#entertainment result 2020

[tangibletechnomancy]

The reason I took interest in AI as an art medium is that I've always been interested in experimenting with novel and unconventional art media - I started incorporating power tools into a lot of my physical processes younger than most people were even allowed to breathe near them, and I took to digital art like a duck to water when it was the big, relatively new, controversial thing too, so really this just seems like the logical next step. More than that, it's exciting - it's not every day that we just invent an entirely new never-before-seen art medium! I have always been one to go fucking wild for that shit.

Which is, ironically, a huge part of why I almost reflexively recoil at how it's used in the corporate world: because the world of business, particularly the entertainment industry, has what often seems like less than zero interest in appreciating it as a novel medium.

And I often wonder how much less that would be the case - and, by extension, how much less vitriolic the discussion around it would be, and how many fewer well-meaning people would be falling for reactionary mythologies about where exactly the problems lie - if it hadn't reached the point of...at least an illusion of commercial viability, at exactly the moment it did.

See, the groundwork was laid in 2020, back during covid lockdowns, when we saw a massive spike in people relying on TV, games, books, movies, etc. to compensate for the lack of outdoor, physical, social entertainment. This was, seemingly, wonderful for the whole industry - but under late-stage capitalism, it was as much of a curse as it was a gift. When industries are run by people whose sole brain process is "line-go-up", tiny factors like "we're not going to be in lockdown forever" don't matter. CEOs got dollar signs in their eyes. Shareholders demanded not only perpetual growth, but perpetual growth at this rate or better. Even though everyone with an ounce of common sense was screaming "this is an aberration, this is not sustainable" - it didn't matter. The business bros refused to believe it. This was their new normal, they were determined to prove -

And they, predictably, failed to prove it.

So now the business bros are in a pickle. They're beholden to the shareholders to do everything within their power to maintain the infinite growth they promised, in a world with finite resources. In fact, by precedent, they're beholden to this by law. Fiduciary duty has been interpreted in court to mean that, given the choice between offering a better product and ensuring maximum returns for shareholders, the latter MUST be a higher priority; reinvesting too much in the business instead of trying to make the share value increase as much as possible, as fast as possible, can result in a lawsuit - that a board member or CEO can lose, and have lost before - because it's not acting in the best interest of shareholders. If that unsustainable explosive growth was promised forever, all the more so.

And now, 2-3-4 years on, that impossibility hangs like a sword of Damocles over the heads of these media company CEOs. The market is fully saturated; the number of new potential customers left to onboard is negligible. Some companies began trying to "solve" this "problem" by violating consumer privacy and charging per household member, which (also predictably) backfired because those of us who live in reality and not statsland were not exactly thrilled about the concept of being told we couldn't watch TV with our own families. Shareholders are getting antsy, because their (however predictably impossible) infinite lockdown-level profits...aren't coming, and someone's gotta make up for that, right? So they had already started enshittifying, making excuses for layoffs, for cutting employee pay, for duty creep, for increasing crunch, for lean-staffing, for tightening turnarounds-

And that was when we got the first iterations of AI image generation that were actually somewhat useful for things like rapid first drafts, moodboards, and conceptualizing.

Lo! A savior! It might as well have been the digital messiah to the business bros, and their eyes turned back into dollar signs. More than that, they were being promised that this...both was, and wasn't art at the same time. It was good enough for their final product, or if not it would be within a year or two, but it required no skill whatsoever to make! Soon, you could fire ALL your creatives and just have Susan from accounting write your scripts and make your concept art with all the effort that it takes to get lunch from a Star Trek replicator!

This is every bit as much bullshit as the promise of infinite lockdown-level growth, of course, but with shareholders clamoring for the money they were recklessly promised, executives are looking for anything, even the slightest glimmer of a new possibility, that just might work as a life raft from this sinking ship.

So where are we now? Well, we're exiting the "fucking around" phase and entering "finding out". According to anecdotes I've read, companies are, allegedly, already hiring prompt engineers (or "prompters" - can't give them a job title that implies there's skill or thought involved, now can we, that just might imply they deserve enough money to survive!)...and most of them not only lack the skill to manually post-process their works, but don't even know how (or perhaps aren't given access) to fully use the software they specialize in, being blissfully unaware of (or perhaps not able/allowed to use) features such as inpainting or img2img. It has been observed many times that LLMs are being used to flood once-reputable information outlets with hallucinated garbage. I can verify - as can nearly everyone who was online in the aftermath of the Glasgow Willy Wonka Dashcon Experience - that the results are often outright comically bad.

To anyone who was paying attention to anything other than please-line-go-up-faster-please-line-go-please (or buying so heavily into reactionary mythologies about why AI can be dangerous in industry that they bought the tech companies' false promises too and just thought it was a bad thing), this was entirely predictable. Unfortunately for everyone in the blast radius, common sense has never been an executive's strong suit when so much money is on the line.

Much like CGI before it, what we have here is a whole new medium that is seldom being treated as a new medium with its own unique strengths, but more often being used as a replacement for more expensive labor, no matter how bad the result may be - nor, for that matter, how unjust it may be that the labor is so much cheaper.

