#december 2020 contest

[justjudethoughts]

When I was in kindergarten, my teacher nastily told my mom that I needed to learn to tie my shoes "because she couldn't tie 20+ kids' shoes everyday."

When I was in 2nd grade, my teacher told my mom that I must be "spoiled because I couldn't do anything for myself." When my mom mentioned I was having a hard time learning to read, she responded, "oh! I noticed that and I was so surprised because she's so intelligent—"

In 3rd grade I was diagnosed with dyslexia. I couldn't read Dr. Suess.

In 4th grade I successfully read the first page of the Magician's Nephew, but couldn't get any further.

In 5th grade I was doing 4th grade math, and when I wrote on lined paper, I started in the middle of the page. I also had to study every night for my spelling tests, and the one week my mom was too busy to help me study, I got a D.

6th-8th grade I was reading through the Narnia books.

In 7th grade I went to state's for a Patriot's Pen essay contest.

In 8th grade, I had to drop back to 7th grade math, because Algebra I was too hard, and I was experiencing the onset of OCD.

At some point around here I had to listen to Little Women as an audiobook because I couldn't read it. Tried Jane Austen, same result.

All throughout high school I struggled intensely with math and science. I didn't understand them no matter how hard I tried, so instead I memorized everything I could.

I graduated high school in 2020, suma cum laude.

College was similar, a bunch of books I didn't really grasp. Didn't get a lick of Shakespeare (but I wrote my best paper ever about Ophelia and Cordelia), Dante, Proust, Aristotle, or Henry James, but I paid really close attention to lectures and underlined anything that was important and thus wrote good papers. I did understand (and loved) Dostoevsky, Austen, Waugh, Sophocles, Plato, and others.

I graduated suma cum laude again in December.

You are not stupid. It might take you more time to get somewhere, it might take you more effort, but you are not stupid. And if you didn't have the adults around to tell you that, then I'll tell you that: you are not hopeless, you are not stupid, you are not incapable. You can take things slowly, just like Aesop's fables. Slow and steady win the race.

[warningsine]

The Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has died in jail, the country’s prison service has said, in what is likely to be seen as a political assassination attributable to Vladimir Putin.

Navalny, 47, one of Putin’s most visible and persistent critics, was being held in a jail about 40 miles north of the Arctic Circle where he had been sentenced to 19 years under a “special regime”. In a video from the prison in January, he had appeared gaunt with his head shaved.

The Kremlin said it had no information on the cause of death.

In early December he had disappeared from a prison in the Vladimir region, where he was serving a 30-year sentence on extremism and fraud charges that he had called political retribution for leading the anti-Kremlin opposition of the 2010s. He did not expect to be released during Putin’s lifetime.

A former nationalist politician, Navalny helped foment the 2011-12 protests in Russia by campaigning against election fraud and government corruption, investigating Putin’s inner circle and sharing the findings in slick videos that garnered hundreds of millions of views.

The high-water mark in his political career came in 2013, when he won 27% of the vote in a Moscow mayoral contest that few believed was free or fair. He remained a thorn in the side of the Kremlin for years, identifying a palace built on the Black Sea for Putin’s personal use, mansions and yachts used by the ex-president Dmitry Medvedev, and a sex worker who linked a top foreign policy official with a well-known oligarch.

In 2020, Navalny fell into a coma after a suspected poisoning using novichok by Russia’s FSB security service and was evacuated to Germany for treatment. He recovered and returned to Russia in January 2021, where he was arrested on a parole violation charge and sentenced to his first of several jail terms that would total more than 30 years behind bars.

Putin has recently launched a presidential campaign for his fifth term in office. He is already the longest-serving Russian leader since Joseph Stalin and could surpass him if he runs again for office in 2030, a possibility since he had the constitutional rules on term limits rewritten in 2020.

[delicateperspective]

Hi

I’ve noticed there’s a lot of debate about Harry’s career, and I wanted to ask what you think about it. Like, do you think he’s actually fully free when it comes to his career?

It seems like he’s gained a lot of creative freedom, and he’s pretty close to the CEO of Sony Music.

I get that at his level, there’s usually more control over artists, but it kind of looks like he’s managed to carve out some real freedom.

hey! oh my gosh anon, thank you for asking this in such a kind and respectful way. seriously. i’ve had this question come in before, but often phrased in ways that are really dismissive or degrading toward harry, and i try to avoid engaging with anything that tears them down for my own peace of mind. so i really appreciate the tone you brought to this ♥

there are definitely some great takes floating around from other blogs, but i’m happy to throw in my two cents too!

so — do i think harry is completely free in his career now?

short answer: no, not completely. but i do think he’s carved out a lot more freedom than he had in the past, especially creatively.

longer answer below if you're up for a read 👇

📄contract stuff 📄

when harry was 16, he was handed the same standard x-factor contract as the other contestants — and likely wasn’t allowed to seek outside opinion before signing. those contracts would’ve included clauses about not revealing anything that happened behind the scenes, letting the show dictate how their image and likeness are used, and (this one’s actually been confirmed by other contestants) never disparaging simon cowell. several former contestants have said they’re still under those NDAs — so at least parts of that original contract are probably still in effect.

and that’s just the beginning.

after x factor, 1d signed a recording contract with syco/sony (december 2010) for five albums and a set number of years. they fulfilled the album count, yes — but we don’t know what other clauses were baked into that deal. i’ve seen theories (and i tend to agree) that if three or more members are seen collaborating or photographed together, it can still trigger the 1D brand — which could reactivate image management clauses. and from what we know, syco/sony may still own their masters, unless that changed when the business entity was sold to universal in 2020 (though that didn’t seem to include the catalog).

they also renewed that contract in 2013, which again — no one outside their teams has seen the terms or end date. and then there's the US contract with columbia/sony (signed in 2011), which would’ve come with its own image rights clauses and restrictions.

now — harry himself has said that the first contract he saw without a “cleanliness clause” (sometimes called a morality clause) was his first solo deal with columbia. that tells us that every previous contract — from x factor to 1d — likely included one. and those clauses are serious. they’re basically designed to let the label (or management) protect their investment by controlling anything that might be seen as “damaging” to the artist’s public image or marketability.

if the artist breaks a clause — even unintentionally — the consequences can be massive: they can lose their deal, be forced to pay back everything that’s been invested in them (studio time, promo, tour costs), and in some cases even be sued for future losses — meaning the label can estimate what they would have made off you and demand that too.

so when people ask “why would they closet him?” — the answer is: because under a cleanliness clause, being openly gay could absolutely be labeled as ‘unsavory’ or ‘damaging’, especially in an industry built on selling a fantasy to teenage girls. back then, harry’s entire commercial value (to them) was tied to how desirable he was to a young, straight female audience. coming out — or even being perceived as queer — could have been framed as a threat to his marketability, and therefore a violation of the contract.

and we’re not talking small stakes — we’re talking about millions of dollars riding on his “image.” at that age, with that kind of power imbalance, it wouldn’t have been framed to him as a choice. it would’ve been: this is what you signed. this is the deal. this is how it works.

and just to expose myself a little — i’m actually really familiar with clauses like that. i’ve written them, i’ve signed them, i’ve seen them broken. they’re not just used in music — they show up in any industry where someone’s public image is monetized. are they outdated and kind of gross? yeah. but from a corporate risk perspective, they’re considered “standard.”

to give a non-music example: if J.K. Rowling had been under contract for five more books when she started making horrific comments about trans people, her publisher could’ve dropped her and sued her for all the money they lost out on because of her public behavior. so — yeah. sometimes those clauses are used to protect people, but they can also be used to control them.

🌟 current day 🌟

based on what little we know, i personally believe that harry fulfilled his first solo contract — which i think was for three albums (HS1, Fine Line, Harry’s House). that deal may have been better than what he had before, but he was still just starting out as a solo artist. he probably didn’t have the leverage (or confidence) yet to push for a deal that was completely in his favor. the label was taking a risk on him — he could’ve flopped. and i think he knew that too. none of the industry people could’ve predicted just how massive he’d become. (okay, we could’ve, but still.)

and here’s where i’ll expose another opinion: i fully believe that part of that solo deal — or jeff’s strategy — was to intentionally distance harry from the 1D brand, and from all the members. not because he doesn’t care about them, but because the narrative around him needed to be “solo star harry styles,” not “harry from one direction.”

that’s why we didn’t see him publicly with any of them for years. remember when he went to louis’ xfactor performance in 2016? there was a photo of him with steve aoki. and then a separate photo of louis, liam, and niall with steve. but no photo of all of them together. no photo of harry with any of them (the closest we got was in AOTV - and everyone says "thank you Louis"). that’s not a coincidence.

even if i didn’t believe in larry (which i do), i’d still believe that the public friendships within the band were intentionally regulated for years. not because they weren’t real, but because they weren’t allowed to be seen.

