation calling and quality control for viral genomes. Available at: https://joss.theoj.org/papers/10.21105/joss.03773
Don Seto (Update on Human Adenoviruses)
Chatterjee A, Bhattacharjee U, Gupta R, Debnath A, Majumdar A, Saha R, Chawla-Sarkar M, Chakrabarti AK, Dutta S. Genomic Expedition: Deciphering Human Adenovirus Strains from the 2023 Outbreak in West Bengal, India: Insights into Viral Evolution and Molecular Epidemiology. Viruses. 2024 Jan 21;16(1):159. doi: 10.3390/v16010159. PMID: 38275969; PMCID: PMC10820069.
Peter Simmonds (Virus classification and support for different stakeholders) Simmonds P, Adriaenssens EM, Zerbini FM, Abrescia NGA, Aiewsakun P, Alfenas-Zerbini P, Bao Y, Barylski J, Drosten C, Duffy S, Duprex WP, Dutilh BE, Elena SF, García ML, Junglen S, Katzourakis A, Koonin EV, Krupovic M, Kuhn JH, Lambert AJ, Lefkowitz EJ, Łobocka M, Lood C, Mahony J, Meier-Kolthoff JP, Mushegian AR, Oksanen HM, Poranen MM, Reyes-Muñoz A, Robertson DL, Roux S, Rubino L, Sabanadzovic S, Siddell S, Skern T, Smith DB, Sullivan MB, Suzuki N, Turner D, Van Doorslaer K, Vandamme AM, Varsani A, Vasilakis N. Four principles to establish a universal virus taxonomy. PLoS Biol. 2023 Feb 13;21(2):e3001922. doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3001922. PMID: 36780432; PMCID: PMC9925010.
Derek J. Smith (Influenza and SARS-CoV-2: Evolution, Immunity, and Surveillance)
Smith DJ, Lapedes AS, de Jong JC, Bestebroer TM, Rimmelzwaan GF, Osterhaus AD, Fouchier RA. Mapping the antigenic and genetic evolution of influenza virus. Science. 2004 Jul 16;305(5682):371-6. doi: 10.1126/science.1097211. Epub 2004 Jun 24. PMID: 15218094.
Áine O-Toole (Perspectives on the development of the Pango system and software)
Happi C, Adetifa I, Mbala P, Njouom R, Nakoune E, Happi A, Ndodo N, Ayansola O, Mboowa G, Bedford T, Neher RA, Roemer C, Hodcroft E, Tegally H, O'Toole Á, Rambaut A, Pybus O, Kraemer MUG, Wilkinson E, Isidro J, Borges V, Pinto M, Gomes JP, Freitas L, Resende PC, Lee RTC, Maurer-Stroh S, Baxter C, Lessells R, Ogwell AE, Kebede Y, Tessema SK, de Oliveira T. Urgent need for a non-discriminatory and non-stigmatizing nomenclature for monkeypox virus. PLoS Biol. 2022 Aug 23;20(8):e3001769. doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3001769. PMID: 35998195; PMCID: PMC9451062.
Christian Zmasek (BV-BRC sub-species classification tools)
Anderson TK, Macken CA, Lewis NS, Scheuermann RH, Van Reeth K, Brown IH, Swenson SL, Simon G, Saito T, Berhane Y, Ciacci-Zanella J, Pereda A, Davis CT, Donis RO, Webby RJ, Vincent AL. A Phylogeny-Based Global Nomenclature System and Automated Annotation Tool for H1 Hemagglutinin Genes from Swine Influenza A Viruses. mSphere. 2016 Dec 14;1(6):e00275-16. doi: 10.1128/mSphere.00275-16. PMID: 27981236; PMCID: PMC5156671.
Matsen FA, Kodner RB, Armbrust EV. pplacer: linear time maximum-likelihood and Bayesian phylogenetic placement of sequences onto a fixed reference tree. BMC Bioinformatics. 2010 Oct 30;11:538. doi: 10.1186/1471-2105-11-538. PMID: 21034504; PMCID: PMC3098090.
Stark M, Berger SA, Stamatakis A, von Mering C. MLTreeMap--accurate Maximum Likelihood placement of environmental DNA sequences into taxonomic and functional reference phylogenies. BMC Genomics. 2010 Aug 5;11:461. doi: 10.1186/1471-2164-11-461. PMID: 20687950; PMCID: PMC3091657.
Turakhia Y, Thornlow B, Hinrichs AS, De Maio N, Gozashti L, Lanfear R, Haussler D, Corbett-Detig R. Ultrafast Sample placement on Existing tRees (UShER) enables real-time phylogenetics for the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Nat Genet. 2021 Jun;53(6):809-816. doi: 10.1038/s41588-021-00862-7. Epub 2021 May 10. PMID: 33972780; PMCID: PMC9248294.
Andrew Warren (Thinking about virus mutational spectra through visualization)
Parks DH, Chuvochina M, Rinke C, Mussig AJ, Chaumeil PA, Hugenholtz P. GTDB: an ongoing census of bacterial and archaeal diversity through a phylogenetically consistent, rank normalized and complete genome-based taxonomy. Nucleic Acids Res. 2022 Jan 7;50(D1):D785-D794. doi: 10.1093/nagkab776. PMID: 34520557; PMCID: PMC8728215.
de Bernardi Schneider A, Su M, Hinrichs AS, Wang J, Amin H, Bell J, Wadford DA, O'Toole Á, Scher E, Perry MD, Turakhia Y, De Maio N, Hughes S, Corbett-Detig R. SARS-CoV-2 lineage assignments using phylogenetic placement/UShER are superior to pangoLEARN machine-learning method. Virus Evol. 2024 Jan 11;10(1):vead085. doi: 10.1093/ve/vead085. PMID: 38361813; PMCID: PMC10868549.
submitted by bv-brc to BRC_users [link] [comments]


2024.04.02 16:38 nikubkuf Comment live action or animated characters you relate to that are the same type or a close type

I am ESTP and obsessed with comparing myself to anime / manga / visual novel girls
I'm gender fluid
I have a folder where I type characters and name the images based on the type
I compare myself to both ESTP + INFJ + ENTP characters
ESTP:
Yang Xiao Long
Yun-Hui Chae (Hagure Idol / Booty Royale)
Yukari Akiyama
Yuki (Sakura Magical Girls)
Aina Kashiwazaki
Aki (Witch College)
Asuka Oosachi (Nurse Love Addiction)
Chika "Clover" Matsuoka (Sakura Gamer)
Cinder Fall
Eiko Teruya
Haruhi Suzumiya
Hitomi Uzaki (Killing Bites)
Hye Shin Kim (Girls of the Wild's)
Isuke Inukai (Riddle Story of Devil)
Kayo Majiba
Kisarabi (Rappi Rangai)
Kurisu Yashiki (Hagure Idol / Booty Royale)
Kyouko Sakura
Lilim (Sakura Cupid)
Mai Tokiha (Mai-HiME)
Masumi (Sakura Agent)
Melanie (Summer Days) (Dharker Studio)
Michelle (Time Tenshi)
Migiwa Kyan
Mika Kujioka (Hagure Idol / Booty Royale)
Moong Young Lee (Girls of the Wild's)
Nami (One Piece)
Narumi Hikage (Sakura Spirit)
Raika Meiki (R-15)
Revy (Black Lagoon)
Rio Kazama (Wanna Be The Strongest In The World)
Ryuuko Matoi
Simca (Air Gear)
Uzuki Senba (Akai Ito)
Azula
Ino Yamanaka
Toph Beifong
INFJ:
Brianna (Summer Days) (Dharker Studio)
Bunni (Time Tenshi)
Hikari (Sakura Magical Girls)
Himemaru (Rappi Rangai) (actually a feminine male)
Miho Nishizumi
Mitsuko Uchikawa
Reia Akahoshi (Hagure Idol / Booty Royale)
Seraphim (Sakura Cupid)
Tsukiko (Sakura Gamer)
ENTP:
Nio Hashiri
submitted by nikubkuf to entj [link] [comments]


2024.04.02 12:48 NuncErgoFacite Yet another Inception theory - Cobb's Totem(s?)

OK, so MANY SPOILERS.
  1. Cobb's totem isn't the obvious choice. Nor the ring.
Don't go! Hang on. It's a long, twisted, intricate film - so I am positive I have made mistakes. But, the theory doesn't foul up the feel or point of the film. So I have some belief in it.
Off the cuff, I didn't buy the ring theory. It struck me as a version of the "residual self image" thing from the Matrix. It's how Cobb remembers himself in those places and times. But, this is Nolan. he is too careful with what he puts on the screen. I'm sure he is smiling into a beer somewhere about all the (still) theories and arguments he has caused with his delightful films. Sometimes, I swear, Nolan makes Andy Kaufman look like Akira Kurosawa.
Even ignoring the meaning of names, this film is a masterclass in unreliable narrator, toying with the audience's suspension of disbelief, and the authodirector very nearly pointing and laughing at the audience for how many mirrors you can hold up and bounce a plot line off of. Nolan himself has said that he incepted the audience with this film. Sir Michael Cain said that Nolan personally told (Cain) that all the scenes with Cain in them were real and not dreams. And while there are no comments on the world community of Dreamers (beyond the basement scene in Africa), we are given to assume that Cobb is a pioneer in the field - having done things in dream state and using dream infiltration in ways that are not commonly considered possible.
And yet Saito somehow knows enough to seek out Cobb and specifically ask Cobb about inception.
There are two scenes that would break the first theory. Here, where Arthur comes to pick up Cobb and Cobb pulls his gun out from his belt and packs it into a bag. In another scene we find Cobb holding a gun and angrily staring at Mal's top as he appears to be ready to spin it and check his reality (I couldn't find the second clip on Youtube, so use your imagination).
I'll come back to those. Moving on, Cobb actively refuses a gun in the helicopter scene. He doesn't even hint at the though of touching the offered gun. He states that "I don't work that way." Cobb then proceeds to not carry a gun through out the film, unless he is in a dream. In every dream sequence his is guns first.
On the meta side of this conversation, we are talking about Nolan here. The man doesn't waste seconds in a film on things that do not move the story forward or add to the audience's understanding of the characters and concepts. So why offer the gun? It doesn't come around again. Cobb is never offered a gun or other weapon at any point later in the film. There is no circle here. It was placed in from of the audience so Cobb could state "I don't work that way."
Recall the entire sequence in Africa, with Cobb being chased by agents through a city that is, as Cobb himself says about that part of the world, "that's (that company he pissed off)'s backyard." One would think that he would have carried a gun while there, if there was ever a time in the real world he would have carried one.
I am thinking that Cobb's totem is his gun. Any gun. He doesn't carry a gun in the real. He doesn't use a gun. He won't touch a gun. Why? Because he subverted the rule that Mal invented. Probably because Mal invented it and he is keenly aware of the complications that come from having his subconscious haunted by a memory of her. So long as he never holds a gun, fires a gun, has his hands smell like gun oil, etc. - Cobb knows he is in the real world. If he has a gun, he knows his reality is false.
It's an inversion of the totem "rule" that no one else should be allowed to touch your totem - so that only you know exactly what it feels like and it could not be faked by another's dream or another person replacing it in the real. For Cobb, he doesn't actually possess a tool that he uses with great prowess in the dream sequences... almost too well? He catches the spent shells in the opening party scene as they eject from the gun. He never misses a single shot in the film. None of the Hollywood bullet holes in the wall behind someone. Even the sniper shot in the snow level, one shot, perfect. No one else in the movie is so precise (unexpected Star Wars ref). And in all other regards, Cobb flies by the seat of his pants. I wouldn't exactly call him precise in any other meaningful skill.
So, I hear you ask, why does Cobb have the spinning top? Is it just a memento (I didn't even plan that one, honest)? Well, yes and no. I am thinking that Cobb has two totems.
The problem here is something called a "false negative". If Cobb has a gun - he is in a dream. No questions there. But he does not always have a gun when he is in a dream and he never has a gun when he is in the real. So if he doesn't have a gun - he still doesn't know if he is real side or dream side. He needs a second totem.
Why the spinning top? Just a memento? (I didn't even plan that one, honest) Well, yes and no. I think that is is more a "Mal detection device". It is a second test for Cobb's sense of reality to prevent false negatives. But when he uses it is telling.
In the movie, Nolan puts the scenes with Cobb spinning the top in specific context with other scenes. When Cobb spins the top, he either has a gun ready in hand -or- he has just gotten away from Mal. In the former, if Cobb has a gun when he spins the top, he is calm and collected, devoid of emotion past anger or determination. Mal has not been around, but b/c Cobb has a gun. Having a gun, Cobb knows that he is dream side and Mal can appear at any moment. So, Cobb has reason to expect Mal to burst out of her box to threaten, screw with, and generally make his day a living hell. A gun is warranted b/c if the top stays spinning, Mal is out of the elevator and the gun either sets him free (lead self-poisoning) or a gun helps him negotiate with Mal.
On the other hand, in the scenes where Cobb has no gun and spins the top - he is something of a mess. Emotional. Not in command of himself and unfocused. In the bathroom scene he was panicked. This is b/c Mal just messed with his day, but also Cobb doesn't have a gun. Having the gun is a positive test for being in a dream. But not having a gun tells him nothing. Did he wake up? Did Mal warp his perceptions around and is hiding in the bathroom stall with a knife? Spin the top.

