#FNC 2021

[daily-esports-hug]

Day 156

[chcrryade]

CHERRYADE: TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE? It all sounds a little too perfect. Or maybe that’s just me. Song Kyumin. Jul 1, 2021.

JAGUAR have emerged from their year-and-two-months period of almost complete radio silence with news that has shocked many—or perhaps a little less than many, because you can’t really expect to rise from the dead and still have millions of fans at your beck and call, ready to lap up any scraps you throw them. A new boy group is on the way, and their name is CHERRYADE. Something too sweet to drink all in one go, but too carbonated to sit on the tongue comfortably after just one sip. It seems rather on-brand for a company that has so far fed us one group that hated their failed-actor-turned-idol newbie’s guts, one soloist who kicked the chair after one (1) album that tanked, and a duo who I’m still not sure were hate-fucking or making attempts on the other’s life every time the camera turned.

This time, though, they’re not unveiling their (sure-to-be devastatingly attractive) members one-by-one from wherever they’ve been hiding them, as per the last three attempts. Neither are they shoving their not-yet-debuted faces in our faces with too many social media accounts or mind-numbingly boring introduction videos. Instead, JAGUAR have made the decision to protect the idol-environment and reuse our past favourites, taking them from one unknown group to another. Aren’t we lucky.

This isn’t a new (or even particularly exciting) concept. You may recognise the formula from STRMRUNNER Media, who chose trainees from only the top companies to shove together in a now-superstar group named SO(U)L. JAGUAR CEO Ae Seungdae must have witnessed the success the seven have seen and decided he wanted a piece of the pie. They even share the same amount of members. But I doubt they’ll be greeting each other at any music shows or posting cutesy selcas on Twitter, because some of the boys selected for this ‘supergroup’ of sorts aren’t known to be the nicest.

First, JAGUAR reached out to FNC and asked if they would miss SLOW MOTION’s once-leader Kil Doyeon terribly. The answer must’ve been no, as he’s rumoured to be the appointed leader of CHERRYADE also. Next on the list was METRONOME Media’s Duan Jieyang (who was more commonly known as DJ, although it’s been said he’s long abandoned that alias) and Jeon Haeil from their group ALGORHYTHM, disbanded in 2019, who had been in hot water previously for alleged fights breaking out between leader Daehoon and youngest Levi—who, funnily enough, left the group and ended up in SLOW MOTION not long after.

The higher-ups didn’t have to look too hard for the next couple of members, as they were right there in their pockets anyway. Qiao Yijun and Ahn Jaehee (our aforementioned failed actor) from BONSOIR were next on the roster, and the general consensus on that was that it was certainly an.. interesting choice to make. They were the two that seemed to despise each other the most, after all. 

Next is one that may surprise some. Hwan Minhui (or GOGO, as many know and love him as) was recruited from SM’s much adored sub-unit NCT DREAM. Reactions were mixed, but the largest question of all was why. Alas, it doesn’t seem like JAGUAR is going to be holding a press conference anytime soon to answer that burning inquiry. Or releasing any sort of statement, either. There’s far too much on their plates for that—what with trying to get all these complete strangers to act civil with each other, and all.

The last member of CHERRYADE is the only new face that we’re receiving. Not much is known about him except his name, Lee Hasun, and that he’s the youngest of the lot. Let’s hope he doesn’t receive the same treatment as Jaehee did, because otherwise this ‘supergroup’ might last even less time than all of JAGUAR’s other ventures combined. And we wouldn’t want that, of course. Or would we? (Don’t answer that).

Whatever the public may think of them, the one thing that is certain is that JAGUAR won’t care. Their age old motto of ‘any press is good press’ has lasted them too long for them to be doing anything like reassessing their values or realigning their morals. Hell, some have even been saying that accused (or rather, known—it’s something of an open secret at this point) nepo baby BONSOIR manager Hong Jaeyoung has found his new place as CHERRYADE’s handler, so from that alone it doesn’t sound like they’re going to be off to a spectacularly great start public-opinion wise.

The group are making their debut on August 1st, 2021—a mere month from now. What they’re releasing is still a mystery (a single? An EP? A mini-album? I’m as clueless as you are), but what we do know is that it’s going to be called DOUBLE DIP. I can vaguely glean the concept they’re going for from the name alone. Teeth-rotting, sugary goodness. The type of stuff that makes your mouth feel heady and vision swim. Or your ears bleed, depending on your opinion on the type of music that JAGUAR has put out thus far. Their styling seems to be heading in the same direction, as the explosion of colour that makes up their seconds-long teaser video is reminiscent of a handful of candy scooped up into the hands of an eager child.

CHERRYADE marks JAGUAR’s fourth attempt at an idol presence. Most of the hard work has been done for them, what with them lifting most of the members from other groups, but that in no way means they won’t meet the same failed fate as all of their predecessors. I feel that most deciding to follow the group will be doing so more out of morbid curiosity rather than genuine excitement for the content they’ll produce, and music they’ll put out. Right now they seem more like a ticking time bomb set to explode in an array of violently bright colours and burnt sugar than a group of boys that’ll be loved by the masses.

But maybe I’m wrong. Maybe CHERRYADE will be the success JAGUAR has so sorely been wanting, and for more reasons than how many times they’ve been caught smoking, or leaving shady love hotels in the earliest hours of the morning. Maybe the seven will actually grow to like each other, and they’ll replace the previous reputation they held—of catty and spiteful boys who were there for the money and to make the lives of people they didn’t like as unpleasant as possible—with one that paints them as genuine, likeable people. We’ll just have to wait and see.

DOUBLE DIP. Whatever it turns out to be, it’s dropping August 1st, at 2PM KST. Do make sure to tune in, if you want to see what all the fuss is about.