🌈 freedom, but with limits 🌈

i also have a little (okay, a lot) of suspicion that part of the break harry was on was being used to renegotiate whatever his contract looks like now. but it's too early to see any of the effects of that.

to me, he’s as open as he can be — with the original restrictions still in place.

i don’t believe he can confirm his sexuality. i don’t believe he can say he was closeted. i don’t believe any of them can tell us the full truth about how bad things were — or what really happened behind the scenes.

he has signifigant control over his music. he has some control over his image. and he has more say now than he ever did before. but he’s still walking a very careful line, and i think that’s why he’s known for only doing interviews with pre-approved questions. not because he’s trying to be mysterious and "diva" about it — but because he literally can’t afford to say the wrong thing.

there’s a constant push and pull with his public image. and honestly? i think he’s handling it with a lot of grace.

💬 final thoughts 💬

i really, really hope that someday he (and the others) can be more open. and i think he hopes that too, based on the way he changes lyrics live (golden, 2022, coachella. "i'm hoping someday i can be open") and the quiet ways he pushes boundaries.

but for now? no — i don’t think harry is as free as people assume he is. he has more freedom than he used to, but he’s still navigating a system that was built to control him.

and while i’m here — neither is jade (even if she’s running a simon hate campaign in her music - the illusion of freedom is there for her without actually confirming anything), and definitely not louis (who has signed even more contracts with syco/simon even after the band). or the rest of them, really. they’re all still carrying the weight of the contracts they signed when they were teens, and the machine that came with it.

there are people trying to fix that — former contestants, people who were mistreated by simon, by itv, by x factor. but so far, no real structural change seems to have happened.

thanks again for the thoughtful ask, anon 🫶

[mariacallous]

The target is you, voter. Russia, China, Iran, and other bad actors sought to interfere in the run-up to today’s US elections, according to research by the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab), which has been monitoring online trends along with statements by governments, private companies, and civil society in its Foreign Interference Attribution Tracker. As DFRLab experts detail below, this year’s malign efforts in many ways surpass previous influence campaigns in sophistication and scope, if not in impact—and they are expected to continue well after the polls close.

Tipping the scale

“By sheer volume, foreign interference in the 2024 US election has already surpassed the scale of adversarial operations in both 2016 and 2020,” Emerson says.

Dina notes that each US adversary played to its strengths. For example, Iran and China “attempted to breach presidential campaigns in hack-and-leak operations that raise concerns about their cyber capabilities during and after the elections,” she tells us.

At the same time, the United States is more prepared than it was in previous election cycles. Russian efforts in 2016 “made foreign interference a vivid fear for millions of Americans,” Emerson notes. “Eight years later, the US government is denouncing and neutralizing these efforts, sometimes in real time.”

In fact, Graham tells us, “the combined actions by the US departments of Justice, Treasury, and State against two known Russian interference efforts was the largest proactive government action taken against election influence efforts before an election.”

Doppelgangers and down-ballot races

US officials this week called Russia “the most active threat,” and it’s easy to understand why. Emerson notes Russia’s “ten-million-dollar effort to infiltrate and influence far-right American media,” alongside the “Doppelganger” network, which has spread “tens of thousands of false stories and staged videos intended to undermine election integrity in the swing states of Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Arizona.” Increasingly desperate, Russian actors have even sought to shut down individual polling places with fake bomb threats, he adds.

Meanwhile, China has focused on “down-ballot races instead of the presidential election to target specific anti-China politicians,” Kenton explains. Using fake American personas and generative artificial intelligence, China-linked operations have appeared across more than fifty platforms. Perhaps surprisingly, Kenton adds, “attributed campaigns appeared sparingly” on the Chinese-owned platform TikTok and far more often on Facebook and X.

Faith, fakes, and falsehoods 

“The primary aim is to erode Americans’ faith in democratic institutions and heighten chaos and social division,” Kenton explains, and thus to undermine the ability of the US government to function so it will have less bandwidth to contain adversarial powers.

“Some of the fake and already debunked narratives and footage circulating before the elections will likely continue to be amplified by foreign threat actors well after November 5,” Dina predicts. Expect to see activity around the submission of certificates of ascertainment on December 11, the December 17 meeting of the electors to formally cast their votes, and through inauguration day on January 20.

And in a post-election period where the results will likely be contested, Graham thinks there’s a “high likelihood” that foreign actors will “cross a serious threshold” from pre-election attempts to broadly influence American public opinion in service of their geopolitical interests to “direct interference” by trying to mobilize Americans to engage in protests or even violence.

Nevertheless, Graham points out that the high volume of foreign-influence efforts observed during this year’s election cycle so far does not appear to have had a significant impact in terms of changing Americans’ opinions or behavior.  

The consequences of foreign disinformation, Emerson adds, should be assessed against “the far more viral, sophisticated, and dangerous election-day falsehoods that Americans spread among themselves.”

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Robert Reich:

Friends, Some say if he loses, that’s the end of Trump. Wrong. We’ve been through this before. When Trump lost in 2020, most Republican insiders thought he’d be toast after January 6.

[...]

The Republican Party is more MAGA now than it was in 2020. More congressional Republicans are election deniers than they were in 2020.

If Trump loses by a small margin, he’ll almost certainly contest the outcome once again. At least this time Trump is not the incumbent president. He won’t be sitting in the Oval Office receiving recommendations from his staff to send in the military to seize voting machines and “rerun” the election, as happened in December 2020. He won’t have power to pardon anyone and won’t be able to claim presidential immunity. And instead of Trump’s vice president presiding over the counting of Electoral College votes on January 6, 2025, this time it will be Vice President Kamala Harris. But I wouldn’t be surprised if Trump and his lapdogs created post-election chaos at the precinct, county, and state levels, where votes are counted and the results certified. Trump loyalists in key districts will almost certainly try to manipulate the process and withhold certification.

I expect the federal courts will become involved. Some of this litigation may make its way to the Supreme Court. Raise your hand if you trust the current Supreme Court to rule impartially. Even if Trump loses these battles, there’s nothing to keep him from meddling in 2026, or even running again in 2028, when he’d be 82. I’ve heard from a few Never-Trump Republicans that they hope he wins in November so he can serve his final term now, and then disappear for good. But he won’t disappear. Trumpism will live on, regardless. But if he loses in November, he’s very likely to do some time in prison — in a special wing of a prison in New York state or a federal prison secured by the Secret Service. This will slow him down but also make him a martyr in the eyes of his loyalists.

If Trump loses in 2024 and is unable to run again due to physical or psychological decline — or a prison sentence — JD Vance will be his heir apparent for 2028. In the short time Vance has been a vice presidential candidate, he’s shown himself just as bigoted and unconstrained by facts as Trump. Trump sons Donald Jr. and Eric will also continue to fire up the Trump base. Fox News, Newsmax, and other right-wing outlets will continue to distort the truth. Trump’s billionaire backers such as Peter Thiel and Elon Musk will continue to finance Trumpism’s shambolic politics.

I doubt a majority of Americans will support Trumpism after Trump, but Trump’s base will continue to be a significant force in America. They have remained remarkably loyal and resilient for eight years — consistently 42 to 44 percent of American voters. If Trump loses, some proportion of them may turn to violence. Even a relatively small portion could threaten social stability. Apart from the immediate aftereffects of a Trump loss, many of his followers will remain wedded to the isolationism, xenophobia, racism, and misogyny he has stirred up.

Robert Reich gives valuable insights on the future of Donald Trump and Trumpism should he lose the election to Kamala Harris. Trumpism will be here to stay even after he leaves the scene.

[inevitably-johnlocked]

Hello ☺️ first of all, I'd like to THANK you for all those ficrecs, thanks to them I've discovered many awesome stories!

I know it may be early for some,but do you happen to have a Christmas fic rec list? I am desperate for some bitter sweet Christmas stories 👀

Hey Lovely!!

NEVER too early! This is the perfect time to start is early December if you want a month of fuzzy feels!!!

Check out these lists of mine to please you!