And it's all because of timing. It's all because it came about in the perfect moment to look like a life raft in a moment of late-stage capitalist panic. Any port in a storm, after all - even if that port is a non-Euclidean labyrinth of soggy, rotten botshit garbage.

Any port in a storm, right? ...right?

All images generated using Simple Stable, under the Code of Ethics of Are We Art Yet?

[soleminisanction]

Okay this misconception keeps coming across my dash and it drives me nuts because it means people are lumping two very different versions of the DC universe under one disparaging banner. So let me just say this to get it off my chest because I'm this close to shaking somebody:

The New 52 ended seven years ago in 2016.

That started a section of DC's history called "Rebirth" in which they started bringing elements of the pre-Flashpoint continuity back into the timeline. The first changes came in a big burst called Convergence -- which is how Jon Kent effectively manifested fully formed at 10 years old -- while other reintroductions like Kon-El, Bart Allen, Cass Cain, etc. were more gradual.

The original plan, being forced through by King of Bad Decisions Dan Didio, was that after ~4-5 Rebirth would give way to another full reboot known as 5G. I could go into detail about the plans but they're honestly not important to this post because Didio was (thankfully, finally) ousted from his role as publisher early in 2020, along with something like 80% of the higher-level editorial staff. DC had a complete creative turn-over at the start of the pandemic and completely changed directions as a result. The material being developed for 5G was retooled into the hypothetical future event "Future State" to buy the new staff time to pull together their new direction.

That new direction is called INFINITE FRONTIER. It started in 2021 and THAT is the era of DC comics we're in now. Infinite Frontier is an active push to bring back the pre-Flashpoint characters, as well as some pre-Crisis ideas and characters, while also keeping the few elements of the New 52 that people actually liked (like Jason Todd's more heroic characterization) and actively pursuing diversity initiatives both in creative staff and in creations. And outside of the big events, they're making a real effort to keep these comics short and self contained in the hopes that that'll make them more accessible. So it's actually really easy, if you read comics pre-Flashpoint and dropped off, to just pick up a series and go with the flow. Anything confusing is just a Google away.

Please, please don't make the mistake of thinking modern comics are as bad as the New 52 just because some people are butthurt their ship isn't getting canonized. There have been some really good comics made in the last few years that you should totally try! Spirit World, Monkey Prince and the entire We Are Legends line has been genuinely fantastic. The new Birds of Prey is shaping up to be a ton of fun. Dark Knights of Steel is an entertaining Elseworld. Urban Legends and Brave & the Bold have done some really fun things with shorter anthology books. One Minute War was a really fun Flash family event and everything Stargirl's done recently is liable to make you cry.

I'm begging people to give these comics a chance. It's just really sad to see them being dismissed out of hand.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Matt Johnson at The UnPopulist:

Joe Rogan, a UFC commentator and comedian who hosts the most popular podcast in the United States and possibly the world, has developed a reputation as an anti-tribal and fiercely independent voice who is beholden to no political party or faction. In the eyes of his regular guest Jordan Peterson, Rogan is “the most powerful journalist who’s ever lived,” and he has managed to gain such broad appeal because he “just asks questions.” But the notion that Rogan is an honest broker of information who has an overriding commitment to the truth is absurd. In fact, he has only one consistent mission: attempting to debunk mainstream media narratives by entertaining conspiracy theories. He’s more of a populist than a non-partisan—and he’s definitely no truth-seeker. Nothing illustrates this better than his warmly favorable treatment of both Donald Trump and RJK Jr., along with the parade of other cranks he features who peddle outlandish conspiracy theories and constantly congratulate themselves for being “anti-establishment” or “heterodox.” The effect, whether he intends it or not, is to overwhelm our epistemic infrastructure and pave the way for dangerous populist demagogues.

The Most Popular MAGA Pundit in the World

In his much-discussed interview with Trump last week, Rogan’s approach was to first encourage Trump to air his typical barrage of conspiratorial falsehoods—and then to endorse them himself. Take, for example, the segments on elections and voting, which were always shaped by Rogan’s MAGA-friendly framing. When Rogan told Trump that “a lot of weirdness ... was going on during the 2020 elections,” he was basically affirming Trump’s Big Lie and ignoring the fact that the 2020 election was the most scrutinized contest in American history. The rest predictably followed:

Trump claimed that “old-fashioned ballot screwing” had taken place, such as “people ... dropping in phony votes.” Rogan agreed.

Trump claimed “the Russia hoax” swayed the 2020 election. Rogan agreed.

Trump claimed the temporary suppression of the Hunter Biden laptop story also swayed the election. Rogan agreed.

Trump claimed Democrats weaponized the justice system against him. Rogan agreed.

Trump alleged that Democrats are opposed to certain forms of voter ID “because they want to cheat.” Rogan responded: “It doesn’t make sense any other way.” Voter ID laws are a solution in search of a problem, given that there is little evidence of widespread voter fraud, but Rogan preferred to attribute to Democrats the most sinister motivation imaginable. Rogan also said “mail-in ballots are a problem” and worried about vote-counting machines getting hacked—a version of a famously discredited conspiracy theory for which Fox News had to pay $787 million in a settlement with a voting systems firm for pushing it on its airwaves.