Or don’t. I suppose I wouldn’t blame you.

S(O)UL⠀⸻⠀@syoul

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Mary L. Trump at The Good in Us:

Politics 101: It is not a good thing when you are running for president and rumors persist that your running mate had sex with his couch. But for the Republican Party in 2024, that’s pretty much the least disturbing thing we’ve learned about J.D. Vance. We’ve been on this road for a long time. From the day failures in the 70s to get the Equal Rights Amendment passed to Donald’s getting elected despite bragging about assaulting women to his  corrupt illegitimate super-majority on the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, the GOP’s war on women and embrace of misogyny is hardly new. But the elevation of Vice President Kamala Harris to the top of the ticket has revealed a very simple and unsettling truth — Republican men are really bizarre when it comes to women.

We’re already seeing the vile innuendo and blatantly sexist attacks on Harris coming from the usual suspects at Fox. But American women are seeing with a new clarity what the Republican Party really thinks of them. And that’s because, like Donald, the Republican Party no longer thinks it has to pretend. Plus, of course, we’ve learned a lot since 2016. [...] On Thursday, actor Jennifer Aniston called out Vance for his disturbing 2021 interview with Tucker Carlson in which he attacked “a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they’ve made. So, they want to make the rest of the country miserable too. And it’s just a basic fact. If you look at Kamala Harris, Pete Buttigieg, [Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez], the entire future of the Democrats is controlled by people without children. And how does it make any sense that we’ve turned our country over to people who don’t really have a direct stake in it?”

[...] Unfortunately, Vance isn’t the only Republican who expresses contempt for women who choose not to not have kids. In fact, it seems to be the attitude of the whole Party. Blake Masters, the 2022 Republican Arizona U.S. Senate nominee, wrote on Twitter Wednesday night that “political leaders should have children. Certainly they should at least be married. If you aren’t running or can’t run a household of your own, how can you relate to a constituency of families, or govern wisely with respect to future generations? Skin in the game matters.” First of all, Blake Masters was one of the worst Senate candidates in 2022—a gun fetishist and anti-abortion extremist who, thankfully, Arizona voters chose not to elect despite the massive amounts of money Peter Thiel poured into his campaign and his having, no matter how ill-advisedly, procreated.

J.D. Vance’s deranged misogyny-tinged “childless cat ladies” comments that he made on the July 29th, 2021 edition of the now-defunct FNC show Tucker Carlson Tonight are proof he is out-of-touch with society. Vance’s comments attacking childless women are part of his sexist and natalist worldview.

Americans should rise up and vote for Harris to keep this loser away from the White House!

From the 07.29.2021 edition of FNC's Tucker Carlson Tonight:

See Also:

MMFA: JD Vance’s “childless cat ladies” comment points to the GOP’s right-wing media problem

Mediaite: JD Vance Defends ‘Childless’ American Comments and Rages Against ‘Anti-Family’ Democrats in Megyn Kelly Interview

[naivrse]

published 240917

back in january , seventh heaven held a press conference discussing plans for the year , during which they confirmed the debut of their new boy group. coming in the final quarter of 2024 , leaving fans to wonder and speculate about the final lineup of the group since.

the company first started recruiting trainees for the group back in 2021 , holding global auditions. however , the lineup has changed several times , with some trainees thought to be in the group debuting elsewhere and others outright being cut from the label , causing confusion for everyone following the process , especially with popular boys planet contestant zachary shin departing last month.

luckily for you , we've managed to deduce the most likely members , from sightings outside of the seventh heaven headquarters in yeouido to social media appearances , and gathered everything you need to know below!

from left to right : lee eunsang , park jihoon , hwang minho , koo jungyu , and cole noh.

lee eunsang was born in '99 in yeosu. he used to be a trainee at kq entertainment , training alongside the members of ateez , and left in 2020. he got into seventh heaven via audition shortly after.

while still at kq , eunsang displayed singing and dancing as his strongest skills. it's safe to assume he'll have a vocal position. since he's the oldest , it's likely that he'll end up also being the leader.

park jihoon was born in '00 in busan. he was initially signed to fnc entertainment and was sent to compete on produce x 101 by them , debuting in x1 after ranking 3rd in 2019. following that group's messy disbandment , he embarked on an unremarkable solo career starting in 2021. after two years , it was announced that he left fnc and had signed with seventh heaven.

in x1 jihoon was a lead rapper and dancer , and as a soloist , was able to display the full range of his singing abilities. he could really play any role in the group , as he's pretty much an all–rounder.

hwang minho was born in '02 and is from bucheon. he also goes by the name christian hwang. he's been modeling since he was sixteen , first making headlines in 2018 for his striking visuals while walking for ader error when he was still freelancing. seventh heaven signed him not long after , beating the many other companies that had clamored to do so.

in addition to being gorgeous , minho is a talented singer and guitarist. a demo named countdown that was recorded by him and ttyl's divya back in 2022 was leaked , along with several other unreleased songs by seventh heaven artists , last year and went viral for just how rich and strong his vocals were. he'd most likely be the main vocalist.

koo jungyu was born in '02 and is from songdo. he played ice hockey for eleven years before quitting to pursue his dreams of becoming an idol when he was eighteen. before then , he'd done some modeling and cfs in addition to competing. he signed to seventh heaven via audition in 2020.

surprisingly , jungyu is quite the dancer. in a post–game presser from 2018 , he explained that he was placed in dance classes by his parents growing up so he could sufficiently work out during the hockey off–season , and developed a passion for it. last year , he hosted the seventh heaven family winter concert alongside minho , making the two a fan–favorite pairing that people can't wait to see debut together.

and lastly , cole noh , who was born in '03. he's from california and most notably is the younger brother of honeylemon's kenzie. he'd sort of made an influencing career out of being related to her , having over 500k followers and millions of views from a series of tiktok videos he made hanging out with her and other idols in seoul in 2023.

without announcement , cole deactivated all of his social media pages and moved to seoul this june. he was studying at ucla beforehand , majoring in music , but obviously won't be returning for the fall semester this year. while we're not exactly sure what it is that he does talent–wise , we're still excited to find out!

most recently , the bunch were spotted by an eagle–eyed fan at lauryn's fanmeeting concert , clad in face masks and casual attire.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

May 9, 2024

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

MAY 10, 2024

Last night, 163 Democratic representatives joined 196 Republicans to stop far-right Republicans from removing House speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA). Georgia representative Marjorie Taylor Greene led the effort to remove Johnson, but her motion received only 43 votes: 32 Democrats and 11 Republicans. Twenty-eight representatives either did not vote or voted present. 