Christmas Fics (Dec. 2017)

Christmas: Oblivious That One or The Other is In a Relationship

Christmas 2019 Part 1 (All Bookmarks XMas and New Years)

Christmas 2019 Part 2 (Marked for Later)

G / T / K+ Rated Christmas Fics (Dec. 2018) (Updated Dec 2021)

Community Recs: Christmas 2020 (Updated Dec 2021)

Christmas Trees / Decorating

Christmas-Time Love Confessions

Christmas & NYE 2023 Pt 1: Bookmarks & WIPs

Christmas 2023 Pt 2: Marked For Later

New Year’s Fics (Jan 2018)

New Year’s Fics (Jan 2023)

Hot and Cold Fics (June 2022)

And if anyone has a NEW fic this year that they or wrote or want to promote, please let us know!!!!

EDIT: AND just for shizz and giggs, here's some other people's lists I've reblogged in the past:

SilentAuror’s Fics 2019

Johnlock Comes A-Wassailing (Chriscalledmesweetie)

bluebell’s Sherlock Winter Holiday Bingo Contest 

apliddell’s Christmas fics

ineffable husbands Christmas fics (additions to my lists)

favourite johnlock christmas fics by starfleetholmes

Non-Christian Winter Holiday Fics

A J. Baillier Christmas Fic Package

A Very Johnlock Christmas by a-different-equation

Some Christmas Fics by discordantwords

Five Festive Fics Friday by 7-percent

calaisreno’s Christmas Fics 2021

Silent Auror’s Christmas Fics

Khorazir 2021

Calaisreno 2022

Berty’s Festive Fics 2022

helloliriels holiday list

thegildedbee 2023

Christmas Advent Pt 2 (swissmiss)

Mystrade Holiday Collection 2024

Enjoy!

[whatdoeseverybodywant]

You're The Only Girl for Me- Chapter 6

I do NOT give permission for my work to be translated or reposted on here or any other site, even if you give me credit. DO NOT REPOST MY FICS

Reblogs, comments, likes, and feedback ALWAYS appreciated ❤ 

All OC Characters belong to me

Series Masterlist

Taglist:  @christinabae @southerngirl41 @reci24 @jeyusos-girl @jeyusosgirl @melaninsugababy @baconeggndcheez @bemybabiibish @jstarr86 @nbanenefrmdao @purplehairgawdess @arination99 @alyyaanna @m3llowww @gomussy @jeysbae @babysyhsy @bebesobrielo  @empressdede @venusesworld @harmshake @mustafumilf @theninthwonder @badbitchcentralinc @alyyaanna

Kayla Braxton stared at the latest update from an Instagram page called TheUsos_Source.  She honestly couldn’t believe what she was reading. Josh took Airielle on a date? Airielle had willingly gone out on a date with Josh after everything Kayla had told her? 

Kayla went to Airielle’s instagram and clicked on her story, immediately feeling sick once she saw the flowers Airielle had posted. So just fuck girl code right? Kayla gritted her teeth as she rolled her eyes and threw her phone down on the bed next to her.

December 11th 2020

AIRIELLE JONES

liked by uceyjucey, jonathanfatu, trinity_fatu and 190,000 others

AirielleJones: 🖤

view all comments

user: he's deadass liking all her pics

user: not jimmy following her now too 🫠

trinity_fatu: ❤️❤️ (liked by creator)

Airielle was on cloud nine. It had been 18 days since her first kiss with Josh while they weren’t officially boyfriend and girlfriend yet, they sure did act like it. No matter where they went, he always made sure to bring her flowers, whether they were going to the gym together or to the grocery store, he always bought flowers. She hung out with him at Trin and Jon’s house when they weren’t in Orlando for Smackdown- much to Yasmine’s dismay. He had wanted to spend Thanksgiving together but she declined. She was not ready to meet his family. She had thought that he was upset but he told her he understood and that she definitely had to come to Christmas dinner. 

Airielle groaned as she hit another dead end in the arena. The WWE had moved from the Amway center to Tropicana Field and Airielle was having a hard time finding her way, she kept getting turned around. Josh had asked her to meet him in catering for lunch but she was lost. She pulled out her phone to text him. He told her to send him her location and he would come find her. She huffed as she jumped up on one of the nearby equipment boxes and pulled out her phone so she could scroll on instagram. 

“Hi.” She jumped startled by the voice. “I aint mean to scare you.” He said smiling before holding out his hand to her. “I’m Raymond. I don’t think we’ve met.” When she didn’t shake his hand he added “I work in production, that’s probably why you never seen me before. I’m normally out in the truck.” Airielle nodded before grasping his hand and shaking it. 

“Airielle Jones.” 

“I know who you are. Talk of the town.” She frowned and arched her eyebrow at him. 

“Excuse me? He looked down at their still connected hands and grinned as she snatched her hand out of his. 

“Yo Rih, you good?” Airielle smiled over at Josh and hopped off the equipment box and walked over to him. Raymond noticed Josh’s hostile tone and raised his hands up defensively. 

“Relax, homie. I was just introducing myself.” Josh bit the inside of his cheek as he glared over at Raymond. He 100 percent didn’t like this man and Raymond knew that. Airielle glazed between the two of them before grabbing Josh’s hand, breaking their staring contest. 

“You good?” He asked again, his eyes softening once his gaze fell on her. 

“She good Uce, relax.” Josh glared back over at Raymond and sucked his teeth. 

“The fuck you still doin’ here?”  Raymond chuckled before, turning and walking away from them. When Josh turned his attention back to Airielle she was looking at him with a disappointed expression. “Sorry” he said sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck. “I don’t like him, never did” 

Airielle rolled her eyes with a grin. “Come on,” She said, grabbing his hand again. She started to walk but then stopped and turned towards him. “I don’t know where I’m going.” He laughed before leading her towards catering. 

After eating lunch with Josh and Joe, Airielle decided to go to hair and make-up to get ready for Smackdown. She smiled at Kayla who was also getting her makeup done. The smile quickly vanished off of her face when Kayla glared back at her. Airielle knew that Kayla must’ve seen the instagram posts. But honestly, Airielle didn’t care, Josh and even Kayla herself had said that they weren’t dating, just fucking around, so technically Kayla had no reason to be upset with Airielle. 

The air was tense and Kayla’s muttering wasn’t making it any better. Airielle couldn’t hear her but with how Jenny- the hairstylist kept looking at her, Airielle knew Kayla was talking mad shit. Once Kayla had left the area, Jenny turned towards Airielle. 

“What the hell happened?” Airielle shook her head, not wanting to gossip. 

“I don’t know.” Jenny scoffed.

 “I mean, we all seen the instagram account. You do know Kayla and Jey were a thing before you got here?”  Airielle took a deep breath and closed her eyes, this Jenny chick was starting to get on her nerves. 

“They both said that it was just sex between them.” Airielle shrugged, she felt like she did nothing wrong by going out on a date with Josh. 

“And you don’t feel bad?” Jenny scoffed again and Airielle narrowed her eyes at her. 

“Leave the girl alone Jen, ” Laura, the make-up artist said and Airielle gave her a small smile thinking that the older woman was on her side. “She’s young and he probably tricked her.” Airielle abruptly stood up from the chair and walked off, officially done with those ladies and that conversation. 

“Fuck her” Yasmine spat over the Facetime call. “That bitch lucky I aint there.” Yasmine continued. Airielle sighed but said nothing. That interaction had rubbed her the wrong way and she needed someone to talk to. She wanted to talk to Josh but she knew that he was busy getting ready for the show and she didn’t want to burden him with unnecessary drama. 

“You can’t fight my coworkers.” Airielle said laughing lightly. “I mean should I feel bad?” Yasmine immediately shook her head. 

“No, and I mean it, don’t go back in there trying to be her friend Airielle. She’s weird as hell.” Airielle signed and tol Yasmine that she would call her back as she was driving back to Pensacola after the show. 

Walking back into the arena, Airielle felt like everyone was staring at her, it was weird she walked past a group of girls and they immediately stopped talking, letting Airielle know they were talking about her. Rolling her eyes she went about her business, getting her script for her segment with Kevin Owens, as she was walking towards the viewing area to watch the beginning of the show, Airielle literally bumped right into Kayla,  the latter of the two rolling her eyes and grunting in annoyance.  Airielle quickly apologized before trying to walk around her but Kayla moved in the same direction she did. 

“I trusted you.” Kayla said and Airielle furrowed her eyebrows together. 

“What?”  Kayla rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. 

“You used me to get close to Jey, I told you how i felt about him and you just said fuck me.” Airielle scoffed.

“No, I did not use you to get close to Josh. I would never do anything like that Kayla. You said y’all weren’t together. Yes, I do feel bad but, things happen, we hung out and I really like him Kayla, I’m sorry.” Kayla huffed and narrowed her eyes at Airielle before shaking her head and walking away. 