So why? Cobb breaks every rule. He is secretive. Paranoid. And definitely not trusting his sense of reality. But more than that, Cobb spends too much time in the dream. To quote the movie back to you "The dream has become their reality. Who are we to say otherwise?" Cobb is lost and he knows it. The panic in his face isn't just getting his kids back. It's not knowing if the whole thing isn't a dream and he is still in limbo with Mal - the train tracks didn't work!
Having the ability to simply reach under his coat and pull a gun from his belt is a very simple way to confirm he is in a dream. The gin is a totem, but it is a totem for being in the dream. Just as the spinning top is a totem for being in the real.
That's it. I have some thoughts on other things, but this took me an hour to edit for the insanity producing recursive logic this movie swims in, so I'm to bed. Tell me what you think. Cheers!
submitted by NuncErgoFacite to FanTheories [link] [comments]


2024.03.31 16:19 _ogghastly Izo Okada outfit

Izo Okada outfit
Hey guys, can I find, or even wear Izo Okadas outfit? Or is there a similar one? I really like the grass on the back.
submitted by _ogghastly to riseoftheronin [link] [comments]


2024.03.24 15:08 Any_Agency_6237 Why is it showing rapheal instead of rimuru?

Why is it showing rapheal instead of rimuru? submitted by Any_Agency_6237 to TenseiSlime [link] [comments]


2024.03.23 23:54 cinemaintheshadows Frieren: Beyond Journey's End

Frieren: Beyond Journey's End

https://preview.redd.it/s5lxaxjjy5qc1.jpg?width=2000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=659e172755fad16d1b792564840afad3cb3470a9
Deplorable, yet an incredibly fun journey to bring back plenty of travel tales to share
Category: #anime #series Genre: #Fantasy #Adventure #Slice_of_life #Drama Director: Keiichiro Saito Rating: PG-13 Season: 1 Episodes: 28 Running time: ~25 min. Release date: 29/09/2023
At the time of writing, this anime holds the first position in the top on the largest anime tracker but it might just be the novelty effect. Nevertheless, it has the potential to maintain top status in my soul. Throughout the series, I experienced moments of laughter, tears and, most importantly, a sense of relaxation.
The series centers around a girl named Frieren, an elf mage who lives nearly an eternity compared to humans. The plot is not quite typical: the Devil Lord has already been defeated by a group of heroes, who subsequently return to the city where their journey began, starting a new chapter in their lives. Initially, the anime offers an unconventional perspective on what occurs after the "happy ending" and focuses on the different perceptions of time between humans and elves. However, by the end of the first episode, it becomes evident that it dives much deeper and few shows achieve such emotional depth in their initial episode.
First and foremost, this anime is relaxing, melancholic, profoundly emotional and surprisingly warm even in its coldest moments. It combines sweet memories with bitter sorrow, a silly journey with deep side-stories and appreciates every minute of screen time, allowing the viewer to stay and chill longer in quieter, more common moments, such as helping with harvesting or cleaning of a statue - elements often overlooked in other fantasy series. It's also fun to point that, as of moment of writing, 30 years have passed in the first season, which is yet not finished. Additionally, the anime have it's own well-executed and enjoyable action scenes that, while making viewer excited, feel less significant than the quite and slow moments.
In my opinion, this anime has exceptional artwork. There are moments that I would desire as wallpapers, but regrettably, those beautifully drawn images still cannot express the emotions they carry. Alongside the outstanding visual element, the music in every episode delights me. Evan Call has crafted a soundtrack that strongly echoes the Shire music of LotR, featuring Irish motifs and creating enchanting atmosphere of a bedtime fairy tale. But when the moment calls for it, the music goes above and beyond with majesty, elevating some moments to an even greater level than it is.
Last but not least, nearly all the aspects that typically annoy me (and perhaps you as well) in other anime series seem to be fixed in this one. Characters don't make unnecessary screaming, avoid over-the-top reactions and don't overexplain every step. Each exposition encountered by the viewer feels like either a revealing moment or a pleasant character memory but never an explanation specifically made for the viewer.
Even if you are not an anime fan or not particularly lover of melancholic and bittersweet vibes, I assure you that this anime is worth watching or, at the very least, giving it a try. And there is no better way to watch it than with a well-made, warm cup of tea or cacao, wrapped in a blanket, lying down, and simply relaxing.
submitted by cinemaintheshadows to Cinema_in_the_Shadows [link] [comments]


2024.03.18 04:01 sableheart Love 365 Updates 2024/3/18 ~ 2024/3/24

All dates and times are in JST unless specified.

Released 3/18

Shunichiro Tachibana's Awesome Birthday Event (Irresistible Mistakes - VIP Room Event ends 4/1) March 20th is Shunichiro Tachibana's birthday. Time to celebrate together! Featuring must-read stories and illustrations!
Seiji Goto's Awesome Birthday Event (Her Love in the Force - VIP Room Event) ends today

Released 3/19

Jealous Husband is Jealous: Kimura & Nomura (Metro PD Close to You - Special Story) Jealous? Me? You and your husband have a great relationship built on trust, but that doesn't stop Kimura and Nomura from wanting you all to themselves. From his POV!

Released 3/20

Goto: Secret's End Part 1 (Her Love in the Force - Main Story) It's Seiji vs Subaru - but you're mentoring Subaru now?! This investigation isn't going to be an easy one, and will put pressure on you all in ways you might not realize.

Released 3/22

Our Love's Will, Stronger than Steel (Era of Samurai: Code of Love - VIP Room Event ends 4/5) [Revival] Get fully voiced stories, beautiful illustrations, special images, etc... And get all 16 items to unlock Okita's Art Scroll
Whispers of the Heart (Era of Samurai: Code of Love - VIP Room Event ends 4/5v) [Revival] Voiced movie & fully-voiced story♪ The time to finally enjoy your time together, just the two of you, has come. Accept his love as he whispers so close to your ear you can feel the heat and passion in his breath.♡
Your Beauty Under the Shimmering Evening Sun (Era of Samurai: Code of Love - VIP Room Event ends 4/5) [Revival] Fully Voiced Stories for Okita, Kondo & Takasugi♪ You encounter Okita in the bath. He teases you as your naked bodies touch...♡
Plying the Skies on Light-Blue Wings (Era of Samurai: Code of Love - VIP Room Event ends 4/5) [Revival] Fully Voiced Stories for Hijikata, Harada & Saito♪ The happy times you spent with Hijikata are short-lived and your time together is nearing its end... Enjoy "The End Written by Passion" fully voiced♡
Flowers of Carnage (Era of Samurai: Code of Love - VIP Room Event ends 4/5) [Revival] Voiced Movie & Full Voiced Story♪ Between you and your love for one another comes an "eternal farewell"... We bring you Takasugi's "The End Written by Passion", fully voiced!
Blade of Ice (Era of Samurai: Code of Love - VIP Room Event ends 4/5) [Revival] Fully Voiced Stories for Okita, Hijikata & Harada Now that you know what Okita feels for you, you know you can no longer be with him. Experience his 3rd, fully voiced ending!
Tears of Heaven (Era of Samurai: Code of Love - VIP Room Event ends 4/5) [Revival] Includes Voiced Movie & Fully Voiced Story A midnight spent in Hijikata's chambers. He holds you close and whispers his deepest, truest feelings to you...
The Sun, It Rises for You (Era of Samurai: Code of Love - VIP Room Event ends 4/5) [Revival] Voiced Movie & Fully Voiced Story These brave men vow to protect you against the unstable tides of history! Hear their soothing voices in special stories!
Flowers Under a Blood Moon (Era of Samurai: Code of Love - VIP Room Event ends 4/5) [Revival] Fully Voiced Story (Hajime/Soji/Isami) Enjoy another Main Story ending with Hajime fully voiced♡ What future awaits you after you've thrown away everything...?
Did you feel that? ~Ten Different Ways To Thrill~ (Irresistible Mistakes - VIP Room Event) ends today
Carnal Switch Find out what turns him on. (Irresistible Mistakes - VIP Room Event) ends today
Lawless Days with a Cunning Boss (Irresistible Mistakes - VIP Room Event) ends today
Attractive Captives (Irresistible Mistakes - VIP Room Event) ends today
Salacious Shackles (Irresistible Mistakes - VIP Room Event) ends today
Moonlit Games (Irresistible Mistakes - VIP Room Event) ends today

Released 3/23

Togo Main Story 2: Epilogue (Oops, I Said Yes?! - Main Story) The time has finally come for you and Togo to give into temptation. Butterflies abound when you embark on a sensual getaway filled with delightful surprises and the allure of your husband in yukata?

Released 3/24

Takado: Season 3 Pt 2 (Romance MD: Always On Call - Main Story) He rejected your proposal, but now it's off to Nagasaki with Takado! Will his father, who hates doctors, accept you? Will your dream, of being closer to Takado than anyone else, finally come true?
submitted by sableheart to Love365 [link] [comments]


2024.03.14 22:51 ImaMasterDebator Good evening Boston, I am back with a list of things to do this weekend - March 14th - March 17th

At popular request you can now get this as a newsletter. Sign up and help support these posts! I did my best to cover all the St. Patrick's day events, but please add anything I missed down below.

ST. PATRICK’S DAY 🍀

THURSDAY - Westlife: A St. Patrick’s Day Special @ MGM Music Hall @ 8PM
THURSDAY - All Irish Comedy Tour @ Laugh Boston @ 8PM Featuring Mick Thomas and Sean Finnerty
FRIDAY - St. Patrick’s Day Shamrock Showdown @ Murphy Skating Rink @ 2PM It's a hockey tournament showdown between the NYPD & BFD. Plus, raffle baskets, 50/50, games, and scholarship applications are available.
SATURDAY - 13th Annual Irish Festival @ Patriot Place @ 11AM The daylong celebration will feature live performances by Irish musicians and step dancers, as well as a full slate of free Irish-themed activities for the whole family to enjoy.
SATURDAY - Family St. Patrick’s Day @ Irish Cultural Centre @ 11AM Enjoy a fun filled day of St. Patrick’s festivities with live music, Irish dancing, and activities!
SATURDAY - Irish Dance Show @ JFK Library and Museum @ 10:30AM Exuberant dancers demonstrate athleticism, skill, and poise while presenting traditional and contemporary styles of Irish dance.
SATURDAY - Boston’s Official Saint Patrick’s Day Pub Crawl Join the 25,000 people bar hopping through the West End, Faneuil Hall, Fenway, Seaport, and Financial District with exclusive access to 50+ venues.
FRIDAY & SATURDAY - Big Irish Jay Stand Up @ Laugh Boston
SUNDAY - St. Patrick’s Day / Evacuation Day Parade @ South Boston The annual parade is back in South Boston, where it has been a tradition for more than 110 years. It includes marching bands, police and army contingents, costume spectacles, novelty vehicles, and a general "green" atmosphere.
SUNDAY - Big Band Bollocks @ City Winery @ 7:30PM Back in Boston For St. Patrick's Day Ft. A Tribute Set To Shane McGowan & The Pogues
All Weekend - Dropkick Murphys @ MGM Music Hall @ 7PM With Pennywise

THURSDAY - MARCH 14

Celtics vs Suns @ TD Garden @ 7:30PM
Nowruz Celebration @ MFA @ 5PM Celebrate the ancient festival of Nowruz and discover unique traditions from around the world, revel in magnificent works of art, enjoy lively dance and music performances, and much more.
After Dark @ MIT Museum @ 6PM Enjoy an adult-only lively evening of entertainment, science, and tinkering.
Candlelight: A Tribute to Queen @ Temple Ohabei Shalom @ 7PM / 9PM Hear your favorite Queen songs classically reimagined.
Samantha Fish + Jesse Dayton @ The Wilbur @ 8PM
Dropkick Murphys @ House of Blues @ 7PM
Between The Buried And Me @ Paradise Rock Club @ 7PM With The Acacia Strain
COBRAH @ Royale @ 7PM
Mindchatter @ The Sinclair @ 8PM With Familiar Faces
Taylor Swift Party @ Crystal Ballroom @ 9PM
The Brothers Project @ City Winery @ 7:30PM

FRIDAY - MARCH 15

‘The Holdovers’ Screening @ MFA @ 7PM
Andrew Dice Clay Stand Up @ Shubert Theatre @ 8PM
Roy Wood Jr. Stand Up @ The Wilbur @ 7:30PM
Jessi Stegall Dance Performance @ ICA @ 8PM Set to Clara Rockmore’s arrangements of classical scores for theremin, the dance-theatre piece explores themes of grief, remembrance, and devotion.
Jazz Concert: Tigran Hamasyan @ Berklee Performance Center @ 8PM
Juanes @ Orpheum Theatre @ 8PM
Offset @ House of Blues @ 7PM
Ricky Duran @ North Shore Music Theatre @ 7:30PM
Between The Buried And Me @ Paradise Rock Club @ 7PM With The Acacia Strain
The Coronas @ Brighton Music Hall @ 8PM
Silk: R&B Night @ Big Night Live @ 9:30PM
Chelsea Wolfe @ Royale @ 7PM With Divide and Dissolve
Red Baraat @ The Sinclair @ 8:30PM With Air Devi
Fort Nights @ Crystal Ballroom @ 7:30PM Enjoy a musical celebration of Gary Smith & the music of Fort Apache Studios

SATURDAY - MARCH 16

Bruins vs Flyers @ TD Garden @ 7PM
Ongoing - Somerville Winter Farmers Market @ The Armory @ 9:30AM
‘Seven Samurai’ Screening @ MFA @ 1PM Part of the UNIQLO Festival of Films from Japan
Zakir Khan Stand Up @ The Wilbur @ 11AM / 3PM / 7PM
Jazz Concert: Miho Hazama and m_unit @ Berklee Performance Center @ 8PM
Sandy Hackett’s Rat Pack Show @ North Shore Music Theatre @ 8PM Audiences can experience this critically acclaimed, hugely entertaining theatrical production which includes exciting new arrangements of classic and never-before-heard Rat Pack songs.
Jon Batiste @ Orpheum Theatre @ 8PM
The Disco Biscuits @ House of Blues @ 6:30PM With Karina Rykman
Arly Lariviere @ Roadrunner @ 9PM
Matisyahu @ Paradise Rock Club @ 7PM
Natalie Jane @ Brighton Music Hall @ 5PM
Emo Night Brooklyn @ Brighton Music Hall @ 8PM
Costa @ Big Night Live @ 9:30PM
Tow’rs @ The Sinclair @ 8:30PM With A Boy and His Kite
Broadway Rave @ Crystal Ballroom @ 9PM
Enter The Haggis @ City Winery @ 7:30PM