Greene promptly excoriated the “uniparty,” saying that “the Democrats now control Speaker Johnson. That was something that everybody’s suspected all along. They just voted to save him.” 

But the majority of the House Republican conference appears to be tired of the chaos in their ranks that has made this Congress one of the least productive in American history. Jordain Carney and Olivia Beavers of Politico reported today that House Republicans who are not aligned with Greene and her cohort want to change House rules to create punishments for the extremists who keep stopping House business by, for example, voting against letting bills come to the floor of the House. 

Greene and Thomas Massie (R-KY), her main ally in trying to oust Johnson, urged their colleagues to bring it on. Massie said that anyone trying to stop them was going to “take an ass-whooping from their base.” 

Since the 1990s, right-wing media hosts have directed the Republican base, telling them what to think and urging them to put pressure on Republican lawmakers to do what the media hosts wanted. Talk radio host Rush Limbaugh was so influential in the 1990s that when Republicans took control of the House of Representatives in 1995 for the first time since 1954, they made him an honorary member of their incoming congressional freshman class. And what Limbaugh did for radio, Fox News Channel hosts like Bill O’Reilly did for television. 

But Limbaugh died in February 2021, and after the Fox News Channel (FNC) had to pay a $787 million settlement to Dominion Voting Systems for the lies the network’s hosts told about the company’s voting machines in the 2020 election, it let go of main host Tucker Carlson. There are indications that FNC founder and former chair Rupert Murdoch hoped to center Republican messaging around young activist Charlie Kirk, but Kirk has slid into MAGA extremism, too. 

The Republican extremists no longer have a centralized messaging center. Instead, as CNN’s Oliver Darcy noted today, Murdoch’s outlets themselves—the Fox News Channel, the Wall Street Journal, and the New York Post—stood behind Johnson. 

Yesterday, FreedomWorks, the right-wing organization that was backed by the Koch family at its start in 2004 and that was behind the Tea Party movement, abruptly shut down. FreedomWorks attacked Democratic measures for business regulation and social welfare because it embraced libertarian principles. Its revenue had dropped by half since 2022, its president, Adam Brandon, told Luke Mullins of Politico. But in the end, what did the organization in was the party’s split over Trump.

That split was crystal clear in Tuesday’s Republican primary election in Indiana. Trump won that election, but with only 78.3% of the vote. Former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley, who suspended her campaign in early March and has not campaigned since, won 21.7%. 

Before the Indiana primary, on May 2 political statistician Tom Bonier debunked the idea that Haley’s support came from Democratic-leaning voters flooding the primary vote to hurt Trump. Crunching the numbers in North Carolina showed that Haley voters there “were not substantially younger than the GOP voters (41% over 65 vs 45% among reg[istered Republicans]). They were overwhelmingly white (94% of Ind[ependent]s vs 97% of [Republicans]), and were actually more likely to be men (51% of Ind[ependent Republican] primary voters vs 50% of [Republicans]).” In short, he wrote, “[e]very indicator suggests these Independents voting in [Republican] primaries are more likely [Republican] voters. They just don't like Trump.” 

Political commentator Chris Cillizza today called attention to the numbers that landed before Tuesday. On March 12, Haley won 13.2% of the vote in Georgia (or 78,000 votes). On March 19 she won 17.8% of the vote in Arizona (111,000 votes), 3.9% of the vote in Florida (155,000 votes), and 14.4% of the vote in Ohio (161,000 votes). On April 2 she won 12.8% of the votes in Wisconsin (77,000 votes). And on April 23, Haley won 16.6% of the votes in Pennsylvania (158,000 votes). 

If Biden picks up even one in five of these votes, Cillizza noted, “it matters bigly.”

Three high-level Republicans this week told media they would not vote for Trump, helping to pave an off-ramp for other Republicans. Former House speaker Paul Ryan told Yahoo Finance that he would write in another Republican rather than vote for Trump. “Character is too important to me,” he said.

Cassidy Hutchinson, former aide to Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, also cited character when she said she would not vote for Trump. “I’ve never voted for a Democrat in my life, but I would absolutely consider voting for Joe Biden this upcoming November because he will not seek to destroy our nation [or] our Constitution, and he has the statesman character that we need in an elected official.”

Georgia’s former lieutenant governor Geoff Duncan went further on Monday night, endorsing Biden, whom he had called in an op-ed a “decent person I disagree with on policy,” over Trump, whom he described as “a criminal defendant without a moral compass.” “Sometimes the best way to learn your lesson is to get beat, and Donald Trump needs to get beat. We need to move on as a party. We need to move on as a country,” he said.

Meanwhile, as Khaya Himmelman noted in Talking Points Memo, MAGA Republicans are already blaming a potential loss in 2024 on illegal voters. On Wednesday, Speaker Johnson and other Trump Republicans held a press conference to promote their new bill to make it illegal for people who are not U.S. citizens to vote in federal elections.