When the discussion turned to the topic of denying election results, it was the perfect opportunity for Rogan, the interviewer renowned by fans as a tenacious truth-seeker, to press the most high-profile election denialist American politics has ever seen. That’s not what happened. Instead of challenging Trump’s years-long insistence that he actually won the 2020 election, or his enlisting of attorneys like Sidney Powell to claim communist-designed voting machines rigged the contest against him, or his attempts to overthrow the election by sending fake slates of electors to Washington, or his incitement of an insurrectionary mob at the U.S. Capitol to halt the certification of the vote, Rogan brought up ... the Russia investigation. Democrats are especially prone to denying election results, he told the man who believes he beat Hillary Clinton in the popular vote in 2016 and Joe Biden in the Electoral College vote in 2020.

But the segment on elections and voting wasn’t only about 2020. Consider their exchange about Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio. After Trump declared that Democrats had turned Springfield into a “horror show” by “dropping” immigrants into the community, Rogan’s follow-up wasn’t to press Trump for corroboration, given that state Republican officials said this was nonsense and have asked Trump to stop endangering an innocent minority group. Instead, Rogan asked Trump to hypothesize about what must be motivating Democrats to allow a flood of immigrants into the country. As if that was not a loaded enough question, Rogan then proceeded to say this: “One of the things that’s been very clear is that they’ve moved a large percentage of these migrants—they’re coming across the border illegally—[into] swing states.” Never mind that the Haitians in Springfield are legal. In one fell swoop, Rogan managed to seamlessly transition from asking a question about immigration to asserting the Great Replacement conspiracy theory that Democrats are importing illegal voters to steal elections—exactly Trump’s view.

[...] Rogan’s embrace of RFK Jr. isn’t ultimately down to his personal charms—Rogan is dependably supportive of health and wellness conspiracism just generally. During the Covid pandemic, the Joe Rogan Experience was among the most formidable engines of misinformation about the disease, alternative treatments, and vaccine safety, with appearances by conspiracists like Bret Weinstein, Robert Malone, and Pierre Kory. He regularly invites conspiracists onto his show to pump out hours of uninterrupted anti-vaccine propaganda. Alex Jones—one of the most prolific and notorious conspiracy theorists of our time, who accused the grieving families of Sandy Hook victims of being crisis actors who were part of a plot to take Americans’ guns—has been a guest many times. Conspiracy theorists like Weinstein who rant about the horrors of vaccine injuries, the life-saving properties of ivermectin, and the totalitarian machinations of the WHO for long stretches, are honored guests.

[...]

Heterodox Media Has a Right-Wing Conspiracism Problem

Rogan has presented his podcast as a counterweight to the “establishment” media. That means he regularly platforms figures that traditional outlets won’t because they don’t meet basic journalistic standards. He evades accountability by always pointing out that he’s a mere comedian and entertainer, a clever rhetorical shield. This grants him the latitude to speculate as recklessly as he wants, indulge some of the wildest conspiracy theories around, and consistently get basic facts wrong while allowing his guests to do the same. So long as his audience laps it up, he has no reason to approach things any differently. But that’s also why the backlash from Trump’s MAGA base was so threatening to him: that’s an occasion in which he risked losing his audience. Rogan has become wholly captured by his audience even as he maintains the pretense that he’s a fair-minded and inquisitive political observer who is capable of seeing through what he regards as the sinister machinations and distortions of both major political parties. That’s why, when the wave of MAGA resentment came crashing down on him when he endorsed RFK Jr., he caved.

Kamala Harris’ supporters never expected Rogan’s endorsement, and there’s no Democratic equivalent of Catturd to chastise Rogan for supporting a third-party candidate. Nor does Rogan have much of a non-right audience. So all his incentives lean in the direction of becoming a right-wing conspiracy theorist—especially since, right now, there are more conspiracies on the right. Indeed, there are few, if any, MAGA conspiracy theories that Rogan hasn’t amplified. Last year, he suggested that Jan. 6 was a “false flag” operation in which “intelligence agencies were involved in provoking people into the Capitol.” He defended Arizona’s Republican senatorial candidate, Kari Lake’s, debunked claims about voter fraud in her state’s gubernatorial race: “All that Kari Lake stuff in Arizona they tried to dismiss, it doesn’t look like that’s invalid. It looks like there’s real fraud there.”

Rogan, of course, isn’t the only one. There is an entire industry of self-styled “heterodox” thinkers who have gravitated toward the right. Peterson, Rogan’s frequent guest, was once merely critical of campus identity politics and other forms of “wokeness.” He’s now a committed political partisan indistinguishable from a standard-fare Fox News commentator (e.g., characterizing Harris as “a master of chaos and deception” who is full of “envy” and “spite”; or describing Trump’s indictments as a “horrible” form of political “persecution”). Rogan and Peterson are part of an alternative media community providing an intellectual permission structure for people to support MAGA under the guise of “independent thought,” “heterodoxy,” or “classical liberalism.”