SUNDAY - MARCH 17

Revolution vs FC Cincinnati @ Gillette Stadium @ 2PM
Another Slice of Pi Day @ MIT Museum @ 10AM Explore how we can find the area of a circle, build your own Möbius strip in the Maker Hub, and test your memory at our Pi Recitation Contest.
Orchestre de Paris @ Symphony Hall @ 7PM Two young superstars lead the way when the Orchestre de Paris makes a return to Celebrity Series with a performance of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2.
William Black @ House of Blues @ 8PM
Sleater-Kinney @ Paradise Rock Club @ 7PM With Black Belt Eagle Scout
HEALTH @ Royale @ 7PM With Pixel Grip + King Yosef
Sleepytime Gorilla Museum @ The Sinclair @ 8PM

ALL WEEKEND

THURSDAY & FRIDAY - ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time’ Play @ Zack Box Theatre Following a young boy on a detective quest, this touching play is a story of resilience and hope when the world feels against us.
FRIDAY & SATURDAY - Chris Zito Stand Up @ Nick’s Comedy Stop @ 8PM
FRIDAY & SATURDAY - Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 in Concert @ Symphony Hall Guest conductor Raphaël Pichon and Handel + Haydn Society Orchestra and Chorus deliver a fervently fresh take on this magnum opus in honor of its bicentennial.
All weekend - Curling @ The Liberty Hotel LAST CHANCE - Enjoy a winter Curling experience in the Liberty's private patio, complete with seasonal cocktails and bites.
All weekend - Dine Out Boston 2024 Dine Out Boston is the perfect opportunity to take advantage of delicious deals at participating restaurants.
All weekend - ‘Cinderella’ Ballet @ Citizens Bank Opera House Set to Prokofiev’s classic score with spectacular set and costume design, Frederick Ahston’s unique production brings epic story to life with all the artistry and emotion you can imagine.
All weekend - WinterWorks Dance Concert @ Boston Conservatory Theater This annual dance concert features the mainstage debut of Boston Conservatory's first-year contemporary dance and commercial dance students.
All weekend - Dvorák, Janáček, and Langer in Concert @ Symphony Hall The BSO and eminent English conductor Sir Mark Elder perform a program full of whimsy, fantasy, and folklore.
All weekend - ‘The Cher Show’ Musical @ Wang Theatre ‘The Cher Show’ is 35 smash hits, six decades of stardom, two rock-star husbands, and countless EGOT awards, all in one unabashedly fabulous new musical that will have audiences dancing in the aisles!
All weekend - ‘Girl from the North Country’ Musical @ Emerson Colonial Theatre This Tony-award winning new musical reimagines 20 legendary songs of Bob Dylan as they’ve never been heard before.
All weekend - ‘King Hedley II’ Play @ Hibernian Hall Actors’ Shakespeare Project takes on one of August Wilson’s powerful ‘The Pittsburgh Cycle’ plays, examining family tensions and the Black experience during Reagan America.
All weekend - ‘Cost of Living’ Play @ Roberts Studio Theatre In this wry and quietly observed play, Polish-born playwright Martyna Majok interweaves the stories of four lonely souls to examine the forces that bring people together and the ways we all need each other.
All weekend - ‘Measure For Measure’ Play @ Black Box Theatre Written amidst religious and cultural turmoil, every character in ‘Measure For Measure’ has a different sense of what it means to live morally and authentically.
All weekend - ‘Thirst’ Play @ Lyric Stage LAST CHANCE - Tension, humor, and hope reside in this heartbreaking tale of love and belonging set during Eugene O’Neil’s classic ‘Long Day’s Journey Into Night.’
All weekend - ‘Stand Up If You’re Here Tonight’ Play @ The Huntington Theatre After sold out runs in LA, Chicago, and Paris, this thoroughly unique, interactive theatrical experience from Olivier Award-nominated John Kolvenbach comes to Boston.

ONGOING

Ongoing - Winteractive @ Downtown This free, walkable art experience features 16 artworks and interactive play elements in downtown Boston.
Ongoing - Winter Sauna Experience @ Rose Kennedy Greenway Moki Winter Village is a unique wellness oasis featuring saunas and cold-plunge pools tucked away between the city’s skyscrapers.
Ongoing - ‘Deep Sky’ IMAX Screening @ MoS Go on a journey to the beginning of time and space, to never-before-seen cosmic landscapes as captured by NASA’s Webb Telescope in this new IMAX documentary.
Ongoing - Immersive Disney Animation @ Boch Center Step into the art and legacy of Walt Disney Animation Studios and celebrate the music, artistry and animation from the creators of Frozen, The Little Mermaid, Big Hero 6 and many more.
Ongoing - Musical Shows @ MoS PlanetariumMuseum of Science puts on special experiences adapting the music of Pink Floyd, David Bowie, Lady Gaga, and The Divas to immersive visuals in the Charles Hayden Planetarium
Ongoing - ‘Wordplay’ Exhibition @ ICA Highlighting the rich interplay between imagery and text, the exhibition showcases how contemporary artists have played with words to animate and expand their art practices.
Ongoing - ‘ Dinorá Justice: The Lay of the Land’ Exhibition @ MFA In her multidisciplinary works, Brazilian American artist Dinorá Justice uses a distinct visual vocabulary to examine intertwined histories of gender, landscape, and visual culture.
Ongoing - ‘Mondrian: Foundations’ Exhibition @ MFA The exhibition presents 28 paintings and works on paper, primarily from Mondrian’s early career, that trace the artist’s explorations as he progressed from realistic traditions to experimental abstractions.
Ongoing - ‘Comrade Sisters: Women of the Black Panther Party’ Exhibition @ MFA This exhibition brings together 27 powerful photographs by Stephen Shames that feature the women of the Black Panther party and showcase their crucial work for the movement.
Ongoing - ‘Thinking Small: Dutch Art to Scale’ Exhibition @ MFA Featuring 15 intriguing objects from 17th-century Netherlands such as paintings, prints, silver medals, and books, this exhibition compels viewers to reconsider their relationship to the world around them.
Ongoing - ‘Marking Resilience: Indigenous North American Prints’ Exhibition @ MFA The exhibition features 30 newly acquired works by Indigenous artists from the United States and Canada who were inspired by the resilience and creativity of their cultures.
Ongoing - ‘Raqib Shaw: Ballads of East and West’ Exhibition @ ISG Museum Shaw’s images of magic and mystery combine Western artistic tradition with ornamental elements derived from the Japanese, Persian, and Indian cultures that he vividly remembers from his youth.
Ongoing - ‘Picasso: War, Combat, and Revolution’ Exhibition @ Harvard Art Museums The exhibition explores the dictator Francisco Franco’s Spain, imagery of death, struggles of good and evil, political and artistic revolution, and issues of desire and capture.
Ongoing - ‘Our Time on Earth’ Exhibition @ Peabody Essex Museum This traveling exhibition from the Barbican Centre in London celebrates the power of global creativity to transform the conversation around the climate emergency.
Ongoing - ‘AI: Mind the Gap’ Exhibition @ MIT MuseumMIT Museum presents its latest riveting, interactive exhibit exploring the tremendous promise, unforeseen impacts, and everyday misconceptions of AI.
submitted by ImaMasterDebator to boston [link] [comments]


2024.03.08 13:02 event_threads [Official] ONE Friday Fights 54 - Live Discussion Thread

Welcome to mma's discussion of ONE Friday Fights 54, from Bangkok, Thailand! Please keep the fight discussions in here. We also have a fight thread in our Kbin community for those who would prefer not to use Reddit but would still like to talk about the fights.
If you do make a post about a fight remember to:
Click here to check the event start time.
Card Info
Airing on (YouTube) @ Friday 03.08.2024 at 07:30 AM ET
Main Card:
Division Fighters
135 Aslamjon Ortikov vs. Watcharapon Singmawynn
125 Suriyanlek OBT.Kamphee vs. Pompetch PK Saenchai
Khunsuk Sor Dechapan vs. T. Sor Jor Lekmuangnon
Petchbanrai Singmawynn vs. P. Nokkhao KorMor.11
M. Sor Yingcharoenkarnchang vs. Jaoinsee PK Saenchai
N. Suanaharnpeekmai vs. Yoddoi Kaewsamrit
George Mouzakitis vs. Ferzan Çiçek
Celest Hansen vs. F. Vera Lizama
Yryskeldi Duysheev vs. Ismail Khan
P. Muadablampang vs. Hiroto Sameshima
Rustam Yunusov vs. Ramu
Nonthakit Tor.Morsi vs. Koki Saito
Ryosuke Honda vs. Sanzhar Zakirov
Fight card order and start times may be inaccurate.
Useful Links
Live Updates: Tapology,
Social Media: Facebook, Instagram, ONE Championship, Twitter, Youtube
Reddit: Reddit Stream, General Discussion, Flair bets
Keep it civil.
Do not ask for or supply streams. Your post will be removed and your ability to post will be suspended.
Enjoy the fights! Get HYPE!
submitted by event_threads to MMA [link] [comments]


2024.03.07 18:24 CommercialGrab1059 Act Haul

Can anyone provide me the rationale for these questions?
submitted by CommercialGrab1059 to ACT [link] [comments]


2024.02.21 15:32 caio_troti Help with Higher Half Kernel x86_64 (crtbegin relocation truncated error)

[SOLVED] Check my comment to see.
Hello people, so I'm having trouble with the "classic" error, I will try to be short since this error is very specific, and is about the gcc + linker setup issue, not precisely about my code (at least for now):
build/x86_64/arch/x86_64/crtend.o: in function `__do_global_ctors_aux': crtstuff.c:(.text+0x13): relocation truncated to fit: R_X86_64_32 against `.ctors' 
Basic information: I'm trying to setup a Higher Half Kernel with x86_64 in C, at address 0xFFFFFFFF80000000, I have a specific toolchain too that is compiled through a Docker image, so I sure it's correct and clean compilation everytime. GCC version is 11.2.0. Here is the repo link, but it's a little messy right now since I'm trying to fix this bug: here (the branch is "reddit-question").
Here are all the sources I tried:
  1. Issues with building a higher-half kernel;
  2. Building libgcc for mcmodel=kernel;
  3. Libgcc without red zone;
  4. Linking crt*.o in 64bit kernel image;
I tried all the solutions and verified myself about the libgcc with no red zones in link 3 aswell, but I'm still getting the error, does someone has a update on that?
Full error message:
build/x86_64/arch/x86_64/crtend.o: in function `__do_global_ctors_aux': crtstuff.c:(.text+0x13): relocation truncated to fit: R_X86_64_32 against `.ctors' build/x86_64/arch/x86_64/crtbegin.o: in function `deregister_tm_clones': crtstuff.c:(.text+0x1): relocation truncated to fit: R_X86_64_32 against symbol `__TMC_END__' defined in .data section in build/x86_64/kernel crtstuff.c:(.text+0x18): relocation truncated to fit: R_X86_64_32 against `.tm_clone_table' build/x86_64/arch/x86_64/crtbegin.o: in function `register_tm_clones': crtstuff.c:(.text+0x31): relocation truncated to fit: R_X86_64_32 against symbol `__TMC_END__' defined in .data section in build/x86_64/kernel crtstuff.c:(.text+0x5a): relocation truncated to fit: R_X86_64_32 against `.tm_clone_table' build/x86_64/arch/x86_64/crtbegin.o: in function `__do_global_dtors_aux': crtstuff.c:(.text+0x88): relocation truncated to fit: R_X86_64_32 against `.dtors' crtstuff.c:(.text+0x8e): relocation truncated to fit: R_X86_64_32 against symbol `__DTOR_END__' defined in .dtors section in build/x86_64/arch/x86_64/crtend.o crtstuff.c:(.text+0xdb): relocation truncated to fit: R_X86_64_32 against `.eh_frame' build/x86_64/arch/x86_64/crtbegin.o: in function `frame_dummy': crtstuff.c:(.text+0x10c): relocation truncated to fit: R_X86_64_32 against `.bss' crtstuff.c:(.text+0x111): relocation truncated to fit: R_X86_64_32 against `.eh_frame' 
Command to build libgcc inside Dockerfile:
make -j 4 all-target-libgcc CFLAGS_FOR_TARGET='-g -O2 -mcmodel=kernel -mno-red-zone' 
Command to build crtbegin and crtend (the target is mihos):
x86_64-mihos-gcc -n -T ./arch/x86_64/linker.ld -o build/x86_64/kernel -O2 -g -Wall -Wextra -mcmodel=kernel -mno-red-zone -fno-PIC ../libc/build/x86_64/libk.a build/x86_64/kmain.o build/x86_64/arch/x86_64/boot.o build/x86_64/arch/x86_64/boot64.o build/x86_64/arch/x86_64/gdt64.o build/x86_64/arch/x86_64/crti.o build/x86_64/arch/x86_64/crtn.o build/x86_64/arch/x86_64/header.o build/x86_64/arch/x86_64/crtbegin.o -nostdlib -lk -lgcc build/x86_64/arch/x86_64/crtend.o 
linker.ld, sorry guys, it's messy right now, I was trying a bunch of stuff...
ENTRY(_start) OUTPUT_FORMAT(elf64-x86-64) physical = 1M; offset = 0xFFFFFFFF80000000; virtual = offset + physical; SECTIONS { . = virtual; _kernel_start = .; .rodata ALIGN(4K) : AT(ADDR(.rodata) - offset) { *(.multiboot) *(.rodata) } .text ALIGN(4K) : AT(ADDR(.text) - offset) { *(.text) } .data ALIGN(4K) : AT(ADDR(.data) - offset) { *(.data) } .bss ALIGN(4K) : AT(ADDR(.bss) - offset) { *(COMMON) *(.bss) } _kernel_end = .; } 
submitted by caio_troti to osdev [link] [comments]