Reblogs, comments, likes, and feedback ALWAYS appreciated ❤ 

[p1pharmacy]

P1H MOVIE TIMELINE ‼️‼️

or one that probably makes the most sense. i wanted to make a timeline so i could make sense of it when it came to making my au.

some things i wanted to expand on ->

*keeho teleporting him and jiung to December.

since it was keehos "first time" using his powers (since the memory loss) he takes them to Dec. of 2012 which i feel like wasn't a coincidence. helping with what year the past takes place in i feel like they are connected in some way also with the present taking place in Nov-Dec.

*when the past takes place.

i mention in the timeline that keehos passport expires in 2011 now it's a big guess as to when the past takes place but i think it takes place around 2009 to 2015 with the cars license plate being around from 2006 - 2019. now 2019 doesn't work b/c then how would someone make maybe thousands of drones and create a virus that changes how people act in only one year?? it would also be weird b/c when keeho and jiung teleport why would they go back in time if 2020 was the year right after 2019? And 2006 doesn't make sense b/c then it would have taken whoever was creating the virus almost 15 years for them to actually release the drone into the world. so what I estimate for when the past takes place is around 2013 - 2015 giving the virus to be created between 5 to 7 years. now going back to them teleporting to 2012, if the past took place around 2013 them going back one year maybe makes sense b/c its keehos "first" time really using his power to time travel so mistakes are bound to happen. (if any of this even makes sense 💀)

*fnc dance contest.

it almost gives away when the virus specifically starts. being (most likely) the end of November and the start of December. the contest being on Dec. 23 and intak having an FNC entry paper(?) when the drones start attacking gives a pretty solid date as to when the virus started. along with it probably being around 9 to 10 am (as writing on the poster)

*the dust storm.

in the future a dust storm occurs. dust storms happen in the spring between March and April. with spring starting on March 20th giving us a rough timestamp of when the future is. As for a year idk ? considering in 2020 when the virus breaks out (of course) the world hasn't been completely destroyed then in the future everythings dystopian and soul, seob, and theo seem to be the only humans alive so maybe BIG maybe the future takes place in 2023 - 2024. a lot can happen in 3 years especially with how fast the virus could spread and how fast it did when it started.

[axvoter]

Blatantly Partisan Party Review XV (federal 2025): Katter’s Australian Party

Running where: QLD. The party is contesting three House divisions: Bob Katter himself for Kennedy, plus candidates in Herbert and Leichhardt, while in the Senate, a candidate is second on a joint ticket with Rennick First for Group G

Prior reviews: federal 2013, federal 2016, federal 2019, federal 2022

What I said before: “For those of us on the left, KAP has a few things to like and a lot to detest.” (federal 2022)

What I think this year: I’ve already covered a bunch of “dontcha know who I am?” cult-of-personality parties, and here is perhaps the most larger-than-life personality of the Australian political scene: the North Queenslander in the big hat, the man who would let a thousand blossoms bloom, part of the parliamentary furniture itself, the one and only Bob Katter.

Now, Bob is a character but he's consistent one, so instead of reprising the greatest hits that I've featured before, I thought I would present you with some history to contextualise him and his electorate. Katter’s seat of Kennedy is a vast one. It stretches from the Coral Sea coast between Cairns and Townsville, across the Great Dividing Range, and through Outback towns such as Charters Towers, Hughenden, and Cloncurry out to Mount Isa, across to the NT border, and up to the shores of the Gulf of Carpentaria. Bob Katter has seemingly stomped the length and breadth of it to become an enduringly popular local member. Although Kennedy is one of the original 65 electorates from Federation in 1901, Katter is remarkably just the seventh person to hold it.

Kennedy was in Labor hands from 1929 to 1966 while Darby Riordan and then his nephew Bill held the seat, but for the last 59 years it has been a family business for the other side of politics:, a Katter has represented Kennedy for all but 3 years. Bob’s father, Bob Katter Sr, won it for the Country Party (later renamed the Nationals) and held it from 1966 until his death in 1990, while the young fella learned the family business as a state MP from 1974. Bob Jr served as a cabinet minister from 1983 under another larger-than-life Queensland pollie, Joh Bjelke-Petersen, and in August 1989, Sir Joh unsuccessfully endorsed Katter as his successor as premier. Instead, Bob Jr had an annus horribilis: he went into opposition at the December 1989 Queensland state election, his dad died days before the March 1990 federal election, and Kennedy fell to Labor. The new MP, Rob Hulls, however, only got one term representing this sprawling constituency (and yes, Victorian readers with long memories, that is the Rob Hulls, deputy premier to John Brumby in 2007–10; quite the change of scenery!).

Katter shifted to federal parliament at the 1993 election, winning back the seat of dear old dad, and he has held Kennedy ever since. In 2001 he left the Nationals to sit as an independent: he disagreed with the rise of neoliberal economics (good!) and with some of the Coalition’s more socially liberal policies (bad! especially as the Coalition is uhh not very socially liberal!). In 2011, he founded Katter’s Australian Party, which met with very little success outside Queensland at the 2013 and 2016 federal elections and has since focused on winning seats in North Queensland. It really ought to be called Katter's North Queensland Party.

Bob’s son Robbie has been the party leader since 2020, and at state level KAP holds three seats that overlap with the Division of Kennedy. But Bob is the only KAP representative at federal level; ex-One Nation lunatic Fraser Anning briefly joined KAP as a Senator in 2018 but proved to be too barmy even for the Katters. I see little reason to anticipate any change to the party’s representation this year. If you live in Kennedy, you probably know Katter is a strong favourite to retain his seat; if you don’t, I hope the history above helped make this explicable.

What is Bob emphasising in his campaign this year? Well, per the homepage, “KAP = Castle Law”. Yes, their core focus is a fear campaign that “crime in Queensland is out of control” and people have a “right to defend their home against intruders without facing legal consequences”. Look, I spent my teenage years in a conservative Queensland setting where A Current Affair was as serious a source of news as the 7:30 Report, but shooting dead a trespasser in your garden is disproportionate. KAP states that “Under the current law, people must demonstrate they have only used ‘necessary’ force under the ‘reasonable belief’ that the intruder was entering their home to commit a serious crime”. Seems fine to me! But they think that people “cannot always make split-second, measured decisions in moments of crisis”. The existing law as per their own description already accommodates this: a person fiddling with your gate is obviously a different degree of threat to somebody confronting you in your bedroom with a knife, and going out all guns blazing at the former is not "reasonable". KAP's policy is a solution in search of a problem.

Other policies? Still on crime, KAP has a four-step “send ‘em out bush” policy for young offenders that in practice would just make them more resentful. You won’t be surprised to learn that KAP wants harsher sentences in general for youth offending and backs the LNP’s “adult crime = adult time” approach. Turning to energy, KAP want more coal, more gas, and new nuclear. Other infrastructure policies focus mainly on roads and on dams to support agriculture. Unsurprisingly for a party whose largest donors are from the gun lobby, KAP’s approach to firearms is permissive. And maybe one of their odder policies is that “KAP wants flying foxes gone from populated areas” and supports culling them. Did a flying fox steal your dog Bob? Come on man. Three of seven species of flying fox in Australia are listed as vulnerable or endangered.

And, of course, for a party led by a man whose most famous remark is about crocodiles tearing people to pieces in North Queensland, there is a policy that “values human life above crocodiles”. Enjoy. Should this move you, perhaps you might also want to buy an official “let there be a thousand blossoms bloom” shirt. If so, Bob’s got a shop for that. I am not kidding.

Recommendation: Give Katter’s Australian Party a very low preference in the House and a weak or no preference in the Senate.

Website: https://kattersaustralianparty.org.au/

(For the pol nerds: Bob is currently Father of the House, i.e. the longest-serving current MP, but at just over 32 years in office he is not yet in the top ten ever. If the new parliament goes to term and Bob does not retire before the election, he will be either 10th or 11th  on the all-time list depending on the exact day of election. He needs to serve five years from today to get into the top five, 10.5 years to get into the top two, and just shy of twenty years to pass Billy Hughes’ record of 51 years and 213 days. Keep in mind that Bob turns 80 next month. Now, yes, he served 18 years in Queensland’s state parliament, so as of this year he has been in a parliament for half a century, but Billy Hughes served in the NSW parliament for 7 years; to exceed Hughes’ cumulative time, Katter needs to be in office for another 8.7 years)

[boxboxblog]

Current Driver Profiles: Liam Lawson

Updated December 2024

Name: Liam Lawson

Age: 22

Nationality: New Zealander

Years in F1: Less than 1 ( October 2024 VCARB, Red Bull Present)

Number: 30

WDCs: N/A

Driving Style: Lawson is noted as a particularly adaptive driver. He seems to mesh well with many different cars, series, and styles. He is noted for his adaptability due to the fact that he regularly enters new series and shows good results quickly. Beyond that he is an assertive driver, but not as aggressive and reckless as some rookies can be. However, this lower amount of aggression meant he was less forceful in overtaking situations. Also his general lack of experience in an F1 car is a downside.