But Rogan plays a crucial role in this right-wing alternative media ecosystem. Because he has always presented himself as non-partisan, millions of listeners trust that he doesn’t have an agenda. Heterodox intellectuals and influencers like Peterson constantly decry traditional media as captured by elite interests, and they present shows like the Joe Rogan Experience as the alternative. But when Rogan and his guests shower praise on Trump and relentlessly attack his political opponents, they prove that they aren’t the anti-establishment crusaders they claim to be—they’re just supporting one establishment over another. In many ways, Rogan is the perfect embodiment of the Trump-era podcaster.

Joe Rogan claims to be an independent voice, but is in reality a right-wing conspiracy theorist whose podcast has a largely MAGA audience.

[minhypen]

Minyoung (ENHYPEN) Profile & Facts

Minyoung (민영) is a member of the Plus-One boy group ENHYPEN who debuted on November 30, 2020, under HYBE Entertainment.

Stage Name: Minyoung (민영) Birth Name: Park Min-Yeong (박민영) English Name: Madison Park Japanese Name: Arai Mizuki Position: Female Center, Sub-Leader, Main Dancer Birthday: December 23, 2003 Zodiac Sign: Capricorn Chinese Zodiac Sign: Sheep Height: 170 cm (5’6) Weight: N/A Blood Type: B MBTI Type: ESTJ (Her previous result was ESFJ) Nationality: Japanese Ethnicity: Korean Solo Fandom Name: Min-ions Representative Emoji: 🐰 Mic colour: Sparkly white

Minyoung Facts:

She was born in Osaka, but she studied in a Korean all-girls school rather than a Japanese one

She has two representative animals, cat because of her eyes and bunny because of her teeth. That's why she's sometimes called a 'cat-like bunny', but bunny is the more often used nickname

Minyoung's mom made her take English lessons, so she is somewhat fluent in English

She used to play for her school's badminton team and even won gold in some inter-school tournaments

She has the second shortest training period in her group, training for only 10 months excluding I-Land

Her nicknames/titles are Pradagirl because of their ambassadorship, Alive Barbie-doll because of her perfect visuals, Minnyang-ie because of her resemblance to a cat, given by her members and Maddy Hopps because of her resemblance to Judy Hopps from Zootopia, given by her fans

She is said to be someone born for the stage, because she seems her happiest when she's performing

She is very close with her sister, who came all the way to Seoul with her when she started her training (Minyoung's birthday live, 2021)

Being an ARMY since 2014, Minyoung picked BTS's RM as her biggest inspiration

She said she wants to learn how to play the drums and the guitar, if she ever has time

She used to be very popular in her school for being on the badminton team, so she always recieved chocolates from the girls in her grade on White Day

Minyoung's pet is a white ragdoll cat named Tsuki (I-Land ep. 12)

Her favorite color is white, but beige is a close second

She is known for her luck that always helps her at the right time. Her members gave her the name Golden Hands because she always picks the best option during a random draw

She has admitted that she's the worst at flirting among all the members

Sunghoon said that Minyoung likes to go out a lot and can easily make new friends, describing her as a perfect extrovert

She likes to read books in her free time and is a big fan of the Harry Potter series. She has a 3-foot bookshelf filled with novels and also has E-Book apps on her phone

Her childhood dream was to become like Tiana, who is her favorite Disney princess

She would like to try writing and composing songs for a change from her usual contribution of choreographing

Likes: sweets, Korean hot dogs, Disney, plushies, sports, the color white, Enhypen, Sunghoon (Self-Revised Profile)

Dislikes: coffee, carbonated drinks, bitter things, unorganized bed, bugs, needles, slimy things (Self-Revised Profile)

(Details as of December 2023)

Is Minyoung your Enhypen bias?

𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙩𝙤 𓈒 𓈒 𓈒 𝗛𝗢𝗠𝗘

© 𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐇𝐘𝐏𝐄𝐍 　　(　　𝖺𝗅𝗅 𝗋𝗂𝗀𝗁𝗍𝗌 𝗋𝖾𝗌𝖾𝗋𝗏𝖾𝖽　　) 𝗄𝗂𝗇𝖽𝗅𝗒 𝗋𝖾𝖺𝖽 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗋𝗎𝗅𝖾𝗌 𝖻𝖾𝖿𝗈𝗋𝖾 𝗂𝗇𝗍𝖾𝗋𝖺𝖼𝗍𝗂𝗇𝗀

[rb19]

as the norstappen url holder TO ME current norstappen dynamics is SYMPATHY IS A KNIFE by charli

we know lando cares very deeply about how fans/media view their friendship. he felt he had to clear up he didn't race max hard in 2023 bc there's no point duh max was in rocketship, he could not compete, didnt make sense for his own result to put up a fight, it's not bc he is max's mate!!!! stop saying that PLEASEEE!!!!! went far to say that "we're not best friends." and i get that. just bc max doesn't let fans/media opinion get to him, it doesn't mean it's easy for lando to do the same.