2024.02.12 00:07 Aggravating_Worth485 Witness [First Contact/ Chapter 26]

[First]
CHAPTER 26
Earth
2027
Rory sat across a table from General Price and some hotshot computer analyst whose name she could not remember. There were too many people in her life to keep them all straight. Beside her, Theo stared at the screen on the wall which showed the image of a man that neither of them recognized.
"Did you really think it was wise?" General Price asked.
Her heart hardened against the accusing tone. "I can't disappear entirely for weeks on end. People get suspicious and when people get suspicious about the alien, panic ensues."
"Yeah, I'm not talking about you streaming a game. I gave the approval for that because I trusted you to handle it well. I'm talking about what you said that forced me to cut you off midstream."
"It was a mistake," Theo said. "You should have trusted her. Now there's more speculation."
The general's eyes narrowed. He lifted his phone and played the video. Rory sat back and sighed.
"I'm the one who said it. I don't need to see it," she said.
"Maybe you do. Maybe you need to watch yourself."
"Insulting," Theo muttered. "General–"
"I'm serious. Both of you watch this and tell me if you really think it was the best thing you could do."
Rory didn't want to watch because the doubt hadn't stopped haunting her since she'd done it. All she'd wanted was to get the Replica to reach out to her, but it hadn't even worked.
On the screen, she saw herself chuckling at something her friend Stella said.
"It's not the first time I've gone off the grid and it won't be the last." Rory leaned back in her chair. "You guys have to stop panicking when it happens. I live a weird life."
"You're the canary in the mine, Rory." Oliver's lips twisted as he made a face of concentration. "We're all going to watch you and panic forever."
"I got sick and then I couldn't stop painting. I was in the zone. Got people to reach out to me though."
"So it's all for attention." Stella smiled.
"Someone I hadn't heard from in years reached out, actually. It was good to catch up. If you're watching," Rory glanced at the screen. "You know who you are. Give me a call tonight–"
The screen went blank.
"What if she had hopped on your live stream right then?" Price asked.
"I wouldn't have had to do it online in front of everyone if you had given me any kind of access to technology. I can't even text."
"You shouldn't reach out to her at all. Not without a strategic plan approved–"
Rory raised her brows. "Approved by the US government? The UN? For ten years I've played by your rules. There's too much on the line now for me to sit back."
"You can't go rogue, Rory. That won't be good for you." Though the words sounded like a threat, it was worry that she detected in the general's voice.
"Vehru is coming. She sent me here for a reason. We won't beat her by playing it safe. I need to talk to her or her replica. I need to see if that will spark memories for me or if they'll give me any information."
"We know contact is dangerous," Theo said. "It's also dangerous to have silence."
"You should have gone through me," Price said.
"See, that's not the partnership we have." Rory shrugged. "Sometimes you need me to do things that you can't know about. Let this go, General. You say it won't be good for me if I go rogue? It won't be good for the U.S. to lose my cooperation."
The threat came through clearly in her voice even if it hadn't in General Price's, only she hadn't meant for it to sound as harsh as it had. Or had she? As much as she wanted to remain allies with the U.S., at a certain point the cost would be too high. Rory had two worlds, two homes, two families to fight for. What the US considered to be in their best interest wasn't always in the best interest of those Rory loved.
And as a woman alienated from her planet, her world was the people she loved. If she didn't protect her world, who would?
The general's sharp stare turned to Theo. "You're contracted by the United–"
"I've said it before and I'll say it again. I don't have to be." Theo did not waver or hesitate. "You need to let Rory stream again and smooth over you cutting her off. You're the one who caused a problem."
Theo often did not speak so bluntly. Rory nearly raised a brow.
"We'll table this," Price said sharply. "For now. Let's get rid of our phones and then Dr. Antoin can present her information."
Ah, Dr. Antoin. She repeated in her mind several times to help her remember. The woman's long black hair was pulled into a tight bun that looked like it hurt. Once they'd removed their devices from the room, she began. "We've found evidence of the Replica."
"You're letting me hear this?" Rory asked. They'd hidden things from her ever since the chilling phone conversation.
"Strategic dissemination of information." The general leaned forward. "If the Replica learns about this conversation and acts on it, then we know that any information you have is not secure. Of course, she'll know about what I just shared with you as well and know what test we're running. She may pretend that she does not know. She may acknowledge it." General Price flattened his hands on the table. "But we want her to know we see her." He jabbed his finger down against the table and raised his voice. "We want Vehru to know we found that son of a bitch she left lurking around Earth and we'll find her again."
Well, then. Rory resisted the urge to clap in approval for his spirited display. "Well said, General." It wasn't often that he became so animated.
"Show them." General Price sat back again.
Dr. Antoin nodded. "This is a picture of John Travis, the Information Assurance Officer who was in charge of internet security at one of our bases. The server housed here was secure and local. The only way to gain access would be to physically connect to it. We did not find evidence of the Replica's infiltration. We haven't found that anywhere in the world to date. But we did find this recording. All communications at the base are recorded and stored on the local server. What you're about to see took place over a virtual video meeting while Mr. Travis was away from the base on business."
She tapped her mouse and the video began to play.
John Travis spoke on the screen, his eyes to the side with the sound of the keyboard clicking in the background, like he was multitasking. "This is for a critical systems security upgrade to protect against the evolving and sophisticated hacks by foreign powers."
"This needs to be done immediately." John Travis's eyes snapped to the camera. "And make sure you don't do a damn thing without hearing it personally from me. Alright? You see my face and you hear my voice or you don't do a thing."
"Yes, sir." The voice belonged to someone they couldn't see.
Dr. Antoin paused the recording. "John Travis told us in no uncertain terms yesterday that he did not ever issue that order. Thanks to his detailed diary, he was able to tell us what he was doing at the time of this recording–reviewing the files of applicants for a position that had been posted. He said he would without doubt have recorded a critical systems update." She looked at General Price. "Mr. Travis maintains a paper diary and there is no mention of this update in the diary."
"That's her," Theo whispered. "There's no telling how many unwitting agents she's used to gain access to our most secure servers."
Rory studied the still image of John Travis. "We need to protect the public from her. Who knows what else she's done."
"Does this seem familiar to you?" The general asked Rory.
Her eyes slid closed. "I don't know. My mind is stuck in a fog. I don't feel like I know anything about a replica of Vehru, but an AI is another matter. I'm sure that there's an AI monitoring my home world as well and exerting control over the governments and people. I just don't know what are my own thoughts and what are memories."
"I agree with the view that an AI must be active on your planet." Dr. Antoin folded her hands in front of her. "We don't know how long the Replica has been here. We are operating under the assumption that she's had decades to spread herself across the globe. Now that we know she's here, we need to figure out a way to create secure networks that she can't get into. At the very least, we need to be able to detect any of her attacks or attempts to hack."
Theo breathed out a sigh. "Are we thinking quantum computing and communications still?"
"It's our best theory considering that if it's an unknown technology we may not be able to guess at its nature."
"I don't know if any of this can spark your memory," General Price said. "I hope it does. This is end of days level terrifying. We need information and we need it fast."
End of days. Rory felt that. Problem was it had been happening so slowly over a decade that she'd grown accustomed to the dread and could no longer feel fear the way she should. That had its uses. But it was unsettling.
"Is she cleared to know about what I've been working on?" Rory asked.
"Dr. Antoin has already been briefed."
"I know you want to know how to produce the device I made and use it. I've decided that I'll share everything I know about it and help with training however I can. But I have conditions."
The general pulled his notepad closer to write.
"This has to be shared with every country that's a part of the United Nations. Every country receives equal amounts of training from me or from anyone who is trained by me."
"Fine. I'm sure this can be agreed upon."
"It cannot be used against civilians, ever." She hardened her voice. "Earth civilians or civilians from my world. I don't know who is coming here, but these are not going to be used to hurt innocent people."
The general watched her. "I understand. I wouldn't let that happen."
"Oh, but these things have a way of happening. That's why you look so nervous right now."
He didn't deny it.
"Finally, I get something in return. I want access to this device, anything else I make, and I need you to agree to compromises on my communications plan."
At this, Rory had taken it too far, because the man began to complain.
"It's non-negotiable. I won't be a prisoner. I'm an ally. I'll be treated as one. If this cannot be agreed upon, then have fun trying to master the device by yourself. I'm sure you'll get it eventually without too much damage in the way of life and property."
The general grumbled as he wrote. Surely he knew that Rory was not going to freely hand over this advanced technology and train them on how to do it without asking for something reasonable in return. Since Rory had requested materials and did not have the luxury of working in secret, they would figure out how to replicate what she had done relatively quickly. But would they dare to operate alien technology without her help when she honestly asked for so little?
They'd agree to her conditions.
Problem was Rory did not trust the government. Why would she? So what Rory and Theo would not tell General Price, or anyone else for that matter, was that they'd built a failsafe into the technology. It had to remain secret or the military would attempt to figure out how to prevent it.
Another problem troubled her, though. If the Replica could read her thoughts, then she would know what they'd done. They attempted to counter this by Theo hiding the information from Rory. He would be the only one who could activate the failsafe. But would it be that difficult for the Replica to figure it out for herself? And would equipping soldiers all over the world with a device that the enemy could potentially disable all at once be more disastrous than never giving Earth the technology in the first place?
Rory wanted to beat her head against the table as the worries rapidly fired through her mind.
The militaries of the world had to know they could not overly rely on this technology. In truth, even if the Replica didn't know that Rory had Theo build in a failsafe, she likely knew a way to disable them anyway.
Could she also use the device to hurt the people utilizing them?
Nausea swelled in Rory's gut. Why hadn't she considered that before? It wasn't too late to refuse to teach the UN how to create these. Or at the very least, share these concerns.
"Rory." Theo kneaded his fingers into the back of her neck. "Breathe."
She realized her hands were trembling. "This might be the stupidest thing I've ever done." It didn't matter that the general could hear her. If he wasn't also afraid of what this technology could be used for then he was a fool. And she did not know him to be a fool.
"We won't beat Vehru by not taking chances." Theo kissed her temple and whispered into her ear. "You said that. Listen to your own voice."
The U.N. had managed to come to an agreement with Rory and set up a day for her to demonstrate the technology. Several representatives flew to the U.S. and joined President Saito, two senators, and several generals in Rory's lab.
How strange to have so many important people gathered here. She glanced around the dusty room. Everyone had agreed, though, that the technology should not be transported elsewhere, yet.
"Thank you for coming," Rory said. All gathered here had high enough security clearance to know everything Rory knew. So she needed to give little introduction or information.
Of the seventeen in the room, not one of them looked the way a powerful world leader should look. The child came out in a person when they were overwhelmed and afraid. As well as each of them tried to hide it, Rory saw the ordinary person beneath their stoic expressions. The fear in their eyes. The day they'd long dreaded for the last ten years was approaching and now they knew that Rory's people, not just Vehru, possessed technology far superior to that of Earth's.
It chilled Rory to the core, especially as she'd practiced using the device over the past few days.
She found that though few memories of it had returned to her, she did remember how to use it. Her body knew something her mind did not. It was a surreal feeling that had become so normal to her.
"I'm re-discovering what I believe are many uses for this device," Rory said. "But there is one you need to see in person."
Rory lifted her palm and formed the small ball of energy. Breathing in deeply, she pointed it at a target she'd placed far away from the people, and, using her muscle memory, shot it directly at the center. It exploded on impact, scattering bits of plastic into the air.
Silence met her. The world leaders and generals gathered together stared at the pulverized target.
"What does it take for fuel?"
Rory turned, uncertain of who spoke until one of the generals raised his hand slightly.
"How efficient is it?" he asked.
"You'll need these." Rory withdrew the travel extractor from one pocket and a converter from the other. "The fuel can be mass produced, but it can also be created on the go with microscopic particles from the soil."
"From the soil?" the general asked with incredulity.
"We extract and convert copper, cerium, and graphite into a two part fuel. It's very cheap and efficient."
It took little imagination for Rory to think of how they must have felt, seeing the power of this technology and learning about the fuel source. This device along with the feasibility of mass-producing it far exceeded Earth's current capabilities. Her people may not have been as advanced at Vehru's people, but they were beyond Earth.
"Don't feel hopeless," Rory said. "You'll have this technology now to help your planet. If the world can work together, there's no telling what you can do."
"Why are you helping us when your people are coming here to fight us?" A different voice. A senator this time. "If your husband from your home planet is a soldier, we could end up using this technology to harm him."
This concern had kept her up at night, but she knew without doubt what she needed to do. "Theo would not want me to abandon an entire planet to be conquered in order to save him. I may not remember my past, but I know who I am. I've always known. Of this, I'm certain–whoever I loved on my home planet must have the kind of character Theo has or I would not have been with them. I refuse to believe that I have to choose between my family and an entire world. I will find a way to fight for both."
Her husband's jaw clenched as he nodded at her.
Pain lodged in her chest. "Vehru abandoned me on this planet without so much as a single memory to call my own. I don't know if I left willingly or if I even knew what was happening. But I do know that she's the reason I cannot contact my first husband and my son. If you cannot believe I want to fight for a planet's freedom, then believe that I want to fight for my family. Because I damn well do." Rory raised her voice. "I will never surrender. So decide now if you can fight with me or not. I don't have time for the distractions and neither do you. We set our sights on the goal now and forget all else. Or we're dead."
President Saito lifted her chin, studying Rory intently now.
She gasped in a breath, acutely aware of the shock on Theo's face. It wasn't unusual for Rory to feel confident in her positions. But since when could she look the leaders of the world in the eye and speak as if commanding them?
Rory had said she knew who she was. Maybe that wasn't entirely true. Maybe she had forgotten and all these years she'd only scratched the surface of what she could do.
"Are you with me or not?" Rory leveled her stare directly at President Saito though she spoke to them all.
The president opened her mouth to speak when a gust of hot air washed over them. The force of it knocked Rory back a step and pushed several people against the wall. A loud snap sounded and then the haze of heat began to die.
Right there in the center of the room where all could see, a form shimmered ever so slightly, her boots hanging several inches above the ground, and her golden eyes drilling into Rory's. Commander Vehru hovered before her.
A smirk twisted her lips.
"That was one hell of a speech." Vehru breathed in deeply, nodding in admiration. "You never disappoint."
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submitted by Aggravating_Worth485 to HFY [link] [comments]