History:

Lawson was born to a relatively middle-class family, with a father who had a passion for Motorsport racing. This got Lawson involved from a very young age, and he started karting professionally at age 6. He had a very successful karting career, winning his first national title in 2012 when he won the Cadet class of the NZ CIK Championship. In 2013 he won his second national title in Junior Restricted and also finished runner-up in the NZ Schools Championship. 2014 he added two more national karting titles, winning Junior Restricted in both the NZ Sprint Championship and NZ Schools.

(Lawson during his karting days)

2015 he made his single-seater debut in the Formula First Manfield Winter Series taking a win and ten podiums to finish 2nd in the standings that year.overall. A few months later he took part in the NZ Formula First championship, taking a win and three podiums, getting 6th in the standings and winning Rookie of the Year. The following year, Lawson graduated to the NZ F1600 Championship Series where he dominated, claiming fourteen of the fifteen victories on offer to become the youngest champion in not just the series' history, but the youngest ever Formula Ford champion in world at the time.

(Lawson with his Formula Ford car)

In 2017, Lawson moved up to the Australian F4 championship, taking five wins to finish 2nd in his rookie season. 2018 Lawson remained at Formula 4 level, moving across to contest the ADAC Formula 4 championship with Van Amersfoort Racing (home to many future F1 drivers) and won three times, which saw him claim his second consecutive F4 runner up position.

(Lawson during his time at German F4)

Lawson took part in the Toyota Racing Series for the 2019 season and had a fantastic season. Lawson dominated on debut at Highlands, taking two races wins. He won three more times across the season along with multiple podium finished, and secured the title before the season was even over. He would take part in many other series over the next couple of years.

(Lawson after a race win in the 2019 Toyota Racing Series)

He competed in F3, but had middling results, is highest standings finish being 3rd in 2020. He moved on to F2 in 2021, where he had another middling season. He did achieve one win and three podiums, but finished 9th in the standings. He also competed in DTM during that year, having a very tight season and finishing 2nd in the standings. 2022 F2 was a much better year, as he had multiple race wins and podiums. He finished 3rd in the season, and had dropped from 2nd due to some unfortunate results in the latter half of the season.

(Lawson in his 2021 F2 car)

2023 Lawson took part in Super Formula, showing immediate pace and skill, and claimed three wins, multiple podiums, and many high-points finishes. He unfortunately finished 2nd in the standings, and did not return to Super Formula in 2024. During the 2023 year, Lawson also subbed in for an Injured Daniel Riccardo on the AlphaTauri team. He had held a connection to F1 for many years, joining the Red Bull Junior Team in 2019, and had served as their reserve driver for both AlphaTauri and Red Bull starting 2022. His time with AlphaTauri was decent. he did only score points once, but he also did finish higher than his teammate during this time.

(Lawson during the 2023 season with Alpha Tauri)

Once Riccardo returned, Lawson was kept as a reserve driver, a role he held until he was promoted up to the VCARB (AlphaTauri) seat for the remainder of the 2024 season, replacing Daniel Riccardo permanently. His first race as an official F1 driver was the 2024 COTA GP, where he had a brilliant performance. He ended the season 21st in the standings with 4 points scored total.

For the 2025 season, In a surprise move by Red Bull, he was announced for the second Red Bull seat replacing Checo Perez and partnering 4x WDC Max Verstappen.

(Lawson with F1 driver Sergio Perez)

Major Races (including non F1):

2021 DTM Championship Norisring Finale - A race that showed off his great skill and pace, it was marred by a controversial scrape with Kevin van der Linde, his title rival. Mid-race, van der Linde made contact with Lawson and forced him into the gravel, which ultimately lost Lawson the title.

2021 F2 Monaco Sprint - He won this race with a stellar drive, showing his high handling skills and cool head around a very complex circuit. This helped him attract serious F1 attention.

2023 Singapore GP - His first F1 points every score, Lawson showed remarkable perseverance in one of the most physically demanding races of the season. Only his third race in F1, he showed great composure and fantastic race craft.

2023 Super Formula Fuji - His time in SF was all around positive, and at Fuji he dominated the track. He showcased great control in mixed conditions and showed he could handle a high-downforce car, important in F1.

Cheers,

-B

[collapsedsquid]

I think the plan is to steal the Electoral College outright by getting states Trump loses to refuse to certify the results of their election. That’s because the 12th Amendment provides that the president is the person who wins the majority of the “whole number of Electors appointed.” That “whole number” is supposed to be 538. But one potential reading of the amendment is that Trump doesn’t have to win 270 Electoral College votes but just a majority of however many electors show up. Trump’s goal, I believe, is to decrease the number of electors appointed until he wins. This reading is untested. Nobody has yet tried to win an election with fewer than a majority of the Electoral College votes by decreasing the overall number of electors appointed after the election. But it’s an argument the Trump team could put forward, and it’s an argument Democratic lawyers and experts are preparing for. The first step in such a process is to get Republicans in states Trump loses to contest the certification of their own elections. In 2020, Trump and his team illegally tried to get slates of alternate electors submitted in states where Republicans control the state legislatures. They could try that again, but for this scheme to work, they don’t even have to get “fake” electors submitted but just to convince Republican state legislatures or Republican governors not to submit their valid slates of electors before statutorily imposed deadlines. All slates of electors are supposed to be certified by December 11. Those electors are then supposed to vote and submit their results by December 25. [...] If enough states refuse to certify the results of the election and submit a slate of electors—with the Supreme Court’s blessing—the math is not actually hard for Trump. Let’s say Vice President Kamala Harris wins the bare majority of Electoral College votes necessary, 270, but the Republican legislature in Wisconsin refuses to submit the state’s 10 electors by the deadline. In this scenario, the new total number of electors becomes 528, not 538—and Trump needs only 264 electoral votes to “win.” If you take Wisconsin and Nevada’s six electors out of the mix, Trump needs only 262 electoral votes to “win.” He’ll likely achieve those numbers without having to win one of the “blue wall” states.

[...]

And this is where Speaker Johnson becomes critical to the whole “secret” plan. In 2020, Nancy Pelosi was speaker of the House. If states had tried to get cute and not submit their electors by the December 11 deadline, Pelosi would just have extended the deadline. But Speaker Johnson surely won’t. If electors are not submitted by December 11, he’ll likely declare the process “over” and say that the electors appointed by that date are the only ones allowed to vote for president.

Like to consider these strategies in terms of "Is this going to cause a civil war(or honestly more realistically a 'general strike')" with the idea that if it will then he's not going to get people to go along with it. I feel just rejecting the votes outright without a pretext or just empty claims that some people may have voted illegally, you're talking something that won't be acceptable. You would have to destroy a good number of ballots or something.

[svtjinny]

JUYEON :: PROFILE

BASIC INFO !

STAGE NAME : jinny (진니)

BIRTH NAME : jennifer choi

KOREAN NAME : choi ju-yeon (최주연)

NICKNAMES : juju, jen, yeonie, chomper, seventeen's foodie, jinabi, food expert

DATE OF BIRTH : 02 december , 2000

PLACE OF BIRTH : gyeonggi-do, south korea

ETHNICITY : korean

NATIONALITY : korean

FAMILY : lim ju-yeon [ mother ], choi eun-woo [ father ], choi yeon-jun [ older brother ]

LANGUAGES : korean [ fluent], english [ fluent ], japanese [ conversational ], mandarin / chinese [ conversational ]

MBTI : enfp [ taken by herself ], esfp [ taken by the members ]

CLAIMS !

FACE : ive's yujin

VOCAL : adora [ speaking / sound ], red velvet's wendy [ talent-wise ]

RAP : le sserafim's kazuha

DANCE : fromis_9's hayoung

PHYSICAL STATS !

HEIGHT : 167 cm

WEIGHT : 49 kg

BLOOD TYPE : ab

BODY MODIFICATIONS : upper lobe piercing on her left ear, 3 different tattoos on her hand, back, and shoulder

FEATURES : dimples, heart-shaped birthmarks on her wrist and under her right eye

CAREER !