This is a political stunt: It is already illegal for noncitizens to vote in federal elections, and there is no evidence that this is happening. In 2017, Trump created a commission to root out the illegal voting he claimed had affected the 2016 election; less than a year later, he disbanded it when it could find no evidence of his claims. Johnson admitted there was no evidence of voting by undocumented immigrants when he told reporters: "We all know, intuitively, that a lot of illegals are voting in federal elections. But it's not been something that is easily provable. We don't have that number." 

Pulitzer Prize–winning author T.J. Stiles retorted: “People terrified of contact with government because they don’t want their lives destroyed by deportation don’t register to vote illegally and then vote illegally for the reward of having a tiny tiny influence on federal electoral outcomes.”

For his part, Trump appears to have tried a more direct approach to reelection. According to Josh Dawsey and Maxine Joselow of the Washington Post, last month at Mar-a-Lago, Trump told about two dozen top oil executives that if they gave him $1 billion to get reelected, he would immediately reverse the environmental regulations the Biden-Harris administration has put into place and stop any new ones. A $1 billion gift would be a “deal,” according to Trump, because the tax cuts he plans to enact and the regulatory cuts would be worth far more than that. Since then, Ben Lefebvre wrote yesterday in Politico, oil executives have been drawing up executive orders that Trump can sign as soon as he takes office. 

Yesterday, in an interview with CNN’s Erin Burnett, President Biden said the U.S. would continue to supply defensive weapons to support the Iron Dome over Israel, but it would not send offensive weapons to Israel if it went forward with its controversial invasion of the city of Rafah in southern Gaza, where more than a million Palestinians have taken shelter from Israeli strikes. The administration has publicly opposed that invasion since Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced it. “If they go into Rafah, I'm not supplying the weapons that have been used historically to deal with Rafah,” Biden said. “Civilians have been killed in Gaza as a consequence of those bombs and other ways in which they go after population centers.”

Trump and other Republicans promptly accused President Joe Biden of “taking the side of these terrorists, just like he has sided with the Radical Mobs taking over our college campuses.”

“We’re not walking away from Israel’s security,” Biden told Burnett.  “We’re walking away from Israel’s ability to wage war in those areas.

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[mysmorgasbordoffantabulosa]

https://twitter.com/sc0ttishlass/status/1631578210683985923?s=20

Ok... but not the most accurate argument I've seen regarding this...

View on Twitter

Ok starts out well and factual...

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Again, all quite true... Then the legal changes occurred...

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And when these legal changes were made which companies were ordered to end them specifically? Well...

Agencies targeted by the ruling include the country’s top three: JYP Entertainment, SM Entertainment, and YG Entertainment. Smaller firms, LOEN, FNC, Cube, Jellyfish Entertainments and DSP Media were also included. - Source

So no BigHit (now HYBE) mmm, interesting...

Ok let's be clear here, there are two types of contracts... Idol Trainnee Contracts and Idol Contracts. A trainnee contract can be up to 5 years and Idol one up to 7. BTS's first started on 13th June 2013 and ended on 12th June 2020 (7 years). We know this because they stated this during the BangBangCon Live concert.

So, 2018 was not their contract end, it was when BigHit initiated contract renegotiations.

Also, technically 2017 was when they started to take off (DNA and Billboard Awards noms anyone?).

There is no basis in fact, just assumption here...

Again no basis in facts...

Firstly, the fact that BTS didn't have any money was probably because not 2-3 years earlier BH was on for verge of not continuing with the BTS project until I The Most Beautiful Moment in Life, Pt. 1 was released and they started to make some money. Also remember, for most of 2016/2017 they were on tour or promoting. So when were they gonna spend there money?

Also, after Wings Tour there was bit of down time for them during the renegotiations, which by the BIgHit insisted they involve the Parents and outside legal counsel if the wished to do so.

I think the initial contract stipulated that all should live together in a dorm provide by BH. I have theorised that post contract re-sign they were all allowed to purchase their own property and live there. We know Jin was living somewhere else in 2018, as was Tae & Yoongi in 2019, and by the 2020 nearly all were living away from the dorm.

Also, J Hope's purchase was for his parents. How do this? Well Leetuk has mentioned on several occasions bumping in them at his home in Trimage.

I swear some people...

Anyway, we know that a solo era has always been in the works and was meant to happen from 2021, but covid and all that jazz.

Additionally, this solo era would have been negotiated as part of their new contract (which according to some was set to end in 2024) AND that BH would be manging said solo era. We know this because the boys mention this and so have HYBE themselves.

In order for any member to sign deals they would have to notify their management company... why? Because THEY ARE UNDER CONTRACT with NH, and said management company would likely need to be INVOLVED IN THOSE CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS, with other brands, because they manage artist schedules, security and styling, so it doesn't conflict with HYBE/BH plans/policy and BTS concept; as well as it not conflicting with anything in their contract with BTS. People who don't get this are idiots and shouldn't be allowed anywhere near social media.

Agencies are designed to represent their Artists, some fans may not like that but that is an actual fact and BigHit is continuing to represent BTS in their solo era, including with brand deals, features and variety show work.

We don't know the ins and outs of what was agreed regarding Tae and JK's solo work, But JK's FIFA song, got tweeted about and behind the scenes work by BH. Tae's work with Jinny's kitchen has had some promos, and but the Sim Invest deal might and lack of announcement might have something to do with BTS's contract with Tokopedia, and e-commerce company in the same country.

We don't know, so stop suggesting something based on vagueness.

OMFG... Go watch this video and fucking enlighten yourselves with some facts from Korean entertainment lawyers...

They explain that...

... K-Pop companies rarely use slave contracts now, and that a company would make some headlines if they decided to go back to using it....