2024.02.08 03:39 Aggravating_Worth485 Witness [First Contact/Chapter 25]

[First]
CHAPTER 25
Earth
2027
Theo plastered his hands against the table and studied the pictures below him. The conversation with Vehru's replica had put the entire world into an intelligence lockdown. They'd had to go old school, very old school, and now lived under the rule of paranoia. Could the Replica hear them? What did she know? It wouldn't be possible to keep everything from a super intelligent AI, but they had to try their best.
"I think they're posing for a picture," Theo said and tapped the triangular flying object. "We've never had such a perfect image as this."
"We don't pay you to speculate on what they're doing and why. Talk science." General Price was in a worse mood than normal.
"Someone has to say it," Theo whispered. "You're all thinking it. Vehru, her Replica, whoever is doing this wants us to see what we're up against. It's a threat."
Price's nostrils twitched. "Do you have anything useful to share?"
"This is not my expertise. You know that. Why am I really here?"
Ordinarily, Theo would hold his temper better and remain patient. These were not ordinary days. The very marrow of his bones buzzed with stress. He could hardly sleep at night. And he hadn't had an update on his wife in two days. Since so little was known about the control that the Replica of Vehru had over Rory's mind, the government decided to limit the information she had access to, in case there was a way to monitor her thoughts. When Theo was called upon, he had to leave Rory behind at home. The last thing he wanted was to be away from her with all of this happening, especially when he couldn't even talk to her on the phone for fear of his location being tracked or his conversation monitored.
"President Saito trusts you. You're a smart man. We have plenty of expert opinions. But you're in a unique position as Rory's husband and as someone who has the highest level of security clearance."
"Exactly why you should listen to me when I say they're sending a message."
"I know." His voice lowered. "I assure you that we're aware and dealing with it."
"The incidence of UFO sightings have increased, but they're not new. What's new is that they're letting us get an abundance of data on them. You've had no success in shooting one down. We're outmatched. They probably want us to surrender before the war even starts."
"Well, that's never happening."
"What's telling is that they're tipping their hands on the flying objects but not on how the AI has infiltrated all of our systems while evading detection. It's all strategic." Theo stared at the image of the craft flying up from beneath the ocean. "So, where are they coming from?"
"We assume space."
"But you've considered other possibilities."
The general's jaw tightened.
"The ocean," Theo said. "They could be being stored or even manufactured down there. The pressure they'd have to operate under…" He closed his eyes. "Whether they're coming from our oceans or our skies, it's clear this is a threat we are not prepared to face. We need to get our hands on one."
"We're trying."
Theo turned away from the pictures. "Can you just be honest about why I'm really here? Are you trying to separate me from Rory for a while?"
Unreadable eyes met him. The general could hold his emotions back expertly well, but Theo had learned to read him through this. The more stoic the man was, the more unsettled he felt.
"Why?" Theo asked.
"The things she's remembering are very stressful for you. It may help her to have time to remember alone, when she isn't worried about how it'll affect you."
"You should have been honest about it."
"We really do want your thoughts and we can't discuss it any other way than in person and in a room we know is safe. But we do need Rory to be alone for a little while."
He tried not to feel the frustration of being manipulated because if he let himself dwell on it, he'd get himself too worked up. "Well, show me the rest."
"We're working on creating secure connections that we know the Replica cannot access. We still cannot find any trace of her, though. She's a ghost."
"So there's no way of knowing if it's really secure."
"There's not even a way of knowing if this room is secure."
Theo nodded. "The way she accesses a network could be something we've never even thought of." Fear coursed through him constantly, but sometimes a sharp spike of panic pierced his chest. "How are we supposed to defend against them?"
"Don't." The general squeezed his shoulder and spoke with such confidence that Theo couldn't help but trust him. "There's always a way. We believe that no matter what happens, because otherwise, our defeat is certain."
He breathed in sharply. "Okay. Yeah."
The general walked him through new working theories about the nature of Rory's people and their capabilities. Work always managed to distract Theo, so eventually his heart and mind felt numb to everything except the problems right before him.
"We've spent the last decade preparing for every scenario we can imagine," the general said. "We have contingency plans for all-out war, with plans ranging from wide-spread nuclear level assaults to mass poisoning of water. What we can't prepare for is the unknown. So we need people like you to think again about what we could be missing. The entire world has to come together on this."
"I will speak up about any theories that come to mind."
"Especially if something Rory says gives you an idea. You get that information to me immediately."
By the time the sun set, Theo had returned to his hotel room. In the quiet, while completely alone, the problem-solving disappeared from his mind, the science seemed irrelevant, and there was nothing to quiet what had been screaming inside of him for the past two weeks since Rory had recovered her first memory.
They'd never have another normal day again.
For so long it hadn't seemed possible to have normal days. Rory had changed the world forever when she arrived. Then time passed and they made a life together. Closing his eyes, he remembered the last time they'd spent a night alone together before this chaos had started again. He'd sat on the couch with Benji curled up next to him. Rory leaned against the armrest with her feet on his lap and a controller in her hands. She bit her lip as she played her game.
Theo had looked up from the study he was reading and smiled at how beautiful her eyes looked when she focused.
It had been entirely normal and uneventful. But he would give anything to have it back.
An ache spread over his shoulders as he lowered himself to the bed, feeling so heavy and tired. Those days were not long gone, but they felt more and more distant. It had been him and Rory and the dogs. Now he shared Rory with a man he didn't know. There was a child missing his mother. The life Rory once lived felt real now.
He covered his eyes, too exhausted to tear up about it. Theo had meant it with all his heart when he told Rory he would help her find the family she lost. But it had ripped his heart from his chest. While she'd had another life, another world, another love, Theo had only ever had her. Never had he loved anyone else. The thought of losing his best friend and the woman who felt as much a part of him as his own heart terrified him.
Nevermind the other thoughts that flowed uncontrollably through his mind. He'd never felt insecure about their relationship. They got along so well. Theo absolutely knew Rory loved him deeply. Thinking about her marrying another man, though… Theo couldn't wrap his mind around it. What if she loved the other man more? What was this stranger like?
He wrestled with his thoughts until he knew he had to find something else to do or risk losing it. Theo longed to call Rory and hear her voice.
Instead, he started researching the deepest depths of the ocean and compared them to maps of UFO sightings.
After five days away from home, Theo finally walked through his front door. While everything looked the same, it felt entirely different. He knew there were soldiers somewhere in the house, guarding Rory. Or holding her captive. Did the difference matter anymore when they'd truly lived this way for so long?
"Rory," he called out. Quiet met him. Where were the dogs? They should have already come bounding around the corner to jump on him.
After a few seconds, a young soldier he didn't recognize walked out. "Hello, doctor."
"Where's my wife?"
"She's in the lab."
"The lab?" Theo narrowed his brows. "My lab?"
"No, her lab."
"Rory doesn't have a lab."
He breathed in deeply. "Well, sir, it seems she has a lab now."
"What the…" Theo looked around. "Where are the dogs?"
"She's been sleeping there, so I believe they're with her."
He ran his hands over his eyes. "Can you please direct me to where I can find my wife?"
After stumbling over an apology, the private ushered Theo to another soldier who seemed capable of more than just watching an empty house. Five minutes later, he entered one of the storage units at the base and stopped in the doorway. Everything had been cleared out and replaced with security stations for the soldiers around the perimeter. Rory worked with her back to him in the center of the room, surrounded by–what was all this? It looked like someone had dropped scrap piles all around the room.
"Rory?"
She rose and froze for a moment, before turning around. "Theo."
The smile easily came over his face even though he felt so weary. He rushed to Rory and caught her when she threw her arms around his neck, clinging to him as if they'd been separated for years. Her hold on him was tight.
He held the back of her head. "Did you remember more?"
She nodded.
"It's okay. I'm here now."
He drew back to see her face and wiped a stray tear from her cheek. "You want to tell me?"
"Not yet." Her eyes looked sunken in, like she hadn't slept in days. "I will. First, I need to show you something."
Rory took his hand and led him to the large table where she'd been working.
He straightened as he looked down on the small discs littering the table and then glanced to the welding tools. "What is this?"
Unfocused eyes shifted up to him, like her mind was torn between here and elsewhere–wherever elsewhere might be. She pushed her disheveled hair back from her face. "I used to make these. Or maybe I fixed them. Something like that."
He picked up one of the circular metal discs and ran his finger along a tiny needle at the center and the hint of silver wires feeding into it. "What do they do?"
Rory hesitated, the look on her face pensive. Then, she drew in a deep breath and placed the disk to her palm. As soon as the needle touched her skin, it plunged into her hand. She grunted as the disc smoothed against her palm.
Theo opened his mouth but couldn't speak. Rory lifted her palm between them, brows furrowed in concentration.
"Watch," she whispered.
White light sparked and glowed around the disc, until a small ball of it formed in her hand, crackling like electricity.
"Oh my god." Theo couldn't breathe.
"This can do so much more." Rory closed her hand and the glowing ball disappeared. "I don't remember yet, but I know it's very powerful."
"Is it a weapon?" Theo asked, even though the answer seemed obvious.
"A weapon. A tool. It feels like a way of life."
He reached toward the disc in her palm but hesitated. "Has anyone else tried to wear it?"
"Not yet. I don't know how safe it is. Maybe there's something special that allows me to use it." Rory stepped forward and looked deeply into his eyes. "Listen closely, Theo."
And he did. Had to.
"I'm going to teach you how to make these. The government will want it, but we don't know how introducing a technology of unknown potential will affect the world, or how it'll be used. So we're responsible for that. This could help Earth protect itself. But it could be used for something horrible too."
"You're right."
"We're going to learn the weakness of these devices too. We're going to make sure this helps the world and doesn't hurt it."
Theo slid his hand over his cheek. "What else are you not telling me?"
Pain shone through the tears in her eyes. "I saw these in my husband's hands. My first husband…"
"It's okay. Just talk, Rory."
"I can't remember him, but I can see him from behind holding our baby, and I remember him reaching for me with these on his hands. Only it had more parts. It wrapped around to the front like silver vines." Rory rubbed her throat. "I think he's a soldier and that's why he has these."
Hearing her talk about the other man made him feel more real. "And you know how to make them."
Rory dislodged the disc from her hand with a wince and set it on the table, eyes on the ground. "I'm dangerous, Theo."
"People can use weapons to hurt or to defend. I told you that once before. I'll tell you every day if I have to."
"They approved me working on this because they want the technology and want me to remember. But I can't blindly be handing weapons over to people. I can't wait on Vehru to let me access my memories either. This isn't working."
"So what are you going to do?"
"Vehru sent me here. I have to talk to her."
"That seems dangerous."
The look in Rory's eyes reminded him of long ago when she'd told the general to get the enhanced interrogation over with. As kind and trusting of a woman as she was, sometimes darkness flooded her eyes, along with the kind of resilience born of that darkness. He felt like he was looking at a different person entirely in this moment, but he recognized the hints of her he'd seen through the years.
"Vehru stole me from my family and stranded me on an alien planet with no memory. Now she's threatening this place that has become my home. It's time for her to answer to me."
For the first time, he realized he truly didn't know who Rory had once been or what she was really capable of.
Just as he was about to ask her how she thought she'd manage forcing Vehru to talk to her, the door of the storage unit opened. A smile lightened the hardness of Rory's face.
"They're back from their walk."
Theo twisted. The dogs barked as they both started to sprint toward him, their nails scratching against the concrete floor and tails wagging wildly. Theo knelt just in time for both of them to jump on him.
"I'm home," he said and grabbed them close. "We won't let anyone hurt you."
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2024.02.06 18:46 themilksweetdog [ARTICLE] Part 2 ~ Poetry of the Greatest Samurai ~ The "Oni-no-Fukucho," or Demon vice commander of the Shinsengumi ~ Hijikata Toshizo