OCCUPATION : idol, m countdown host [est. 2021], songwriter, producer, composer, choreographer

POSITIONS : main vocalist, lead dancer, producer, visual

DEBUT : may 26, 2015 [svt], may 14, 2019 [solo]

YEARS ACTIVE : 2015 - present

AGENCY : pledis entertainment [2010 - present]

TRAINING PERIOD : 5 years

ASSOCIATIONS : seventeen, produce 101 [ contestant ]

REPRESENTATIVE EMOJI : 🐨

UNIT : vocal unit

INDIVIDUAL FANDOM : jewels

SOCIALS !

INSTAGRAM : 01_jin (managed by managers, solely for promoting tracks or choreography she's made.) | cjy_jinny (where she posts.)

TWITTER : 01_jin

STATS !

VOCAL : 5/5

RAP : 3/5

DANCE : 5/5

ACTING : 3/5

MODELING : 4/5

SONGWRITING : 5/5

PRODUCING : 4/5

CHOREOGRAPHING : 4/5

LEADERSHIP : 3/5

PUBLIC SPEAKING : 4/5

STAGE PRESENCE : 4/5

PERSONAL !

HABITS : nose wrinkling, sticking out tongue while thinking, rapid blinking when lying, covering mouth while chewing or laughing, grabbing / holding the closest person to her when nervous, doodling absently

HOBBIES : rollerblading, playing guitar, writing [ lyrics , poems ], baking + cooking

LIKES : pda, drawing, soft items [ blankets , jackets , etc ], fruits, hanging out / spending time with her loved ones, cuddling, music !!

DISLIKES : being taken advantage of, being disrespected, small or tight spaces, horror, manipulators, being made fun of

TRIVIA !

— jinny was originally part of the performance unit, but was moved to the vocal unit a month before debut

— ⬑ she auditioned to be a dancer, which is why she is among seventeen's best dancers

— her nicknames "chomper, svt's foodie, and food expert" come from the boys. jinny loves to eat and knows a lot about different types of food; she's one of the designated cooks of svt

— ⬑ her nicknames " juju, jen, and yeonie" also come from the members. "jinabi" is a nickname from carats / what carats call her.

— she gets frightened quite easily by cannons / fireworks on stage, which is why she was hesitant to accept the offer to be an mc

— ⬑ she was announced as m countdown's new fixed host on february 9th, 2021. later that year, she was revealed to be the third vocal master / kpop master for girls planet 999. in april of 2023, jinny made an appearance as a star master to host the finale of boys planet 999.

— she gets flustered when embarrassed

— she has a fear of heights and said that gose 2020 ep 37-38 is her least favorite because they filmed her while she was crying out of fear.

— she has two of her own shows/series; one on seventeen's official channel named "jilog" [just her vlogging] and the other on mnet's official channel named "jinny's journal", similar to eunchae's star diary [she meets other groups & they do activities together]

— jinny would've been a professional chef, dancer, or producer if she didn't debut in svt

— jinny has composed most of seventeen's songs; she's known as seventeen's composer whereas woozi is known as their producer.

— she lives on the same floor as wonwoo & mingyu

— she's known dino since middle school; around 11 years

— jinny enjoys making friends and has befriended many idols through her job as an mc

— according to the boys, jinny is incredibly clumsy and is a deep sleeper

— jinny is THE k-pop fan of svt, her favorite group is red velvet & she owns all their albums & merch, along with the albums she's helped create and svt / txt merch

— jinny is among the members who post the most on sns

— jinny has been injured twice in the time she's been with seventeen; once during ready to love era [broke her right arm] & again during super [broke her right wrist] era.

— ⬑ she tries not to put too much pressure on her right arm because of these injuries.

from xia ! : hi!!!11!1!!11! hope u like her (and me)

[itsvivace]

— VIVACE . . THE DISCOGRAPHY . . !

VIVACE is a fictional thirteen-member girl group formed by the survival show I-Doll, where seventy contestants competed for a chance to debut in a group under the company I-Teen Media. VIVACE is split into three active sub-units, but today, we’ll be talking about the main group’s music, which has captured the hearts of fans worldwide and solidified them as one of the best Kpop acts of the current generation. VIVACE has stated that they want their music to be reminiscent of the older generations in Kpop and music for girls all around the world to feel empowered by.

— 2019 - 2020 . . ORIGINS OF A SUPERSTAR . .

After the finale of I-Doll, I-Teen Media announced that VIVACE would debut in mid-September, leaving fans in anticipation of their upcoming debut. VIVACE officially debuted on September 17, 2019, with the self-titled mini album “VIVACE” consisting of five tracks, including the title track “Gee!”. VIVACE debuted with 63K album sales and Gee! charted #22 on the global charts within the first 24 hours. Gee!’s cute sound and second-gen influence attracted even more attention to the group, and by the end of the first week, both the title track and album topped the charts at #1.

With their debut a huge success, many waited for VIVACE’s first comeback, announced to be released in December of the same year. On December 12, 2019, their first single album, “QUEENDOM,” was released consisting of three tracks, including the title track, “Royalty.” Royalty captivated fans for its themes of self-love and upbeat lyrics but wasn’t enough to get it to more success than “Gee!” with Royalty charting #48 on global charts and QUEENDOM earning 15K album sales, a lot of netizens were saying VIVACE was one-hit wonders and would end up flopping after this comeback.

VIVACE would take a small break and focus on their sub-unit releases until they came back on July 5, 2020, with their second mini album, “SUMMER VACAY,” which consists of five tracks, counting the title track “Drunk In You”. Despite the low reception of “QUEENDOM”, SUMMER VACAY instantly trended for its catchy songs and fresh sound, which earned the album 98K album sales, and the entire album charted in the top ten on the global charts. SUMMER VACAY was known as the uprising of VIVACE and the start of their international stardom.

By their next comeback, VIVACE had become one of the biggest Kpop acts of 4th Gen, especially with all of the popularity their sub-units were getting. Their third mini album, “PAPARAZZI”, was released on October 24, 2020, with the album consisting of six tracks, including their breakout title track, “RUN”. RUN was a darker, more mature sound than what VIVACE usually did, but it ended up going viral just from the teasers alone, earning the album 283K sales and 8 million views in just the first 24 hours. Fresh off RUN's success, VIVACE released their first digital single, “Ladies Night”, on December 25, 2020, as a Christmas gift to fans. The song charted #2 on Melon and went #1 on global charts.

— 2021 - 2023 . . LIVIN’ IT LIKE A STAR . .

VIVACE took an almost year long hiatus as a group to further focus on sub-unit releases until they finally made a comeback with their first full album, “CELESTE”, on September 17, 2021. CELESTE is a two year anniversary album with thirteen tracks, including the title track, “YES, YOU”. CELESTE introduces a retro theme, which, despite not having done so before, fans say sounds authentically VIVACE. CELESTE sold 1.4 million copies, a huge jump from PAPARAZZI, after gaining an insane number of fans during the group’s hiatus. The entire album charted within the top 20, and the top 5 spots on the charts were all VIVACE. Fans refer to this era as the start of VIVACE’s prime.

With VIVACE releasing only CELESTE in 2021, fans went into 2022 hoping for a release sometime soon; they got their wish when VIVACE released their second full album, “MY IMPACT”, on April 19, 2022. MY IMPACT is an album consisting of 11 tracks along with the title track, “The Boys”, where VIVACE talks about their impact on the kpop industry and also empowers women not to let gender discrimination hold them back from their dreams. MY IMPACT sold almost 9 million copies, the most copies VIVACE has sold to this day, and most of the songs off the album charted within the top 10. MY IMPACT ended up being the most successful era they had so far with them winning Song Of The Year, Artist Of The Year, and almost winning Album Of The Year for 2022.

On November 13, 2022, VIVACE released their fourth mini album, “ALL I ASK”, consisting of six tracks, including the title track, “SAVE ME”. The album has a slower, elegant sound than some of their previous releases, earning the album 7 million album sales and the title track charting #3 in Korea and #9 internationally. ALL I ASK is known as one of VIVACE’s forgotten eras, a lot of fans even think VIVACE themselves don’t remember the album.

As a collaboration project with the Barbie Movie, VIVACE released “Barbie Girl”, their fifth mini album, on June 10, 2023. The album consists of five tracks, including their first English title track, “VALENTINE”. VIVACE promoted the album completely in the United States, and the album sold 7.8 million copies and charted #1 on iTunes. VALENTINE ended up being the end credits song, which attracted even more international fans to the group.