.... while companies can request to get paid training fees by their trainees, it’s not common. They even explain how people should shy away from a company if they ask for training fees...

Also, if BH/HYBE were being so fucking cruel to deny them opportunities (which we have no real evidence fore) or support, do you seriously think that Tae and JK who were involved in disbandment talks in 2018 wouldn't just straight up and fucking sue HYBE to be released early from their contract?

Why fucking waits another year, when supposedly they ain't getting any work, which could damage their brand?

I swear some people have not fucking clue how the real-world works. BTS and their members currently are the single most important asset for BH and HYBE and have built that company from the ground up. Do you seriously think so fucking little of Tae and JK that they would allow themselves to be used in such manner? Well obviously, yes in this case, otherwise we'd be seeing potential legal proceedings against BH by them.

I bet by 2024/2025 rolls around the we'll get an announcement of them formerly re-signing with HYBE for another 7 years.

Some people need to grow the fuck up.

[lecpenni]

gonna post about LEC both changing to League of legends EMEA Championship and the rumoured rosters right now since they're all solid except coaches

firstly the changes to the system are going to make the top teams way better i think, bo3 is better and the system is gonna be interesting, but the bottom 2 are going to be really really shafted and i think there's a higher chance of a rookie team blowing up nearly instantly, see BDS

i like 3 splits with winter and spring feeding into MSI, but i think one more cool thing could be the champion of winter (if they keep at least a 3 man core etc) facing the spring champion to actually qualify, since right now it feels like some teams will use winter split as a testing grounds and might create a "winter split doesn't matter" narrative which i desperately do not want.

summer is ending with something similar in the the big season finals, which I like a lot, and especially because the new format means that you can't coast in off of championship points like G2 and MAD did, which ended up sending what i think was one of the surprisingly weakest european teams ever to worlds, so i do hope winter and spring feed more directly into MSI with that suggested Winter Champ vs Spring Champ to qualify into MSI

but i like the format changes overall, it feels like a good first step and i'm way more into this than LCS's 8 team playoffs that looks like a fucking fiesta until top 2/3/4 and means that a team can coast and play like absolute fucking hogshit until they reach playoffs

anyways roster changes:

wooloo on twitter posted this

which was the final line up for each team as we know right now

quickly ordered:

VIT, HRTS, KOI, FNC

G2, XL, MAD

SK, AST

BDS

and then bigger explanations top to bottom:

BDS:

god it's so good they got rid of xmatty, he looked lost and alone in LEC and played really really badly for almost every game. even during jinx/zeri, but i genuinely don't know if crownie will be an upgrade. objectively? he's better, but his vitality run was really really underwhelming and he often demanded resources despite not using them effectively, depriving his topsides and usually just

not doing well

replacing cinkrof is a clown move, the man was dragging BDS to relevance while nuclearint had the occasional popoff, and the fact that he's teamless is utterly stupid, but whatever i guess people don't trust him after the OG run back in 2017 and then the cursed bds lineup.

if labrov and adam don't show the form they had in 2021 summer and ERLs respectively, bin the whole thing honestly

nuclearint seems like he'll be the "franchise" for BDS, which you know what, you could do worse

AST:

it's such a nothing roster, Finn was good as heck but usually got outclassed if he couldn't cheese a matchup on kled or irelia, 113 was the worst part of kcorp, dajor is Fine and probably a cheap pickup, and kobbe/jeonghoon are the only real chance they have to secure a top 8 finish, which they're gonna fistfight SK for i think

SK:

speaking of SK, after they made a big song and dance privately about hard investing into reaching higher in LEC, coming back in with sertuss is odd. he was fine? but he was just fine, nothing explosive or insane until he got akali, so we'll see if he keeps growing at the pace he has been

irrelevant had a very fucking good rookie split IMO, even if toplane was such a useless island and he crumbled a bit in playoffs, but tbf all of misfits did (rip bunny boys, you will be remembered fondly)

markoon was the shining new star of jungle, glad he has a team, can't wait to see him grow

exakick and doss were really bloody good in ERLs, doss' attitude has already started souring his reputation again, can't wait to see him booted for someone else (this is a joke)

XL:

well XL has my 2 favourite LEC players, Vetheo and Odo, so i know who i'm supporting

patrik/targamas will be interesting to watch after targa's middling worlds, and xerxe's return to EU was undramatic and perfectly fine, can't wait for him to play for 2ish years because he's one of the only veteran jungles left

VTO and odo had great years, and i still think VTO was the best mid player in both spring and summer, so i can't wait to see him be focused by every jungler in the league, and odo to rely so hard on tanks and outperform everyone until people realise a ban button is there

MAD:

i have no clue what to think, nisqy went from a new eu golden boy to winner of the dade award at worlds for a truly horrendous performance, chasy was decent? in NLC but nothing insane or impressive i think, elyoya spent the start of the offseason as the hottest property on the market, only to not be afforded by anyone, and hyli leaving fnatic was an unfortunate inevitability after the absolutely horrible performance he had in groups

but i think the most questionable pickup in the whole goddamn league was carzzy. i personally do not understand why carzzy was ever rated, i don't think the guy had a SINGLE good performance on VIT, and was usually the weakest member of MAD if armut got gnar, so why he's back on mad, with hyli no less is such a huge question mark. i don't really *want* them to succeed unfortunately, but they'll probably get somewhere with nisqy's shotcalling and elyoya's raw mechanical prowess

G2:

letting jankos go was the worst possible decision, but yike is a promising prospect after a good ass year on LDLC, caps hopefully can look more claps again after his insane playoffs run in spring, and BB is right now the second best eu toplaner by virtue of toplane in eu being such a bad role. the botlane is where all the hype is, and if hans/miky show up the way that that 2018 msf botlane did then G2 might have a chance

FNC:

fnatic's roster only swapping the botlane is probably the best course of action for it?

a lot of bad rumours around upset, and the really good temporary performance by rhuckz, and return of the king :)

honestly i think i'm just happy to see rekkles in black and orange again, and rhuckz looked very promising after his performance at worlds, so we'll see how fnatic does after super long of their insane aggression with bwipo and hyli

HRTS:

no clue about how this team will do, but i think they'll be the most fun to watch. jackspectra was probably the best ERL ADC, mersa was insanely confident and looked promising if nothing else?

the big one about HRTS though, is Evi and Jankos

frankly this is the coolest pair of signings this offseason, after it looked like jankos would miss out on spring/winter, and evi being the first ever japanese export. evi's a monster on urgot, a beast on kennen, and honestly was one of the stronger tops in playins and would've been in groups had DFM gotten there. really looking forward to seeing him there!