max considers lando his best friend from the grid bc lando was the first driver who had the same interests as him back in 2019. finally someone from the grid understood max's sim racing obsession. lando didn't make fun of max's love for video games bc he also loved to play them. their iracing/COD streams back in 2019/2020 were fun and the reason they got close. as lando moved to monaco they started hanging out together, max loves a good party and so does lando now so to sass cafe we go. lando couldn't get max into golf god bless but they love to play padel. etc.

lando was very much a fan of max when he first got into f1. once i was stalking this inactive max fan page on instagram and noticed lando liked a bunch of posts back in 2018 😭 he saw max winning the big titles in karting. i think a few max fans are annoyed by some of lando's actions/interviews right now but they forget how he was/is always very complimentary of max as a driver/person in interviews. how he asked in the 2020 70th anniversary gp who won the race and his reaction to race engineer saying max was "legend." how he was team max throughout the whole 2021 season. how even last year he asked british fans to not boo max in silverstone. etc. and max was always there backing up lando too. stating he believes lando has what it takes to be a world champion in the future, that he made the right choice by staying in mclaren and having faith in the project.

IN 2024 they both have a fast car and they can compete against each other. max is a three time world champion, he aint got nothing else to prove. he has beaten lewis fucking hamilton. lando is the one who has everything to prove. he has to prove he can fight max hard now and back up his words. the pressure is all on lando. so how lando talks about max in race weekends, how he reacts to max's performances on track is going to change naturally. those max fans have to accept that. but things won't change for max, because max has been winning for so long now. max knows how to take losses. how to quickly recover from mistakes.

and ofc max being happy for lando in miami was ok, it was first win, everyone was happy for him. but lando doesn't want to see max happy anymore. i just beat you to pole and you come up to me to gossip about leclerc's lack of penalty??? who the fuck cares, can't you be at least a bit mad? lando will sulk after a race he feels he should've won, while max will quickly get over a p2 in miami even if he got fucked over by a SC. lando will entertain hypotheticals bc it helps knowing he was close to a win again, while max dgaf he could've won miami, he's all praises for lando.

lando does not have the self confidence max has. lando will question himself. it's normal. lando will feel conflicted. he doesn't want max to play nice with him, he doesn't want max's sympathy after he just lost a race. sympathy is just a knife. he knows it's sincere coming from max, and especially bc it's sincere he feels belittled by it. it's silly and he doesn't even want to feel that way. is he not worthy of being max's RIVAL? he doesn't want max to explain to him after the race how his aggressive move opened up the door to george overtake them both. he doesn't want max to be laughing at him in the press con. can max take me seriously for a sec?

next chapter: austria.

[sepublic]

TL;DR at the bottom... Even before the decision to include the Collector, I have to wonder if the writers always intended the backstory of a great war between the Titans and a group of celestial beings that descended from above, who smote each other and left only King behind as the survivor. The Season 1 finale alludes to other Titan corpses, with the Boiling Isles being the only fully intact one discovered; So there’s already that implicit question of What killed the Titans?

Likewise, there’s the angelic imagery surrounding Belos, that we also see introduced in S1. And while this could just be a reference to actual Christianity in-universe, I do recall speculating there having been a war between the Titans and divine beings from above during that time in response to this... Not to mention!

The Elsewhere and Elsewhen storyboards have Philip seeking a Song of Stars instead of the Collector, and we know there originally would’ve been three figures that cornered the Owl Beast in Knock, Knock, Knockin’ on Hooty’s Door’s storyboards. Sounds like...

I’ve speculated on these three as a motif since S1, with their first appearance being in Young Blood, Old Souls, where we first learned of the other Titans and their butchered state. Obviously, we must keep in mind that the crew changed the story after writing Eda’s Requiem, in response to the show’s shortening (this was told to them the week after Agony of a Witch aired, production takes a while), so K3oHD and EE’s storyboards may not mean much in regards to the pre-shortening plans.

But storyboards could’ve been written concurrently; They may have always intended an Angels vs Demons war between the Titans and visitors from the stars, that resulted in a mutual extinction. And the Collector and their backstory wasn’t totally made up in response to the shortening, either; Dana said they were a character concept the writers always wanted to explore.

So it could be that the shortening convinced the writers to make the Collector the face/representative of that extinct species, rather than a more conventional Archivist. And/or the Collectors would’ve remained purely posthumous characters in the backstory, the way Caleb and Evelyn are. The Collector was suggested as a kid of this celestial species to flesh them out, only to be truncated into just the trio; But with the shortening, the crew chose to actualize them as the lens through which we learn of their people’s genocide against the Titans, since they had so much fun with their concept.

Even before the show was shortened and the story changed, the writers might’ve always intended for the Titans to have been wiped out in a war against some celestial beings from space. They entertained the idea of a kid of that species, just as King is for the Titans; And when the shortening was announced in Summer 2020, Dana went F it and decided to elevate this cosmic child from the backstory and into the main story for our protagonists to actually deal with. Instead of an adult trio being this species’ representatives, the writers settled for the Collector.