VIVACE’s most recent release, “1-800-LOVERGIRL”, is their second single album, released on December 29, 2023. It consists of three tracks, including the lead title track, “YOUNG LOVE.” 1-800-LOVERGIRL sold 6 million copies, and the title charted #2 on Korean charts and #5 on global charts. As of July 2024, VIVACE has not made any news on a comeback, including with any of their sub-units, leaving fans wondering when VIVACE will make a comeback.

[mariacallous]

U.S. adversaries are likely to try to undermine confidence in the outcome of the upcoming presidential election, stoke unrest, and boost their preferred candidates even after polls close on Nov. 5, according to a newly declassified assessment released by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) on Tuesday.

“Iran and Russia are probably willing to at least consider tactics that could foment or contribute to violent protests, and may threaten, or amplify threats of, physical violence,” according to the assessment, which was prepared on Oct. 8. 

The seven-page memorandum also says Tehran’s efforts to assassinate former President Donald Trump and other former U.S. officials are likely to persist after Election Day regardless of the result.  

Foreign governments, most notably China, Iran, and Russia, are better positioned now than in previous elections to exploit opportunities to sow chaos in the days and weeks after the vote, having drawn important lessons from the 2020 presidential election, which was marked by a drawn-out count and efforts by Trump and his allies to challenge the results. 

“Many of these countries did not have a full appreciation for the various election processes that happen after polls close, and now that they have greater awareness of the significance, they have greater ability to attempt to disrupt them,” an ODNI official said in a call with reporters on Tuesday. 

In December 2020, Iranian cyberactors were believed to have been behind the creation of a website called “Enemies of the People” that contained death threats against U.S. election officials, according to previous notices released by the FBI. Iranian actors also published personally identifiable information about U.S. officials in a bid to incite violence.

According to the ODNI memo, foreign adversaries are likely to use well-honed tools such as online influence operations, including “potentially physical threats or violence” in the wake of what is expected to be one of the most closely contested U.S. elections in living memory. 

Intelligence officials have issued routine warnings in recent months that Beijing, Moscow, and Tehran are working to sow division and undermine confidence in the integrity of the election—efforts that are likely to accelerate in the waning days of the campaign, particularly on social media, the ODNI official said. 

The official noted that recent intelligence indicated that Moscow was likely behind a recent unevidenced claim circulating on social media and amplified by conservative influencers that Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz assaulted a former student earlier in his career. 

U.S. intelligence believes that while foreign adversaries likely have the technical capability to access some U.S. election-related networks and systems, they are unlikely to try to interfere with the tallying of votes out of concern that it could prompt Washington to retaliate. 

An official from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said the highly decentralized nature of the election system as well as the widespread use of paper ballots and the fact that voting machines are not connected to the internet made it highly unlikely that a foreign power could manipulate the vote at scale without being detected. 

Intelligence officials have long singled out China, Iran, and Russia as most actively engaged in efforts to sway U.S. elections, but the countries have different intentions in doing so. With both Democrats and Republicans in Washington staking out a hawkish line on China, Beijing has sought to focus its efforts on down-ballot races at the state and local levels that it perceives to be in its interests. 

Tehran has sought to undermine the Trump campaign, with three Iranians recently indicted by the Justice Department for hacking into the email accounts of campaign officials. 

Russia presents the most active foreign influence threat to the election, the ODNI official said, and is likely to be “more aggressive” in its efforts to sow chaos should Vice President Kamala Harris win, noting Moscow’s preference for a second Trump presidency.

[boasource]

BoA recently hinted at retirement...

[Edited on 240825 for clarity and to include information that was revealed after I initially posted this, which can better contextualize what happened]

I made a thread on Twitter explaining the context behind BoA's recent IG stories, where she hinted at retirement, so I figured that I'd write up a post on it here too.

TL;DR: This announcement was a big shock - BoA has consistently said, up until the week before she posted those IG stories, that she wanted to continue singing and performing. Fans believe that BoA likely hinted at retirement because of the relentless harassment she's faced online.

On April 6th (240406), BoA hinted that she was planning to retire from being a singer entirely. The following day, she stated the exact date her contract was expiring. A few days later, she took down all of her IG posts.

What people seem to miss is that leading up to this, BoA has also been at the receiving end of constant online harassment for months.

(More under the cut)

BoA has been the subject of huge hate trains, arguably since 2021. This isn't a comprehensive list, but the big ones include:

People disagreeing with her decisions as judge on SWF and SMF, prompting a flood of hate comments on her IG, including accusations that she was 'trying to seduce the male contestants.'

GOT the Beat opened the floodgates for a lot of ageist comments about BoA, who was the group's most senior member. There were also malicious speculations about why she wasn't present in much of the group's behind-the-scenes content; BoA swiftly addressed this via her IG story, explaining that she had to attend a family event. While this wasn't named as the reason, it may be important to note that BoA's brother passed away from cancer on September that same year.

BoA was blamed for 'delaying the solo/group comebacks of her juniors,' in favor of GOT the Beat to 'boost her own career.' Not only has BoA (who is not even the group's leader; she gave the position to Taeyeon) already explained that she did not make the group — she was asked to join it and was, in fact, initially apprehensive — it was also later revealed that comeback delays were due to internal management issues (culminating in the ousting of Lee Sooman and Hybe's acquisition of SM) and because of disagreements about lyrical content. Interestingly, out of all the members of GOT the Beat, BoA ended up being the only member who didn't have a comeback in 2023.

The most recent wave of hate came from her cameo in the drama Marry My Husband, often mocking her appearance.

Since at least February 2024, BoA has been consistently and directly addressing the harassment she's been facing, both in interviews and in her social media. This is something she has rarely done in the 24 years she's been active.

Things came to a head on the evening of March 29th, when BoA posted this on her IG story:

This IG story prompted a huge wave of hate. There were forum posts calling her an attention seeker; notably, there was also a tweet that went viral, of a 'fan' saying that they now planned to unstan BoA because she was now "a completely different person."

One week later, on April 6th, BoA posted, "It's okay for me to retire right?" with an IG story that clarified that she intended to remain a singer until her active contract expires on December 31, 2025; the implication seems to be that she would no longer be an active singer after 2025.

This came as a huge shock to fans because BoA has consistently said that she wants to keep working as a singer:

August 25, 2020 [her 20th debut anniversary]: "There'll be a 30th anniversary after my 20th. I'll do my best to make good music for a long time, so please always give me your love and support!"

April 23, 2023 [Interview with Uhm Junghwa for W Korea]: "Actually, I'm the type who doesn't look back. After I've accomplished something, I don't have time to think, 'well done' or 'good job' because I'm already thinking of the next step. With that, there's no time for me to rest on my laurels, but this drive allows me to last a long time. It might be the most difficult thing, but my one hope is that I never tire of this job [being a performer], which I love so much."

February 23, 2024 [BoA for Marie Claire Korea]: "Right now, I enjoy my job, and I want to keep doing what I can, given my age."

Most notably, on the afternoon of March 29th — shortly before BoA responded to hate comments about her looks — BoA gave an interview with Esquire Korea, where she basically said that there were still so many things she wanted to accomplish as a singer:

Q: Is there something you still want to achieve? BoA: I want to do a lot of interesting performances. I want to break away from preconceived notions/conventions, sing songs I haven't done before, and create opportunities to communicate more with my audience. Q: What don't you want to change? BoA: My passion for music. Music is where I started. It's my life.

Right after BoA posted her retirement IG stories on April 6th, her fans organized truck protests (something the fandom has never done before), demanding that SM take action to defend BoA from the deluge of online hate.

They were incensed by the fact that in 2022, SM had already promised they would take legal action over malicious comments against her (she even reposted their statement on her personal IG), but nothing happened. In fact, legal action has only been taken in defense of BoA once, in 2020 — 20 years into her career, despite the fact that she's been going through much worse harassment, especially in the early 2000s when she was barely a teenager.

Five days after BoA's retirement announcement IG stories, on April 11th, SM announced that they were going to take legal action. While the statement resembled the one they put out in 2022, they also added that BoA was going through a difficult time, suffering from "great mental pain." A follow-up statement came on April 17th, where SM mentioned specific platforms and forums they were planning to sue. Unfortunately, as of this writing, there have been no further updates.

To recap:

On March 29th (afternoon), BoA gave an interview where she said that there was so many things she still wanted to do as a singer.

On March 29th (evening), BoA responded to malicious comments about her appearance on her IG story.

Her IG story quickly went viral in Korea. On March 30th, a post from a fan who claimed to 'unstan' her because of her IG story, garnered millions of views.