KOI:

previously rogue, their only change is szygenda in the top lane, which might be an upgrade? in erls and previously in LEC he was both a solid carry player and able to play tank duty, with his gwen especially being feared in the ERLs. besides that, the 4 man core who looked very solid at worlds are staying, so i think KOI are a shoein for winners, especially if jarvan stays in meta

VIT:

when i say i have no expectation of vitality it's because they have a terrible track record. after buying their way into EULCS, fielding middling rosters, having the worst import of all time in Hachani, then scraping into worlds 2018, they have yet to really pop off and show europe anything. but they're a big money team, and after going from last place nji and skeanz with milica and benching comp, to a suprisingly fun and interesting core of szygenda/selfmade/lider, they threw it out the window and spent huge money on alphari/selfmade/perkz/carzzy/labrov, only to bench the only functioning part of that and then sign haru who was

Perfectly Fine

and again, they're doing this again, signing kaiser in support possibly the most overhyped part of MAD, never forget the "i wasted flash on leona, time to run under tower because i need to wait 5 seconds for hexflash", neon in botlane who I'm so happy is keeping an LEC spot, blacklisted LPL jungle prodigy Bo and upper tier LCK CL top player photon, i have no clue what to think

bo's a monster, photon seems to be brutally consistent and likely scrimmed vs zeus and played vs thanatos in LCKCL, so i'm expecting more than i would if they signed a different ERL top

some people are probably already saying "ew random korean player" like they did for malrang and jeonghoon, but here's the thing, random korean player can throw hands with the best, and korean players are usually the best, and the signing makes sense since no LCK teams probably needed a new toplaner except for the lowest tier ones, and spending longer on challenger teams isn't exactly the best path into LCK. point is, photon is going to be good, and probably get signings in korea if he dislikes vitality if he shows up, which vs the caliber of tops in europe, he will

final thoughts:

i like the new format, and the teams have made very interesting changes. as for coaches, the only coach rumour i heard is vitality signing misfit's coaching staff, who were world class and took a team who should've been fighting for 6th and put them within 1 bo5 of worlds 2 years in a row. i can't wait for lec this year and i absolutely am going to support XL and HRTS, but i can't say i'm gonna dislike anyone, except BDS, who are physically unsupportable

TL;DR: LEC has a better format and the teams are exploding and reforming in a beautiful way

[seokwoosmole]

Tysm for the tag @daisycheols - I love doing these kinds of things! If you're down (no pressure) I'm tagging @flowerygn @aqua-bebe @mrsandypants and @fangmich

name/nickname: Jay

when & how did you get into sf9?: Early 2021 - I was a big fan of Rowoon as an actor, looked him up one day and found out he's an idol and thought I'd check out his group. Fell big time in love with the rest of the members and found out they were going to be on Kingdom so watched that and just fell in love deeper and here I am :)

do you have a bias? any wreckers?: Rowoon biased, Dawon biaswrecked but tbh I've been biaswrecked by all the members at some point, however I think right now it's Zuho

favourite title?: Enough (my Rowoon bias is showing ik)

favorite bside?: Any of their ballads (Love Again & My Story, My Song are top though) and Dance With Us and Play Hard (My Zuho bias wreck is showing lmao)

favourite mv: Now or Never (but the Performance video version)

favourite era: Narcissus (Great title track should have had a music show win tbh, it was a no-skip album, they were getting decent promotion I mean as far as fnc promotion goes, and the styling was just amazing like everyone was just AHHH YES PERFECT)

this or that:

k.o. or scold / echo or beautiful light / o sole mio or mamma mia (this one's hard - o sole min for performance but mamma mia for song quality) / puzzle or trauma / jungle game or play hard / believer or savior / ok sign or ok ok / like the hands held tight or memory / dreamer or new world / still my lady or just on my way / love no. 5 or tight

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Josephine Harvey at HuffPost:

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) complained on Fox News Thursday that American infrastructure is in disrepair. But as viewers pointed out, he was one of the Republican senators who voted against a massive bipartisan infrastructure bill that passed in 2021. “It just strikes me that more and more, nothing really works in America anymore,” Hawley told Fox News host Laura Ingraham. “I mean, our roads are falling apart, our bridges are falling down right in front of our eyes. Pieces of airplanes are falling out of the sky.”

“And yet, at the same time, the Congress of the United States and the president, what do they want to do? Spend hundreds of billions of dollars more on foreign wars,” he continued. He went on to complain that “things are falling apart all around us,” but all President Joe Biden wants to do is focus on “Ukraine, Ukraine, Ukraine.” Hawley was one of 30 Republican senators who voted against a $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill in 2021, which contained money for upgrades to highways, bridges, airports and other major projects. The legislation, backed by President Joe Biden, passed with the support of 19 Republican senators and all Democrats. At the time, Hawley called it a “radical left woke politics bill.”