Even if we didn’t get the Collector, that trio may have taken their place anyway. The background of their species’ genocide against the Titans would’ve remained; Philip’s plan would’ve been to use a leftover spell from that war, the Song of Stars, to enact a genocide upon witches as it was used for Titans (he may have mistaken the Collectors for literal angels whose mission he was finishing; Not unlike how he gets people to project divinity onto the Titan).

And since S1, he was always intended to be aware of and inspired by these celestial beings, who may have come in the form of a trio; Hence the Petrification statue, with the Owl Beast scroll as another hint. The curse is also red magic, which I compared to Belos’, and since he learned from the Collector...!

TL;DR I don’t think the Collector’s inclusion in the story changed it that much, since they’re just an extension of lore that was always planned, possibly filling a role originally intended for others of their kind anyhow; And it sounds as if Dana always considered the Collector, and thus might’ve gone through with them even if TOH hadn’t been shortened. Not that it really matters, because I find the Collector a legitimately compelling character in their own right, who in addition to their contributions to the themes, story, and other characters’ arcs, has justified their inclusion.

[ridenwithbiden]

On Jan. 6, 2021, then-President Donald Trump held a rally on the Ellipse, with the White House in the background, telling his supporters to “fight like hell” before a mob of them violently stormed the Capitol where Congress was certifying that he had lost the election.

Tonight, a week before Election Day, Vice President Harris will use the same backdrop to lay out the closing argument of her campaign: that it’s time to turn the page on the divisive and chaotic Trump era.

More than 20,000 people are expected for the event, which is aimed at reaching what campaign operatives call "low propensity" voters who aren't usually all that interested in politics — to try to convince them to cast a ballot.

”This speech is really designed to reach those undecided voters, those folks that are making the decision to break through in a moment when it's sometimes hard to break through, and really to talk about what's at stake in this election,” campaign chair Jen O'Malley Dillon told reporters.

”It's really a reminder of the gravity of the job: how much a president can do for good — and for bad — to shape the country and impact people's lives,” she said.

Rally after rally, Harris has talked about Jan. 6

Harris started off her campaign as a joyful warrior. But as the race wore on and polls showed it tightening, Harris has increasingly leaned on the dangers of electing Trump — a candidate she argues is “unhinged and unstable.”

Harris elevated dire warnings about Trump as she campaigned with former GOP Rep. Liz Cheney, trying to peel off moderate Republicans and independents appalled by what had happened on Jan. 6.

“He refused to accept the will of the people and the results of an election that was free and fair,” Harris has said.

Last week, she agreed that Trump is a “fascist” after the New York Times released interviews with retired Marine Gen. John Kelly making that same charge.

Kelly had been White House chief of staff to Trump and said his former boss, in private, even praised Hitler and his generals. The Trump campaign dismissed Kelly’s stories as fabrications.

For Harris, this was another opportunity to drive home her warning. “This is a window into who Donald Trump really is from the people who know him best,” Harris said.

Echoes of Clinton’s campaign

Hillary Clinton also issued dire warnings in the closing days of her 2016 campaign, reminding voters that in a debate, Trump had refused to say he would accept the results of the election.

“Make no mistake: by doing that, he is threatening our democracy,” Clinton said.

Trump won the 2016 election and gladly accepted the results.

At the time, Clinton’s warnings were seen by many as over the top: a last-minute effort to try to move voters. People were skeptical, said Brian Fallon, who worked on the Clinton campaign and is a senior adviser to Harris now.

“There was a phenomenon of taking Trump seriously but not literally,” Fallon said echoing a line that became a mantra after Trump’s 2016 win.

But now, Fallon argues it’s different — because Trump refused to accept his loss in 2020, and still hasn’t. He has described Jan. 6 as “a day of love” and has pledged to pardon at least some of those who were prosecuted for their actions that day.

“We’re not asking anybody to suspend disbelief in order to entertain these warnings,” said Fallon. “This is something that is the American people’s actual experience over the past several years.”

The argument is persuasive for some groups of voters

The Harris campaign has its attention trained on swing-state suburbs where tens of thousands of Republicans voted for Nikki Haley rather than Trump in the Republican primary — in some cases, even after she had dropped out of the race.

In polls and focus groups, voters say they are worried about violence around this year’s election.

“This isn’t hypothetical anymore,” said Celinda Lake, a Democratic pollster. “It’s real lived experience.”

Warnings about Trump are persuasive to women swing voters, and are mobilizing for women and Democratic men, Lake said. These are voters like Susan Shurina, who spoke to NPR’s Asma Khalid after voting early in Alpharetta, Ga.

“I supported the Democratic Party this time although I’m a registered Republican,” Shurina said last week. “I’m just fearful of the rhetoric I hear from Trump. He seems to be very violent in wanting to control, and vengeful.”

But Marc Lotter, who served in the Trump administration and now works at a pro-Trump think-tank, argued Harris’ warnings will ring hollow with a lot of voters, who already lived through one Trump term.