In the previous post I posted 25 poems from Hijikata-san's collection of 41 haiku poems which he titiled: Hogyoku Haiku Collection. Here are the remaining poems in his collection... with some insight in what they could mean.
The simplicity and beauty of life were noted down by the demon vice commander of the Shinsengumi, before he left for kyoto.
二三輪はつ花たけはとりはやす The first two or three blossoms cause so much celebration
https://preview.redd.it/43s1yzjtuzgc1.png?width=500&format=png&auto=webp&s=34b6b150e494b4a8effa367e52a8462dca4c71e7
Hoshida Kei comments that this is an ironic haiku, a kind of mockery of the comrades who usually don’t pay attention to all kinds of flowers. The cherry blossoms bloomed and everyone went into a “torihayasu” state, meaning “rejoicing and making noise and applauding and celebrating…When the first flowers appear, it means that we’re getting close to the Cherry Blossom Festival, the time of cherry blossom viewing with the obligatory picnic and drinking.
Cherry blossoms are rather like snow petals and the joy they bring seems so wonderful.
玉川に鮎つり来るやひかんかな In the Tama River, the ayu fish are coming, but it’s the Day of Mercy
Hijikata loved fishing, by all accounts. Even in March 1868, just before Kondo was arrested in Nagareyama, he would occasionally go fishing alone on the Ayase River, and girls would run there to watch the “handsome samurai”
The Higan Festival occurs in spring and fall, and includes three days before the equinox and three days after. Hijikata refers to the spring Higan (March 18 to 24 on the modern calendar), since the collection of poems is composed in the spring.
The ayu fish return to the rivers from the seas in the spring, where they spend the entire winter. That is, the fish have arrived, it’s time to catch them, but you can’t, ... Because it is forbidden to kill living creatures and eat their meat during Higan. Toshizo must have forgotten what day it was and went fishing. Then he suddenly remembered, and expressed his emotions about it in a haiku.
春雨や客を返して客に行 Spring rain— parting ways from a guest, I visit another
https://preview.redd.it/q0ajju8pvzgc1.png?width=500&format=png&auto=webp&s=98724ddf1760e4b9067c48f511562b5b35b01edd
There is something sad about this haiku poem. There is a romantic melancholy.
Judging by the comment of Hoshida Kei, spring rains in Japan are light and fleeting, and symbolize an environment that is quiet and peaceful.it means something like this... I saw off a guest, it started to rain, and I went to someone's house to wait. Maybe to a friend, or maybe to a girl.Hijikata-san often visited guests in his neighbourhood of Hino. Sometimes together with Kondo-san or Okita-san . Relatives and friends even stayed overnight.
The fleeting moments of meeting a guest, is likened to the spring rain. as quick and refreshing as the rain showers are, it is often time to leave like the breeze and perhaps visit another.
https://preview.redd.it/xxghdjzrvzgc1.png?width=197&format=png&auto=webp&s=bda36aecd333a26e3857a0831f86cfd7337df51b
Under each haiku, the character 寿 - “longevity” - is signed in red ink. Hijikata Megumi explains that it’s most likely the “excellent” marks that Hijikata received for these poems at haiku meeting.
And there’s also a squiggle that looks like the letter Z under each haiku on each page: it’s 玉 - gyoku (a part of the pseudonym “Hogyoku”). In some places, it says “Hogyoku” in full or 豊, the first character from the pseudonym, at the beginning of the page. That is the author not only signed the collection on the cover, but also each of his haiku.
~
On a lightly rainy spring evening, Toshizo, having dropped off a guest, is in no mood to go straight home, and is about to visit somewhere as a guest himself.
Perhaps he has just finished a formal conversation with his guest and is going to visit a place where he can finally stretch his wings. Perhaps it is a friend’s house, or perhaps it is a lover’s house.
This was such a peaceful time for Toshizo, too, surrounded by the gentle “spring rain”. It is a phrase that makes us feel relieved to know that not all of his days were bleak.
https://preview.redd.it/743e1mwyvzgc1.png?width=500&format=png&auto=webp&s=73bc6cfee12f708e28a5949c77348f8054b88962
来た人にもらひあくひや春の雨 A guest arrived and made me yawn— spring rain
Toshizo wrote about a moment in a peaceful spring day, free from any conflict or worries, with a mischievous smile.
I wonder if Toshizo, who later moved to Aizu and Hakodate and was gradually driven into a corner by the times, ever had a moment to do something like “contagious yawn”. I can only imagine that even in those days, Toshizo might have been quite carefree when it came to haiku…
咲ふりに寒けは見へず梅の花 The plum blossoms do not look cold in bloom
Plum is a very resistant tree. It blooms even under the snow. For Hijikata-san, it’s an object of admiration and emulation. “I don’t mind the snow, I don’t mind the heat, I don’t mind the rain…”And despite the cold or the fall of the Bakufu, they continue to bloom.
https://preview.redd.it/4i4ah8hiwzgc1.png?width=500&format=png&auto=webp&s=f8afa52844ba8b1719bfeb1a4e8ce448435911f6
His wisdom can be seen when he writes about nature in such an empathetic way.
It was still early in the spring, and he suddenly thought to himself that it would be cold and uncomfortable for a human if he were asked to stand there like that.
He was impressed by the plum blossoms, which were standing dignifiedly in the cold air as if they were cutting themselves off, yet they seemed not to feel the cold at all.
In a way the honour he upheld was like the plum blossom tree. Even in the icy cold ... he will not cower in the face of defeat. He said that plum blossoms were not of this mortal world in the sense that they were too beautiful. He was the same as the blossoms that fell from the trees. Bravery to bloom in the darkest times is what makes the plum blossoms distinctly breath-taking.
朝雪の盛りを知らす伝馬町 In the Tenma district, no one knows the beauty of morning snow
https://preview.redd.it/5lcer92qwzgc1.png?width=500&format=png&auto=webp&s=f6780f4bbb79f45cd666a5fdccab20fc6105f821
Tenma-cho is a district on the outskirts of Edo, where Toshizo worked for six months at the age of 16 or 17 in a kimono store from which he was kicked out for his fondness for women.
In all likelihood, this is one of his first poems written at the time. Though maybe Hijikata had gone to this Tenma-cho later on, who knows. He probably got up early in the morning, or maybe he didn’t go to bed at all, and saw his favorite morning snow. All around white and pure, and no one was around. He wrote a sad little haiku with a touch of sympathy: “Oh, people, you’ll sleep through all the beauty…”
There is something about the precious mourning snow that is so delightful and happy. The joy of seeing it upon waking up for the first time perhaps what Hijikata -san felt and looked forward to.
As a child, Toshizo was sent to Edo twice as an apprentice.The first time, when he was 11 years old, he served as an apprentice at the Matsuzakaya drapery store in Ueno, but returned home after a quarrel with the clerk.The second time, when he was 17, he worked at a kimono store (some say it was a pawn shop) in Tenma-cho, but this time he left because of his relationship with a woman.
He was more talented at “moving people” than “being moved by people,” and there was no way he could have continued working in such an apprenticeship for long.
In the “city” like Tenma-cho, he would not have had time to enjoy the beauty of a snowy morning.The snow was quickly trampled away, and for Toshizo, there was no lingering memory of his “precious snow”.
It’s a pity that he never got to see the pure and unadulterated snowy landscape of Tenma-cho… such a feeling is also apparent in this poem.
丘に居て呑のもけふの(飲むのも今日の)花見かな I wonder if I’ll be up on the hill drinking or just viewing the cherry blossoms today
https://preview.redd.it/xhfche64xzgc1.png?width=500&format=png&auto=webp&s=5b38ae37304b84e28a75f0115cb93b6892582a5f
The tradition of hanami (cherry blossom viewing) originated in Japan as early as the third century, flourished among the aristocracy during the Heian period and among the common people during the Edo period. Since time immemorial, during sakura viewing the Japanese have sat under the trees with food and sake, and in theory have admired the flowers and in practice have relaxed in good company. The future Shinsengumi also observed this tradition
There is a saying “hana yori dango” - dango is better than flowers. And Hoshida Kei writes that if men gather for hanami, it’s usually “hana yori dango yori sake” - sake is better than flowers and dango. But for Hijikata, she thinks, it was more like “sake yori dango yori hana” - flowers are better. Because nowhere in the archives is there any mention of him being very drunk or drinking a lot. Unlike, for example, Serizawa. Or Saito. Even during the Hakodate war, when Hijikata treated his soldiers to sake after the battle, he told them not to get too drunk.
Musashino hill, perhaps. Imagine the future Shinsengumi members spread out in a hanami party under the cherry blossoms in full bloom. Drinking sake with like-minded friends must have been enjoyable.
In general, when rough men get together, sake is a common accompaniment.Serizawa Kamo, one of the chiefs of the Roshigumi when it called itself the Mibu Roshigumi, was a man who ruined himself by drinking heavily, but there is no record that Toshizo made any blunders with alcohol.
There is even an anecdote that when he served sake to his men during the Hakodate War, he told them to limit themselves to one drink at a time, saying, “I would love to let you drink as much as you like, but you must not drink too much now.”
Perhaps Toshizo was more interested in flowers than sake and dango.
It shows that despite his reputation as the demon vice commander, Hijikata-san was also very gentlemanly and mature .
Hijikata-san was the very mature and wise demon vice commander who had a love for the blossoms of edo
梅の花 一輪咲いても 梅は梅 A plum blossom, even if it’s only one, a plum blossom is a plum blossom
And later one could say, "Shinsengumi is Shinsengumi, even if only the Vice-Commander remains”.
While two or three cherry blossoms are not yet spectacular as cherry blossoms, a single ume flower is still fragrant and outstanding.
Even a single plum blossom is doing a fine job as a "ume” (plum tree),
This must be the spirit of Toshizo.
~
(井伊公君)ふりなからきゆる雪あり上巳こそ (Lord Ii) The snow that fell on the third of the third month has already melted
At the top right of this haiku, Hijikata signed, “Dedicated to Ii-kimi. This refers to Ii Naosuke, head of the Shogunate Council of Elders, who was assassinated on March 3, 1860 near Edo Castle, at the Sakurada Gate.
On March 3, 1860, Ii Naosuke, the Tairo of the time, was assassinated by ronin from Mito and Satsuma outside Sakuradamon of Edo Castle.
This haiku expresses Toshizo’s feelings toward Ii Naosuke, who was killed in the Sakuradamon Incident.
The phrase “Joshi” means the third day of the third month of the lunar calendar.The “snowfall” seems to be Ii Naosuke himself, who vanished in the midst of the times.
Needless to say, this incident had a great impact on the course of events in the world.It must have been the day when the gears of fate began to turn for Toshizo and his comrades, who would eventually go to Kyoto as Roshigumi.
Of course, those who were alive at that time did not think of it as the “end of the Edo period”.It is as if they can see the impermanent era falling in the form of bloodstains on the white snow.
年礼に出て行空やとんひたこ On the way to say my New Year’s greetings, a kite flies in the sky above
Hijikata-san, if he didn’t fly kites himself, liked to watch them being flown. There are three poems about kites in his collection! Less than snow and plum, but still quite a few
The kites must have been flying comfortably in the open sky of Edo, where there were no cluttered electric wires. Perhaps he was full of the urge to fly the kite himself, returning to his childhood.
Perhaps it was Souji, rather than Toshizo, who was able to act on this impulse without hesitation.
there are three poems about kite flying in his collection of haiku, including ones where the meanings was hidden
春ははるきのふの雪も今日は解 Spring is spring, and the snow that fell yesterday is melting today
https://preview.redd.it/4feqmh2wxzgc1.png?width=500&format=png&auto=webp&s=54ac3c35f5ce8e61224784996ec9d6707040b90e
On the one hand it’s good - spring brings warmth! And on the other hand, perhaps, it’s a pity the snow has to melt…Hoshida Kei writes that they may even have snow during sakura blossom season, and then it is called “hanayukimi” - admiring flowers and snow at the same time, an extraordinarily beautiful scene for any Japanese. And that Hijikata-san is supposed to be happy about it .
When the cherry blossoms bloom, there is a temporary drop in temperature called “hana-ochie” (cold flower temperatures). In some cases, it even snows.
When this happens, snow piles up on the branches of blooming cherry trees, which is a very strange and beautiful sight. The “romantic” Toshizo would have been very pleased.
But after all, “spring is spring. The snow that fell the day before melted away so easily.”
He would have liked to have enjoyed the snow and flowers a little more.
公用に出て行みちや春の月 I can see the spring moon on my way to official business
https://preview.redd.it/ungk48r0yzgc1.png?width=500&format=png&auto=webp&s=6793a5f01f26b4be040a5599f98bcc34dbe12b44
On a spring evening, there is Toshizo in the prime of his youth, who may have wanted to go somewhere else to have a “carefree conversation”, not for “official business” if possible.
The phrase “official business” cannot be “military duty” as a member of the Shinsengumi, since the poem was composed before the Shinsengumi went to Kyoto.However, it’s a poem that even seems to foretell such a future.
The “moon” also appears frequently in Toshizo’s haiku, along with plum blossoms and snow.
It is interesting to note that Toshizo, a “swordsman” who ran through the turbulent final days of the Tokugawa shogunate, wrote haiku based on his feelings about “snow, moon, and flowers,” which is hard to imagine given his reported personality.
![img](hagkcnw5yzgc1 "あはら屋に寝て居てさむし春の月 It’s cold sleeping in this shabby house, the spring moon shines above ")
He dozed off in an “abaraya” (small resting place comprising of four pillars and a roof (with no walls)) and woke up feeling cold and the moon was shining.
暖かなかき根のそはやあぐるたこ (ひか登り) In the warm air, next to a fence, a kite rises
https://preview.redd.it/lceflxpayzgc1.png?width=500&format=png&auto=webp&s=59601c3865df064de677c18485cb592b54246cfa
This is actually one of the “hidden kite flying” poems.
According to the original collection, Toshizo first wrote
By the warm hedge, aguru tako
However, he seems to have changed his mind, and as usual, he circles “aguru tako” to “discard” and corrects it to “iganobori” next to it.
In the original, the aforementioned phrase “tako no urchinari” follows this one, so The original version of the poem has a phrase about kite flying followed by another phrase about kite flying, so the artist may have thought, “It’s childish to have a phrase about kite flying followed by another phrase about kite flying.