Appearing on Fox "News"'s The Ingraham Angle Thursday, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) complained about the state of American infrastructure while attacking Ukraine funding. In 2021, Hawley was one of the 30 Republicans who voted against the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

From the 04.18.2024 edition of FNC's The Ingraham Angle:

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Blacks for Trump demonstration at the Miami Federal Courthouse yesterday

* * * *

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

“DONALD TRUMP UNDER ARREST, IN FEDERAL CUSTODY.”

It was quite a chyron from CNN, marking the first time in the history of the United States that a former president has been charged with federal crimes. And in this case, what crimes they are: the willful retention, sharing, and hiding of classified documents that compromise our national security. Trump’s own national security advisor John Bolton said, “This is material that in the hands of America’s adversaries would do incalculable damage to the United States. This is a very serious case and it’s not financial fraud, it’s not hush money to porn stars, this is the national security of the United States at stake. I think we’ve got to take the politics out of this business when national security is at stake.”

Cameras were barred in the courtroom as Trump pleaded not guilty to the 37 charges in Miami today. Presiding magistrate judge Jonathan Goodman ordered Trump not to communicate with witnesses about the case, including co-defendant Waltine Nauta, then released him on his own recognizance, that is, without needing to post bail. Special prosecutor Jack Smith was in the courtroom; ABC’s senior congressional correspondent Rachel Scott reported that Trump did not look at Smith.

Then Trump went back to his residence in Bedminster, New Jersey, where he gave a speech that New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman, who is close to the Trump camp, described as low energy, focusing on his insistence that he had a right to keep the classified documents (which experts agree is nonsense and amounts to a confession) and that the indictment was “the most evil and heinous abuse of power.” Right-wing Newsmax and the Fox News Channel (FNC) carried the speech; CNN and MSNBC did not.

FNC has been hemorrhaging viewers since it fired Tucker Carlson, a threat to its bottom line that might have been behind its chyron tonight attacking Biden by claiming “WANNABE DICTATOR SPEAKS AT THE WHITE HOUSE AFTER HAVING HIS POLITICAL RIVAL ARRESTED.”

In statements similar to the one from FNC, right-wing pundits spent the day flooding Twitter and other social media with furious insistence that Trump is being unfairly prosecuted, followed by attacks on former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, and with allegations that there are tapes of President Biden accepting bribes—allegations that Biden openly laughed at this evening.

But that performative outrage among leaders did not translate into support on the ground in Miami. Law enforcement had been prepared for as many as 50,000 protesters, but only a few hundred to a thousand turned out (one wearing a shirt made of an American flag and carrying the head of a pig on a pole).

The lack of supporters on the ground was significant. Since the August 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, much of Trump’s power has rested on his ability to call out his base to silence opponents by threatening violence. That power was in full force on January 6, 2021, when his loyalists set out to stop the counting of the electoral votes that would make Democrat Joe Biden president, believing they were operating under the orders of then-president Trump.

Since then, though, more than 1,000 people who participated in the events of January 6 have been charged with crimes, and many have been sentenced to prison, while Trump, who many defendants say called them to arms, has skated. That discrepancy is likely dampening the enthusiasm of Trump’s supporters for protest.

Today Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo pointed out that the audacity of Nevada’s militia-related Bundy family simply grew as family members launched successive stands against the federal government without significant legal repercussions. Republican politicians cheered on their attacks on federal officials for political gain, while Democratic politicians didn’t push to go after them out of concern that a show of federal power would alienate Nevada voters.

Trump’s threats and determination to stir up his base seem to reflect a similar consideration: if he can just rally enough support, he might imagine, the federal government will back off.

Federal officials permitting politics to trump the rule of law in our past have brought us to this moment.

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[xe-company]

HER DATING HISTORY [CHOI YOOBIN | 최유빈]

❖ ATHENA {NINETALES / @immcrtalgrls​} !!

SHIP NAME: YOOJAE

TITLE: Not Officially Labeled

DATING PERIOD: One Year / March 2011 - March 2012

ERA: Predebut

FANDOM REACTIONS: Love them together !!

RESULT: Still best friends !! The two dated briefly for a year but never actually labeled themselves as girlfriends. They were the classic friends to lovers trope but decided they were better off as friends but that didn’t stop them from being extremely close to one another !!  They are still high on skinship with each other and get the occasional dating rumors even after debut; the most recent being in 2021. Whenever they can, the two of them go out to eat; they try for once a month or once every couple of months. They are either by themselves or a few other of their respective group members or other idol friends join them. 

❖ CHAEYOUNG {TWICE} 

SHIP NAME: CHAEBIN

TITLE: Brief / Still Close Friends

DATING PERIOD: Bit More Than A Month / February 2018 - March 2018

ERA: After Debut

FANDOM REACTIONS: Unknown To Them

RESULT: The two were never officially labeled as dating but they did ‘date’ for about a month. They ultimately ‘broke up’ due to their schedules. They first met during a filming of the previous annual ISAC and exchanged phone numbers which was seen and spread like wildfire amongst Onces and Fantasys. The two of them are still close friends and text often. A few times they went out to eat with other Twice members Dispatch or fans who happened to have seen them posted photos. Additionally, the two of them share two matching tattoos each; four tattoos put together. The fans pieced the tattoos together and found out the two of them had been together in some way. 

❖ YOUNGBIN {SF9}

SHIP NAME: 2BIN / YOOYOUNG

TITLE: Hacked

DATING PERIOD: A Year & Four Months / May 2019 - September 2020

ERA: After Debut

FAN REACTIONS: Surprised, Mainly Neutral. 