“Well, he didn’t lock her up,” Lotter said of Trump’s threat to Hillary Clinton.

Lotter said he sees Harris’ warnings as a desperation move — a scare tactic — because Harris hasn’t been able to convince undecided voters she would be better for them than Trump.

“I don’t see how that’s going to be the winning factor at the end,” Lotter said.

Harris will present a contrast

Some Democrats have worried Harris’ warnings are not enough to get across the finish line in a very tight race where voters rank economic concerns as their top priority.

Joseph Geevarghese, executive director of Our Revolution, a group that grew out of Sen. Bernie Sanders’ 2016 campaign, said he is worried some on the left will stay home rather than vote, or will consider third parties.

Harris is set to argue that Trump, if elected, will continue to focus on himself and his growing list of personal enemies, citing his own increasingly inflammatory closing arguments.

“He calls these Americans the enemy within and says that he would use the American military to go after American citizens,” said Harris.

She will contrast that with what she has been calling her “to-do list” of policies to try to bring down prices and make life easier for Americans.

“She's obviously going to touch on lowering costs on things like groceries, housing, health care,” Harris' campaign chair O'Malley Dillon said. “You're going to hear her really speak to middle class families, and what they're worried about and what she's going to do about it.”

NPR's Asma Khalid contributed to this story.

[pennyblossom-meta]

The hidden loneliness of L, the duplicity of Light

EDIT: 24/05/24 (added: further context)

Harping on from this post by @my-one-true-l.

Feel free to disagree and engage!

This was entirely out of the blue, but while watching the character analysis of Bruno from Encanto by therapist Jonathan Decker and filmmaker Alan Seawright, I was somewhat taken aback by this set of comments on sequence where Bruno opens up to Mirabel about his apparent loneliness:

JD: But he's so into all this entertainment, the acting for himself, all these habits because he's so alone. AS: Yeah. JD: And when we don't have real connection, we sacrifice — you know, we get really into TV shows, we get really into movies. I mean, even more so than normal, we are out of balance because we don't want to have actual relationships, or we want to and we're not.

It was a coincidental throwback to this quote by Fu Takahashi, who plays L in the 2020 JP musical:

There are cartoon, film, animation and musical versions of “DEATH NOTE”; I think that the character is different in each version and has its own charm. A common thing about L among these versions is that, despite his superficial image as a smart guy who hates losing, he actually feels lonely and needs affection, I imagine. Perhaps he is an orphan – his character suggests so. He tries to control his emotions, like the feelings towards his parents, or romantic feelings; that’s why he is sort of dependent on games or battles of the mind. So I want to play L while thinking about the foundations on which his personality has been formed.

And while L and Bruno's situations are obviously incredibly different in both context and personality, I found it interesting that Jonathan talks about the concept of the identified patient right after; where a couple is on the brink of divorce, a group of friends or work colleagues keep arguing and having problems — there's a decision, whether subconscious or not, that a specific someone is the problem, i.e., the black sheep, and that fixing this person will solve the adjacent problems.

It further reminded me of the way that Light's duplicity throughout the first arc made L the black sheep of the Task Force, as no one wanted to believe for a very long time that he could be Kira. Certainly not while L was alive, as he was often accused of pursuing Light because a) he had no other suspects and b) out of sheer stubbornness.

While L also mused whether his suspicion of Light was also, in part, due to a lack of others who could ascend to the same level of intellect and thus (his own) enjoyment of the game, the result of this duplicity in the psyche of the Task Force becomes even more malicious if we consider what Jonathan says next:

JD: (...) other times we're just going to let this person hold all of it so that we can believe in our own goodness and perfection.

Extrapolating this a bit: the inherent value to this reasoning is not that the Task Force wants to believe in their own goodness and perfection by focusing on Light's innocence; rather, Light wants to be seen as the good, perfect individual and cast on L an easy light (pun intended) of the outsider who clashes with the ethics of honor and professionalism of police officers, in an already strict culture of rigor and normalized behaviors (the hammer and the nail, the nail gets hammered until it fits in); whereas L sticks out like a sore thumb in both appearance and morals.

[ae-vivi]

✮⠀ˑ ִֶ 𓂃⊹.⠀♱⠀✮⠀ˑ ִֶ 𓂃⊹. AESPA Members Profile

aespa (에스파), stylized as æspa, is a 5-member South Korean girl group under SM Entertainment, consisting of Karina, Giselle, Winter, Avani and NingNing. They made their Korean debut on November 17, 2020, with the digital single, “Black Mamba“. They made their Japanese debut on July 3, 2024 with the single, “Hot Mess“. On June 2, 2022, it was announced that aespa has signed with Warner Records for global promotions.

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ Fandom Name Explanation: Their name comes from combining “æ,” derived from “Avatar X Experience,” & “aspect.” The meaning behind the name is various innovative activities to come with the theme of “experiencing a new world via the encounter of the ‘avatar,’ your other self.”

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ Official Greeting: “Be my ae! Hi, we are æspa!”