Hijikato’s fascination with kites continues.... In the poem, it’s not very clear whether he himself flew a kite, or just watched how it is flown. But in any case, he observed the process
This haiku is especially interesting, because here the author has edited himself: he put “aguru tako” circled it in an oval, i.e. crossed it out, and neatly signed it “ikanobori” (or iganobori, as they say differently) next to it. This, too, means “kite”, an earlier name for it. For short, people called it “ika” - cuttlefish (the kites’ tails resembled the limbs of this mollusk dangling in the water). But in the Edo period the name “tako” - octopus - took root as the analogy. It seems that “tako” is more familiar to Hijikata, but with “ikanobori” there was a play on words: the whole means “kite”, but separately (ika nobori) means “kite rises” (from the verb “noboru” - to rise, to go up). Maybe someone told him to correct it, or maybe he thought it was better this way.
今日もきょうたこのうなりや夕けせん Today again and again, you could hear the buzzing of kites, until dinner was over
it’s late evening, everyone has eaten, the tables are cleared, but from the street still comes the characteristic noise and commotion - all day, from morning to night, kites are launched
You can also imagine from the other side, from the street: here we have kites flying and humming, which is so interesting that he’s even reluctant to go home to dinner. Although flying kites was not exactly children’s entertainment. Adults were fond of it too, especially on New Year’s Eve. Kites were noisy for greater effect. Their design allowed for a variety of sounds: from a subtle squeak to a terrible rattle. There was, for example, a rectangular kite that was characteristic of Edo. Its length was twice its width. On top of it was attached a special plank made of Indian reed or whalebone, so that the kite fluttered in flight and made a “unari” (low rumbling) sound.
The “whirr” is a kind of “sound device” characteristic of Edo square kites. When the kite is flown with a bow-shaped rattan, which is torn into pieces about twice as long as the width of the kite, placed on top of the kite, it shakes with a “buzzing” sound when it catches the wind. In some regions, whale whiskers were used instead of rattan.
A day is about to pass while listening to the “roaring” of the kite. Even at the time of evening meal, the “buzzing” sound is still heard somewhere, as if it is still lingering.
うぐいすやはたきの音もついやめる A bush warbler sings, I look up from my cleaning
https://preview.redd.it/u97nk3ttzzgc1.png?width=400&format=png&auto=webp&s=f2c9802e098c11b1ec511818f584507ec04fbbde
The first songs of a bush warbler are heard in Japan during plum blossom season, so this is another sign of spring. The warbler on a plum tree is a constant image that has been used in both poems and paintings from ancient times to the present day:
Toshizo’s haiku are very "graceful,” an impression that can also be said about his life. In addition, many of his works are humorous in a way that one would not expect from his image as a “Demon Vice-Commander,” so they are enjoyable to read.
As he was dusting, a bush warbler’s song came out of nowhere, and he stopped to listen to it.
武蔵野やつよふ出て来る花見酒 Go to the fields of Musashi, and get drunk admiring cherry blossoms
He got drunk on hanami (cherry blossom viewing) sake.
He may have drunk more than he was allowed to drink at Hanami with his friends, and by the time they were ready to go home, they were “on their last legs”. I imagine him being carried on his back by someone like “Gen-san”.
Perhaps Toshizo was not a strong drinker by nature. In his collection of haiku poems, only two poems, this one and the aforementioned "I am on the hill,” are clearly composed with sake as the theme.
A few years after enjoying the cherry blossom viewing, the members of the Shieikan became well known in the history of the Bakumatsu, but they were just ordinary young people who were a little bit out of place on a calm spring day, not so different from today’s youth.
“Musashino" also means “big cup. Musashino was a field as far as the eye could see, so the word "Musashino” means “field of vision,” in other words, “drink up”. The Edo period was a treasure house for these kinds of old man’s gags. I wonder if Toshizo drank a large cup of sake in one gulp…
There’s also “tsuyoku deru” which means to be strong and resolute, and “sake-ni tsuyo” which means to be able to drink a lot without getting drunk. So perhaps what is meant is “to go and get drunk with determination”.

梅の花咲る日だけにさいて散 Plum blossoms bloom and scatter on the same day
The last haiku in this collection. Sad, like the ones about moths or melting snow…
it’s no coincidence that it’s written at the very end. It encapsulates the “path of the samurai” that Hijikata-san embarked on with a pure heart, as he wrote in the first haiku. Leaving for Kyoto and leaving this collection at home, he was already ready to “blossom and scatter”, putting all his energy into that blossom.
This phrase is written at the end of the collection of haiku. Condensing his way of life as a samurai into these 17 characters, Toshizo left for Kyoto, the place of his destiny.
He wanted to bloom to the fullest even if it was short, and to be graceful even in death… This phrase seems to crystallize the way of life of Toshizo, who fought until the very end of the Boshin War and then scattered.
Toshizo must have continued to write haiku after compiling this collection of haiku. Some of them must have been lost or destroyed during war.
In Kyoto, Aizu, Hakodate…
There is no way to know what kind of scenes and what kind of words he wrote about.
However, we can say that there is a lot of room for imagination for those of us who are as much "romantics” as Toshizo, and we can wonder what else he would have written.

Thankyou Hijikata-san for writing such wonderful poems!
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2024.02.04 10:06 t-shinji [Translation] Interview with Band-Maid on Natalie: A new EP that will “unleash” them and kick off the second chapter of their world domination (2022-09-22)

Image, Article
Below is my translation of an interview with Band-Maid on Natalie on September 22, 2022.
Previous discussion:

Moving forward non-stop toward the 10th anniversary of their debut, with a new EP that will “unleash” them and kick off the second chapter of their world domination
Band-Maid released their new EP Unleash on September 21.
Under the title of “Unleash”, it contains eight songs including From now on, an instrumental with an aggressive band sound, Sense, the opening theme of the anime Platinum End with magnificent string elements, and I’ll, which features alternate twin vocals of Miku Kobato (vocals/guitar) and Saiki (vocals).
We at Music Natalie interviewed them about the EP, which they produced with the theme of the beginning of the second chapter of their world domination, as well as about their feelings on their first in-person serving (concert) in two years and a half and about their 10th anniversary next year.
  • Interviewer: Tomokazu Nishibiro
  • Photographer: Daishi Saito
— You Band-Maid couldn’t start in-person servings (concerts) easily even after the release of your fourth album Unseen World in January 2021. Especially in your case, I have an image that your servings cannot exist without communication with your masters and princesses (fans). When you were deprived of those opportunities, how did you maintain your motivation?
Saiki (vocals): We’ve had emotional ups and downs in the last two years, but we were more worried about our masters and princesses at first.
Miku Kobato (vocals/guitar): More than about ourselves, we were afraid we might have made them anxious because we cancelled several servings including the Nippon Budokan show.
Saiki: We strongly felt like “Sorry, we want to do it but we can’t!”, so when we released the digital single About Us, our feeling was like “Let’s be strong, let’s make them beam with joy”.
Saiki (vocals)
Kobato: We cheered them up like “Let’s do our best together, po!”, right?
Saiki: Yeah. But since around the second half of last year, our feeling like “We can’t take this anymore!” has shown in our songs, I think (laughs).
Kobato: We kind of took out our stress on songs, or rather, our urge like that showed in them, po. However, it was an advantage of the COVID pandemic that we were able to take enough time for song production, po. Before that, we kept on touring in hectic days, and we were sometimes pressed for deadlines like “We need to record it by that date, po!” But the pandemic partly allowed us to concentrate on song production, po. Since we couldn’t go on a tour, we exchanged data with each other, and had more time to communicate with each other before recording, po. We each bought new equipment and went on increasing what we can do, so we were able to write a wider range of songs and improve our skills, which I think was very meaningful, po.
Miku Kobato (vocals/guitar)
Saiki: Without the pandemic, we couldn’t have stepped that far. Before, we used to leave a lot to Kanami in song production, but now I suppose we’ve reduced her workload.
— So, before, things moved along too fast before you had time to single-mindedly work on your songs or think about them.
Kobato: That’s right, po. It felt like far from pausing, we kept running on and on, po (laughs).
Saiki: So, we were able to put our real-time emotions into the songs we wrote during the pandemic, including this EP.
— The first time I listened to Unseen World, it felt more aggressive than ever to me, in a good sense…
All: (laughs)
Kobato: Sure, you are right, po (laughs).
— The pandemic was frustrating for listeners like me as well, but that album made me feel so refreshed. This EP is even more aggressive, isn’t it?
Saiki: We wanted to make it more aggressive ourselves.
— Were you influenced by the atmosphere of stagnation in the last few years?
Kobato: Yes. Before making the EP, we first thought of its theme, like the second chapter of Band-Maid’s world domination. And in Saiki’s words…
Saiki: I couldn’t get rid of the feeling as if I’m submerged in the sea for a long time and trying to reach for the surface like “I can’t get out! I wanna get out!” I wanted to convey it, and then Unleash!!!!! came out.
Kobato: She said she wanted to pack the EP with her feeling of being liberated and finally able to breathe, so we thought it would be nice to strongly express the feelings of liberation and explosion as the second chapter of our world domination, po. The word “unleash” fit perfectly for liberation, and we decided to go with it.
Akane (drums): You always come up with a unique expression…
Saiki: You always get what we think, right? (laughs)
Kobato: Because we’ve been together for 10 years, po, right? I think I couldn’t get it in the past as much as now, po (laughs).
— I suppose you understand each other, a little like you each react to how others play in the band ensemble.
Kobato: Now I can predict what my bandmates will think, po.
Misa (bass): Now it doesn’t take me a long time to grasp what kind of bass line Kanami wants when I receive a song from her, I think.
Misa (bass)
Akane: In fact, as for the drum arrangement for songs I receive from Kanami, she used to modify my arrangements again very often in the past, but that’s not the case at all now. I think now I can present what she wants or asks me to make.
Saiki: Kanami’s demos themselves are so complete these days that we can easily share the image of a song, right?
Akane: Because Kanami has made an amazing growth as a composer.
Kanami (guitar): Thanks (laughs).
Saiki: Maybe that has helped us form a clear image like “Let’s do this for a Band-Maid song”.
Kobato: In fact, we had the song Thrill as one of our guidelines in our early days, but that was when we were still exploring various possibilities.
Saiki: Like, we wondered how hard our music should be. The hard rock genre has a really wide range, you know. Especially because we didn’t write all our songs back then. In that sense, I think Unleash is an EP full of our character.
— Your strong will like “We take a big step forward now!” comes across when I listen to this EP. I think it’s harder and heavier than Unseen World.
Saiki: We were like “We don’t need gentleness here” (laughs).
Kobato: It’s not right to be gentle while saying “unleash”, po (laughs). However, I do think it’s so aggressive, po.
Saiki: It’s an intense EP but I believe you can listen to it on repeat.
— Having eight songs almost makes it a full-length album. The size is just right, isn’t it?
Kobato: Like, we can run at full speed just barely for 8 songs. It starts with the instrumental song From now on, so it has some newness too, po.
Saiki: Band-Maid instrumentals have been strongly supported recently, so we were confident enough to make it the first track.
— It’s certainly something new to start with an instrumental while having these two unique singers.
Saiki: Yes, it is (laughs). But actually it was something I always wanted to do.
Akane: In fact, since about 5 years ago.
Saiki: But there wasn’t right timing, and our ability wasn’t ready yet. This time we wrote a perfect song, From now on, and I was like “This has to be definitely the first track”.
— I thought the song was more ear-catching than ever, including the phrases and sounds of each instrument. I suppose it sounds different from your previous instrumentals because you each have fully established own characters.
Akane: That’s right. The guitars, the bass, and the drums are all challenging at a higher level than before.
Akane (drums)
Saiki: You guys play difficult things in it.
Akane: As for the drums, one of the changes is that I don’t just keep the beat. The drums stand out compared to our other instrumentals, so you can enjoy listening to the moves all the way through.
Kobato: One of the reasons why it feels different than before is that it works even with the melody on top of it. So, I think it’s a song where the guitar sings instead of vocalists, po.
— I see. Kanami-san, what kind of image did you have in mind to work on it?
Kanami: Actually, they asked me for a long time to write an instrumental with orchestral tracks. When I wrote Sense, the production side of the TV anime Platinum End asked me to include an orchestral sound, so I studied it very well then. Having that experience, I thought I would be able to write an instrumental with an orchestral sound this time.
Kanami (guitar)
— So, what you tried in Sense is well reflected in From now on.
Kanami: Yes. I feel myself that I have gained a lot of experience points through Sense. However, I’ll forget it if I have studied it just once (laughs), so I think I need to write another song like that at some point in the future.
Saiki: I’m looking forward to it (laughs).
Kanami: Tee hee hee. I’ll work hard on it.
— Then we go on to Track 2 Balance. Its beat is strong like crazy, isn’t it? (laughs)
Akane: It has a very peculiar rhythm divided into three sections of triplets, 16th notes, and 8th notes (laughs).
Saiki: We all struggled with it because of its peculiarities. It’s a song Kanami wrote for my request of shuffle rhythm.
Saiki (vocals)
Kanami: I wrote it not just as a shuffle song but with an intention to make it a little near-futuristic.
— The lyrics are also as powerful as the beat.
Kobato: I wrote them with strong words to keep up with the strong sound, and mainly in English to make them as rhythmical as possible, po.
— They have rhythmically repeated phrases here and there like “More More More”, “Dandan”, and “Run lala run lala”, which I think lead to catchiness.
Kobato: I consciously make them short and clear, po.
Saiki: Also, I asked her to write the beginning of the chorus in Japanese.
Kobato: That’s right, po. Saiki told me so, so I thought it would be better to have the vowel “a” in Japanese at the beginning of the chorus to make it easier to sing, and I chose “daitan”, “daitai”, and so on to have more “a”, po.
— There are a lot of English phrases throughout the EP. How much were you conscious of that?
Kobato: I just thought it would be cooler to sing in English in terms of rhythm, po.
Saiki: But there was another song you wrote lyrics to at the same time and I asked you like “There are too many Japanese words, so increase the English part”, right?
Kobato: Yeah. The other songs had less English, so I tried to find a balance in Balance, po (laughs).
Saiki: You played on words well (laughs).
— (laughs) The two songs From now on and Balance start a good flow from the beginning.
Kobato: You’re right, po. However, I think the start will scare you (laughs).
Saiki: The song really shows the image of a strong woman (laughs).
— You can tell it’s upgraded from Unseen World just by listening to the two songs.
Kobato: I think you can clearly see we have reached a new place a little different from Unseen World, po.
Miku Kobato (vocals/guitar)
— Track 3 is the lead song you made a music video for, Unleash!!!!!.
Saiki: We turned into 2D in the MV (laughs).
Kobato: We wanted to do that for a long time, but it wasn’t easy.
Saiki: We had already done it in our merch and the like, but what we really wanted to do was to move in 2D (laughs). So I was really happy we finally made it happen, but at the same time, I was surprised to find that the song Unleash!!!!! fit so perfectly with the animation.
— It properly features your performance scene too.
Kobato: We were amazingly reproduced in it, so we were excited ourselves, po, right?
Saiki: They really paid attention to details, such as each of our unique characteristics, when they created it. The song Unleash!!!!! itself was the last song we wrote for the EP, so I have the impression that everything fit together like puzzle pieces.
Kobato: We were like “We want one main song that would be the title of the EP” and came up with Unleash!!!!!, so we must properly thank Kanami, who wrote it.
Saiki: (To Kanami) Thank you so much!
Kanami: Wh… what? (laughs)
— Kanami-san, what kind of image did you have in mind when you wrote it?
Kanami: They always told me they wanted a song in the lineage of DOMINATION, one of our past songs, and Choose me, which is popular overseas, under the theme of “the sencond chapter of world domination”…
Saiki: In the sense that we wanted a new signature song for Band-Maid, you know.
Kanami: Yeah. So, in my view, I tried to write a song in that lineage.
Kanami (guitar)
Kobato: Moreover, we came up with the idea of making an animated MV for the next EP’s lead song, and that’s how all the puzzle pieces came together, po.
— I thought its imagery was great for those who don’t know about Band-Maid yet, as well as for your masters and princesses overseas, to understand your band well.
Kobato: That’s right, po. Our unique features and characters are drawn in great detail, so our vibe or atmosphere will come across to those who haven’t seen us yet, those who haven’t seen our servings yet.
Akane: I think this MV fits well as our self-introduction, or as the beginning of our second chapter.
— I got the impression that Sense also fit in this flow of the EP.
Kobato: I’m glad to hear that because it’s a solid song that gives us a sense of security, po.
— It has a classical taste in its intensity, which makes it feel a little more gentle.
Saiki: It’s a mature song for us, with strength but also a hint of gentleness.
— Then the intensity goes up again with I’ll.
Kobato: It goes back to the dark side again, though (laughs).
Saiki: Because it’s the darkest song on this EP.
— The hard and heavy ensemble of the rhythm section feels so nice in this song.
Saiki: Yes, the low-pitch sound of this song feels nice.
Akane: The others are mostly up-tempo songs with a 16th-note feel, so in I’ll, I focused on long notes as much as possible and made the sustain longer, and tried to keep supporting the song in the low range.
Akane (drums)
Misa: My bass goes along with the bass drum too, and it doesn’t move a lot phrase-wise, but I was just conscious of making it sound heavy.
— It’s a simple song but the drums and the bass have a strong presence in it.
Misa: We recorded it with a V-shaped EQ, and I think that’s also a big factor.
Misa (bass)
— What point were you conscious of when you wrote the guitars over the rhythm section?
Kanami: I told the two of the rhythm section that I wanted to make it heavier from the demo stage. However, it would feel suffocating to hear if everything is too heavy, so I added tension chords and a little beautiful chords for gorgeousness to keep the balance.
Saiki: So, it’s not just with the crushing feel, and we kept gorgeousness in the melody section. We also put twin vocal exchanges in the vocals, so I feel like “Thank you for waiting, here you are!” to our masters and princesses who have been supporting Band-Maid for many years.
Kanami: After I sent them the first demo of this song, Kobato and Saiki asked me to add a little more twin-vocal feel to it, so I added various things and finished it like this.
— It might be because of the way you two sing, but you are sounding more and more alike, aren’t you?
Saiki: Kobato is so good at imitating me now (laughs).
Kobato: I’m always told so, po (laughs).
Saiki: I always tell her to imitate me in the vocal harmony work, but her voice carries extremely well. So I’m often like “Come a little closer to me, OK?” (laughs)
Kobato: Then, people began to say we sound very much alike, po.
Saiki: I thought we were especially alike in this EP.
Kobato: We are sometimes like “Saiki, isn’t this your voice?” and “No, it’s you, Kobato, right?” when we hear ourselves. Our vocal director also sometimes says “You can’t tell if it’s Kobato or Saiki, right?” so I think some of our masters and princesses might not get it either, po (laughs).
Saiki: It’s of course good for us to have different voices and different characters, but I noticed how good it feels to overlay similar voices when we sang heavy songs on Unseen World. We incorporated that in singing, so I think the song itself has been nicely put together.
— So, your experience with the previous album is well reflected there as well. After I’ll comes the previously released song Corallium. Saiki-san, I’ve heard you tried writing lyrics to it all by yourself for the first time.
Saiki: That’s right. There were lyrics cowritten by the two of us, but it wasn’t like we wrote them shoulder to shoulder.
Kobato: For example, like I receive three lines of text for one line from her and I manage to make it into one line.
Saiki: I used to have her cram my words into lyrics before, but I grew to want to write them on my own. It was when I was beginning to understand how I wanted to sing and what kind of lyrics felt good to me. I had some time to spare because of the COVID pandemic, Kobato was a little busy then, and we had just one song without lyrics, so I was like “OK, I’ll try writing” and wrote them on my own.
— With the experience with Corallium, you wrote lyrics on your own again to the new song HATE? on the EP.
Kobato: After Corallium, the two of us decided to each write lyrics to a demo we receive and pick the better one, po. So, this time, we each wrote lyrics to several songs including I’ll, and the lyrics that better match each song were used, po.
Saiki: HATE? felt aggressive like “THE Band-Maid song” already from the demo stage, and I just had something that pissed me off right then (laughs), so I expressed my irritation in the lyrics. Also, I simply wanted to include the phrase “I hate you”.
Kanami: It’s a phrase that makes you want to sing (laughs).
Kobato: It’s hard to find any other song where you can shout “I hate you” this many times, po.
Band-Maid
— The repetition at the end of the song feels very nice.
Saiki: The “I hate you” at the very end had some reverb, but we chopped it off at the mixing, to have a stronger “I hate you” feel (laughs).
— Track 7 Influencer has a well-crafted rhythm. I think it’s the most playful song on the EP.
Akane: I didn’t want to have clattering drums in this song, so I decided to keep it simple but intense with the basic three (a bass drum, a snare, and a hi-hat). In addition, I wanted to add dynamics, so I intentionally used a tom beat to make the A-melody [first half of the verse] simple and tight, and used a cymbal beat for the chorus. For the bass solo, I made the bass stand out by using the basic three, based on my experiences at servings. That made the song easier to listen to sound-wise, probably.
— It also feels like a very danceable song.
Akane: In that sense, the song made me realize the importance of the basic three again.
— Even though the EP has a strong sense of unity as a whole, it has a wide variety of songs that are unique and different from each other.
Saiki: I think it’s probably because we have been working on songs for two years and we have more time to spend on each song than before. We wanted to do a lot of different things in our songs, and we were able to put different uniqueness into each song. I guess that’s why each song has a distinct character.
Kobato: We made those songs at different periods, and in the process of refining each song, we did things like the mixing of the ending of HATE? we talked about earlier, by listening to them again, po. Before, we hadn’t had much time to do those things, po. I guess that’s why we were able to add different colors to each song while keeping the unity of the EP, po.
— I think the contents of the EP show each of your progresses well, not only as singers and players but also as songwriters and arrangers.
Kobato: Thanks to Kanami-sensei. She studies so hard, po.
Saiki: You’ve been trying not to listen to rock so much recently, right?
Kanami: Yeah. I used to analyze various songs while listening to them and take notes on what I have noticed, but I found that my songs started to get closer to the songs I had analyzed, so in the last few years, I’ve been just listening to songs almost without paying attention. I avoid getting input on composition from them, but I’d like to study melody sections, so I do listen to some rock songs such as Grammy-nominated songs. I work hard to establish the Band-Maid genre.
— Kobato-san, you have started the solo project Cluppo. Have you learned anything for the band on your extracurricular activity?
Kobato: Yes, I think so, po. For example, I tried some new ways of singing that I can’t do for Band-Maid, and wrote lyrics that I can’t write for Band-Maid for differentiation, and I was able to see Band-Maid objectively through that. I think that’s one reason why I’ve become good at imitating Saiki, po (laughs). Exactly because I tried different ways of singing for Cluppo, I got to know like “Oh, this way of singing sounds like Band-Maid, po!” so it meant a lot to me, po.
Band-Maid
— Considering that, even though you haven’t been able to do in-person servings in the last two years and a half, you also had a great harvest other than in song production.
Kobato: Yes, po. When we did our first online okyu-ji, we got much greater reaction than we had thought, and we realized we could reach people all over the world even if it wasn’t an ordinary serving. There were countries we’ve literally never been to, and the most viewed one was watched from 66 countries, so in that sense, I don’t think it was only negative. Rather, it was a positive experience for us to discover a new way of presenting ourselves, po.
Saiki: We had a lot of good experiences in the two years and a half, thankfully. Also, I realized how many masters and princesses we have through online okyu-ji. I had heard that there were many people overseas supporting us, but that was still vague and I didn’t fully feel it. But we were able to see their reactions through comments, so I was happy like “This many people really exist!” So I felt more strongly like “We can’t stop, we will just move forward and meet their expectations”.
Kobato: Without the COVID pandemic, we wouldn’t have done any online okyu-ji, po, because we were proud like “We are a live band! Servings are everything to us!” It was hard for us not to be able to do in-person servings, but I think that was still a positive experience eventually, po.
Band-Maid
— By the time this interview is released, a month will have passed since your first in-person serving in about two years and a half. After rehabilitation there, you will start a US tour with 13 shows in October that is expected to draw in about 20,000 people in total.
Kobato: This year will go by at the speed we won’t be able to pause on, after we just turn the switch on, po.
— The US tour will kick off at Aftershock Festival in California. You Band-Maid are going to perform on October 9, in a strong lineup including Muse and Bring Me The Horizon.
Saiki: It’s awesome, isn’t it? At first I was skeptical if it was true (laughs).
Kobato: I was like “Aren’t they actually cover bands, po?” (laughs)
Saiki: I’ll be skeptical until we actually arrive there.
— And your other shows will be at big venues as well.
Kobato: Moreover, we didn’t expect to have this many sold-out shows, so I’m literally a little skeptical. You know, you can’t imagine 20,000 people easily, po.
Saiki: The venues are all different from our tour three years ago, and all of them are more than doubled in capacity. It will be our biggest US tour, so we are fully fired up.
Akane: I’ve never been overseas for such a long time, so I’m worried about my physical strength (laughs).
Kobato: We will take the first challenge in three years, po!
Saiki: We will unleash ourselves there with Unleash.
— I hope your tour experience will cheer you up and you will celebrate your 10th anniversary in good shape in 2023.
Kobato: Exactly, po! Our 10th anniversary next year will be important, po.
Saiki: We will kick off the 10th anniversary year at Tokyo Garden Theater on January 9, and I hope we will just move forward from there.
— It might be too early to ask this, but what kind of year do you want to make in 2023?
Saiki: We don’t want to pause ever again, right?
Kobato: We don’t need time to stand still anymore, po. It was a little too long, po, right?
Akane: Yeah.
Saiki: We’ll keep moving forward, so I hope everyone to expect a lot more from us.
Kobato: I hope next year will have more “first time” things for us, po.
Akane: There are still a lot of places in Japan we haven’t been to yet, so I hope we will tour in Japan intensively again.
Saiki: I hope we will go around a lot of places in Japan and overseas in 2023.
Band-Maid
Band-Maid US Tour 2022:
  • Sun, October 9: Sacrament, California, US (Aftershock Festival)
  • Wed, October 12: Neptune, Seattle, Washington, US
  • Fri, October 14: August Hall, San Francisco, California, US
  • Sat, October 15: Belasco, Los Angeles, California, US
  • Mon, October 17: House Of Blues, San Diego, California, US
  • Wed, October 19: Crescent Ballroom, Phoenix, Arizona, US
  • Fri, October 21: Echo Music Hall, Dallas, Texas, US [note: upgraded to House of Blues]
  • Sat, October 22: House of Blues, Houston, Texas, US
  • Tue, October 25: The Fillmore, Washington D.C., US
  • Wed, October 26: TLA, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US
  • Fri, October 28: Irving Plaza, New York City, New York, US
  • Sat, October 29: Brighton Music Hall, Boston, Massachusetts, US [note: upgraded to Paradise Rock Club]
  • Sun, October 30: American Dream, East Rutherford, New Jersey, US (additional show)
  • Tue, November 1: House of Blues, Chicago, Illinois, US (additional show)
Band-Maid Tokyo Garden Theater Okyuji:
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2024.02.02 02:14 bobombking had less variety last month somehow, so heres my monthly 6x6

had less variety last month somehow, so heres my monthly 6x6 submitted by bobombking to lastfm [link] [comments]


2024.02.01 07:26 jusxchilln City Pop Mixtape now on streamable on Mixcloud

It’s been over a month since we debuted our new mixtape, but many of you have not heard it yet. But fear not!
For your enjoyment we have uploaded the Love Talkin’ Sound Mixtape Vol. 2 to our Mixcloud! Pulled from their personal vinyl collections, enjoy over 60 minutes of Japanese tunes blended by Love Talkin’ Sound’s own DJ Mista B, Nerstylist, and AL Striker. Stream it from your car, at home, or anywhere good vibes reside!
Mixcloud Link: http://tinyurl.com/f2zed3sj
If you are looking to collect the mixtape in physical form, we have a small supply in stock. Email us at lovetalkinsound@gmail.com to acquire.
More in store for ’24!
@lovetalkinsound
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