RESULT: Sometime around the later half of 2019, around August, YOOBIN had her phone hacked twice in the span of three weeks. In the first hack they leaked that she had dated someone older than her and that it was a member of SF9. The hackers were teasing that they’ll do it again and release who it was along with other personal information about her. When the second hack happened they did release photos that had a ‘couple-like’ vibe to them accompanied with some text messages between the two of them. FNC reacted quickly surprisingly and put YOOBIN on hiatus for the remaining of the year but they didn’t give a date when she’d be back. Even after their relationship was leaked the two stayed together for a bit until they decided to take a break. There wasn’t any weird air between them and the other members of the group. Some Fantasys believe that they were still together even after they quietly announced they seperated due to the continuing skinship and quick glances to each other.

❖ CHAN {ECLIPSE}

SHIP NAME: YOOHAN

TITLE: Leaked Relationship

DATING PERIOD: Half a Year / March 2022 - August 2022

ERA: After Debut

FAN REACTIONS: Majority Liked Them Together

RESULT: Before ECLIPSE made their debut in 2021, YOOBIN had expressed her interest the new boy group and wished them a successful debut. Upon hearing about it the boys expressed their gratitude and also cheered on YOOBIN while she and the rest of SF9 were on KINGDOM: LEGENDARY WAR. The two were quite secretive with their relationship and it wasn’t until Dispatch posted a photo around June 2022 and the internet went in a spiral trying to find out when and how the two got together. The majority of fans on both sides liked them together, they were often termed a ‘Pretty Pair’ for their visuals. However, the photo and some saesangs quickly turned the dating rumor into a scandal that eventually caused the two to quietly separate despite the love from both fandoms. 

[sydneysspins]

Field Guide to Research / Blog #4

To finally sum up our fact checking blogs, we were tasked to head over to the website Buzzsumo. Buzzsumo credits itself as a tool that can aid content creation, marketers and SEO professionals in order to analyze the performance of ones content, find influencers, growing trends and create new content ideas. This trends can range from content ideas to recreate and have your shot at a viral video and news stories from all over the world. In order to chose my fact checking news story, I set my Buzzsumo filters to the last 24 hours, English and any location in the world.

From here, I chose a news story with a trending score of 511, or which news stories have received the most attention. This news story was the 2nd headline from the top which read, “Afghanistan national plots election terror attack in US”. The engagement was well over 3k with most of the attention coming from Facebook and X. I questioned the validity of this story and began conducting my research into its truthfulness.

Clicking on the Buzzsumo link, it redirected me to an article from foxnews.com written by Louis Casiano and David Spunt.

Ahead of reading the article, I began a deep dive into both authors and the validity of Fox News’ creation of this article.

Mediabiasfactcheck.com revealed that Fox News is a questionable source and holds an almost extreme far right view point. On the basis of factual reporting, they hold a mixed stance. Among the detailed report, MBFC credits their questionable reasoning to “Conspiracy Theories, Pseudoscience, Propoganda, Poor Sources and Numerous Failed Fact Checks”. Continuing, the MBFC gives them a rating of low credibility. Although the uncovered findings from the media bias fact checker paint Fox News to be a questionable source, that did not completely discredit my chosen article.

From here, I began my research on both Louis Casiano and David Spunt. Questioning what credibility and expertise they hold. Beginning on Casiano, he has his own page on the Fox News website which describes him as “A breaking news protester for Fox News Digital and Fox Business. He joined Fox News in September 2018 after freelancing. Since coming to Fox News, he has covered crime, foreign affairs, immigration and the economy”. Within his LinkedIn profile, Casiano has graduated from the University of Houston with a degree in Journalism. So, no background on politics.

Next, I did the same thing for David Spunt. Typing his name followed by Fox News into my search bar and seeing what popped up in regards to him. In his Fox News biography, he is a correspondent for the news outlet based in Washington D.C. He joined Fox News around the same time as Casiano in December 2018. For Spunt, he received a bachelors degree in political science and journalism from Miami University. Spunt may have some credibility here.

Now, I began reading the article and its detailed claims. In summation, the article states that an Afghan man going by the name of Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, aged 27, obtained firearms and ammunition in order to conduct a violent attack on Election Day.

Tawhedi entered the United States on September 9th, 2021 using a “special immigrant visa”. Tawhedi was then subsequently arrested on Monday. Tawhedi was then charged with conspiring and attempting to provide material support to ISIS and receiving a firearm to be used to commit a felony or federal crime of terrorism. He then appeared in Oklahoma federal court on Tuesday.

Casiano and Spunt then go on to detail the court hearing and statement by U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland.

From this, I searched up any relating headlines on Google. There were many articles of the same nature from News 9, CBS News and Reuters. I decided to view the Reuters article due to its unbiased nature. The article is titled, “Afghan man in Oklahoma City arrested for plotting Election Day attack”, where I will then compare the information in both articles.

The Reuters article confirmed the same name and age as Fox News. As well as affirming the correct date in which Tawhedi entered the U.S. It also included some detailed information about what the Special Immigrant Visa Program was as well as that Tawhedi searched for firearm laws and accessed Washington D.C. cameras- specifically the White House and Washington Monument.

Shockingly, Tawhedi and his underage brother in law met with FBI assets to buy two AK-47 rifles and ammunition. Within his post arrest interview, Tawhedi states “The attack planned to target large gatherings of people, during which he and his co-conspirator expected to die as martyrs” (Ward).

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/afghan-man-oklahoma-city-arrested-plotting-election-day-attack-2024-10-08/

Although Buzzsumo may contain some false trending topics, as well as Fox News, this news story was ultimately completely true.

[o-santuario-do-rock-23]

Novo álbum dos Imperial Slave saio dia 15/12

Nunca ouvi, esta banda mas irei ouvir e avaliar se o álbum é bom ou não.

É o 2° álbum de originais, do homónimo e antecessor que saiu em 2021.

Still All Large é o nome do trabalho recente dos neozelandeses Imperial Slave.