On April 6th, BoA hinted at retiring after 2025 on her IG story.

On April 9th, BoA removed all of her IG posts. Fans organized truck protests to call out SM's inaction vis-a-vis the harassment she was facing, in spite of their explicit, repeated promises to act on it.

On April 11th, SM issued a statement that they were going to take legal action against malicious comments about BoA, adding that BoA was suffering "great mental anguish."

As of this writing (August 25, 2024), there has been no formal, official announcement on whether or not BoA is really going to follow through with retiring after her active contract expires. But BoA has remained inactive on social media since April. There were only a handful of times she interacted with fans online: she went on IG live for 4 minutes in May to tell fans that she has plans to hold a concert in October, and she would also sporadically post a sentence-long message on her membership-only Weverse page.

On a more personal note from me: this has just been so disheartening to watch, as someone who's been following her career closely. The idea of BoA retiring was unimaginable to me. She always talked about how she compares her own career to other older artists, how she still feels like a 'baby' with a long way still to go compared to them. Obviously, it is well within BoA's right to change her mind about her own career, and surely, there are things going on behind the scenes that we don't know about. But the news has just been so hard to take because it doesn't feel like she's retiring because she wants to - it feels like she's burnt out.

[pl8-yer]

˖ ࣪ . 🎮࿐ ♡ ˚ .  PL8YER, pronounced as PLAYER, is a five -member fictional girl group. They debuted on June 28th,2021 under SM ENTERTAINMENT. The group was formed from a girl group called FINDING PL8YER before making their debut in as five with the song STEREOTYPE.

The members of the group faced heavy amounts of backlash when they made their debut especially the youngest and one of the foreign members, and the groups final lineup was very controversial making more of the groups debut less anticipated by fans. But once the girls debuted kpop fans came together to praise the girls. The girls began to gain notable traction when they did a dance practice with live vocals and became considered a monster rookie group after being nominated for multiple Rookie of the Year awards.

Over the years, PL8YER has been known to have their own distinct style. They have been praised for having such diverse concepts each comeback managing to put there gaming concept into the different concepts the did and also manage to keep their unique but recognizable sound. PL8YER is considered the most popular SM girl group in the eyes of the general public but according to the fans, the girls are the fourth most popular group right after AESPA

˖ ࣪ ˚ . GROUP NAME ⇁ PL8YER

˖ ࣪ ˚ . MEMBER NICKNAME ⇁ G@M3RS

˖ ࣪ ˚ . FANDOM NAME ⇁ H@CK3R

˖ ࣪ ˚ . FANDOM COLORS ⇁ #F6D2E0 #C8E7F5

˖ ࣪ ˚ . COMPANY ⇁ SM Entertainment

˖ ࣪ ˚ . DEBUT DATE ⇁ June 28, 2022

˖ ࣪ ˚ . DEBUT SONG ⇁ ST3RE0TYPE

˖ ࣪ ˚ . GREETING ⇁ "This our game,Hello we are PL8YER”

˖ ࣪ . 🎮 ࿐ ♡ ˚ . MEET THE G@M3RS!

˖ ࣪ . 🍡 🐶 ࿐ ♡ ˚ .  KIM SAEHEE professionally known as SAEHEE was born in 2003 in Chuncheon-si, South Korea. She is the oldest of the group and was placed into the lineup after ranking 3rd in FINDING PL8YER. She became the groups leader, main rapper and lead dancer after the group voted DEDE was introduced as a SM Rookie on July 17th, 2016 alongside AESPAS NingNing . She was given the title of Mom of the group by both the girls and contestants of FINDING PL8YER due to her very motherly personality and for being the oldest member.

˖ ࣪ ˚ . FULL NAME ⇁ Kim Saehee

˖ ࣪ ˚ . BIRTHDAY ⇁ May 7, 2003

˖ ࣪ ˚ . BIRTHPLACE ⇁ Chuncheon-si, South Korea

˖ ࣪ ˚ . POSITION ⇁ Leader, Main rapper, lead dancer

˖ ࣪ ˚ . HEIGHT ⇁ 169 cm

˖ ࣪ ˚ . ETHNICITY ⇁ Korean

˖ ࣪ ˚ . NATIONALITY ⇁ Korean

˖ ࣪ ˚ . FACECLAIM ⇁ Kim MINJI

˖ ࣪ . 🍓🐰 ࿐ ♡ ˚ .  RYU MELANIE professionally known as MELANIE was born in 2004 in San Francisco , California. She ranked 1st between two other people in FINDING PL8YER. MELANIE was introduced as a SM Rookie on July 9th, 2018 alongside Sana. She is the first American-Korean member to debut from a survival show in SM ENTERTAINMENT and is highly popular over in America. She is the main vocalist, dancer.

˖ ࣪ ˚ . FULL NAME ⇁ Ryu Melanie

˖ ࣪ ˚ . BIRTHDAY ⇁ December 8 , 2004

˖ ࣪ ˚ . BIRTHPLACE ⇁ San Francisco , California

˖ ࣪ ˚ . POSITION ⇁ Main Vocalist ,main dancer,center

˖ ࣪ ˚ . HEIGHT ⇁ 170 cm

˖ ࣪ ˚ . ETHNICITY ⇁ Mixed

˖ ࣪ ˚ . NATIONALITY ⇁ American

˖ ࣪ ˚ . FACECLAIM ⇁ Bae Jinsol

˖ ࣪ . 🍒 🦊 ࿐ ♡ ˚ .  ISHIOA SANA professionally known as SANA was born in 2006 in Tokyo, Japan. She ranked 2nd in FINDING PL8YER. She wrote the girls debut song and more of the songs from the album. SANA was introduced as a SM Rookie on July 9th, 2018 alongside Melanie. She was given the position of lead rapper due to her raps in the survival show and her flow.

˖ ࣪ ˚ . FULL NAME ⇁ Ishioa Sana

˖ ࣪ ˚ . BIRTHDAY ⇁ April 17,2006

˖ ࣪ ˚ . BIRTHPLACE ⇁ Tokyo, Japan

˖ ࣪ ˚ . POSITION ⇁ leader rapper,dancer

˖ ࣪ ˚ . HEIGHT ⇁ 164 cm

˖ ࣪ ˚ . ETHNICITY ⇁ Japanese

˖ ࣪ ˚ . NATIONALITY ⇁  Japanese

˖ ࣪ ˚ . FACECLAIM ⇁ Asa Enami

˖ ࣪ . 🫐 🐱 ࿐ ♡ ˚ .  HWANG DEIJI  professionally known as DEIJI was born in 2006 in Seoul, South Korea. She is ranked fourth in FINDING PL8YER. DEIJI was introduced as a SM Rookie on December 23rd, 2020 alongside her member Eunji. DEIJI is one of the group's main producers and has credits to her name.

˖ ࣪ ˚ . FULL NAME ⇁ Hwang Deiji

˖ ࣪ ˚ . BIRTHDAY ⇁ May 15, 2006

˖ ࣪ ˚ . BIRTHPLACE ⇁ Seoul, South Korea

˖ ࣪ ˚ . POSITION ⇁ Sub Rapper, Lead Dancer, lead Vocalist

˖ ࣪ ˚ . HEIGHT ⇁ 164 cm

˖ ࣪ ˚ . ETHNICITY ⇁ Korean

˖ ࣪ ˚ . NATIONALITY ⇁ Korean

˖ ࣪ ˚ . FACECLAIM ⇁ Kang Haerin

˖ ࣪ . 🍉 🦭 ࿐ ♡ ˚ .  AHN EUNJI professionally known as EUNJI was born in 2007 in Namyangju, Gyeonggi, South Korea.. She is ranked fifth in FINDING PL8YER . She got a lot of backlash for her age and not being as talented as the others but she proved those haters wrong . EUNJI was introduced as a SM Rookie on December 23rd, 2020 alongside Deiji . She was given the nickname of “the doll” because her doll like features.

˖ ࣪ ˚ . FULL NAME ⇁ Ahn Eunji

˖ ࣪ ˚ . BIRTHDAY ⇁  June 26th, 2007

˖ ࣪ ˚ . BIRTHPLACE ⇁ Namyangju, Gyeonggi, South Korea

˖ ࣪ ˚ . POSITION ⇁Vocalist,visual and Maknae

˖ ࣪ ˚ . HEIGHT ⇁ 163cm

˖ ࣪ ˚ . ETHNICITY ⇁ Korean

˖ ࣪ ˚ . NATIONALITY ⇁ Korean

˖ ࣪ ˚ . FACECLAIM ⇁ Lee Wonhee