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ aespa Official Fandom Name: MY (마이)

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ aespa Official Fandom Colors: Aurora

﹒　　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ aespa Official Logo:

　 　 　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ aespa Official SNS:

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ Website (Japan): aespa-official.jp

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ Instagram: @aespa_official

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ X (Twitter): @aespa_official / (Japan): @aespaJPofficial

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ TikTok: @aespa_official

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ YouTube: aespa

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ Facebook: aespa

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ Weibo: aespa

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ Pinterest: aespa

﹒　　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ aespa Member Profiles:

﹒　　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ Karina

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ Stage Name: Karina (카리나)

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ Birth Name: Yu Ji Min (유지민)

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ English Name: Katarina Yu

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ Position: Leader, Main Dancer, Lead Rapper, Sub-Vocalist, Visual, Face of the Group, Center

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ Birthday: April 11th, 2000

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ Zodiac Sign: Aries

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ Chinese Zodiac Sign: Dragon

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ Height: 167.8 cm (5’6″)

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ Weight: 45 kg (99 lbs)

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ Blood Type: B

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ MBTI Type: ENFP

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ Nationality: Korean

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ Representative Symbol: Heart ❤

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ Representative Animal: Whale 🐋

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ Representative Number: 24

﹒　　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ See more Karina fun facts…

﹒　　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ Giselle

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ Stage Name: Giselle (지젤)

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ Birth Name: Uchinaga Aeri (うちながえり/우치나가에리)

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ English Name: Giselle Uchinaga

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ Korean Name: Kim Aeri (김애리)

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ Position: Main Rapper, Sub-Vocalist

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ Birthday: October 30th, 2000

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ Zodiac Sign: Scorpio

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ Chinese Zodiac Sign: Dragon

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ Height: 163~164 cm (5’4″)

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ Weight: N/A

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ Blood Type: O

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ MBTI Type: INFJ (Her former result was ENFP)

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ Nationality: Japanese-Korean

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ Representative Symbol: Crescent Moon 🌙

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ Representative Animal: Unicorn 🦄

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ Representative Number: 22

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ Instagram: @aerichandesu

﹒　　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ See more Giselle fun facts…

﹒　　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ Winter

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ Stage Name: Winter (윈터)

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ Birth Name: Kim Min Jeong (김민정)

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ Chinese Name: DongDong (冬冬)

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ Position: Main Vocalist, Lead Dancer, Visual

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ Birthday: January 1st, 2001

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ Zodiac Sign: Capricorn

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ Chinese Zodiac Sign: Dragon

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ Official Height: 165 cm (5’5″) / Real Height: 163 cm (5’4″)

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ Weight: N/A

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ Blood Type: A

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ MBTI Type: INTJ (previously ISTP)

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ Nationality: Korean

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ Representative Symbol: Star ⭐

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ Representative Animal: Siberian Husky 🐶

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ Representative Number: 44

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ Instagram: @imwinter

﹒　　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ See more Winter fun facts…

﹒　　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ Avani

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ Stage Name: Avani (아바니)

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ Birth Name: Avani Rosè Accardi

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ Korean Name: Choi Soha

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ Position: Main Dancer, Lead Rapper, Sub-Vocalist, Visual

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ Birthday: February 2nd, 2002

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ Zodiac Sign: Aquarius

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ Height: 171 cm (5’7)

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ Weight: 45 kg (99 lbs)

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ Blood Type: AB+

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ MBTI Type: ESFP

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ Nationality: Korean-Italian

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ Representative Symbol: Diamond 💎

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ Representative Animal: Black Cat 🐈‍⬛

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ Representative Number: 31

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ Instagram: @/avanirose

﹒　　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ See more Avani fun facts…

﹒　　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ NingNing

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ Stage Name: NingNing (닝닝)

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ Birth Name: Ning Yizhuo (宁艺卓)

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ English Name: Vivian Ning

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ Korean Name: Jeo Ye Tak (저예탁)

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ Position: Main Vocalist, Maknae

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ Birthday: October 23rd, 2002

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ Zodiac Sign: Libra-Scorpio Cusp (Ning claims to be a Libra)

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ Chinese Zodiac Sign: Horse

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ Height: 161 cm (5’3″)

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ Weight: 43 kg (94 lbs)

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ Blood Type: O

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ MBTI Type: INFP (previously ENFP)

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ Nationality: Chinese

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ Representative Symbol: Butterfly 🦋

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ Representative Animal: Tiger 🐯

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ Representative Number: 94

　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ Instagram: @imnotningning

﹒　　 ׅ⠀ ∔ ˚ See more NingNing fun facts…

[csmiclub]

                       ❛  CULT CREATIVE ❜   ─────  HOME IS THE FIRST GRAVE.

Cult Creative, formerly Cult Creative Records, is a South Korean record label founded in 2003 by Han Byungcheol. Although Cosmic Club acquired the label in 2015, it still operates independently. In 2017, Cult Creative Records shed records from its name, becoming simply Cult Creative.

Cult Creative debuted its first artist in 2005, KIM RUBY, who brought the company moderate success upon debut. Their second act, HAEWON, in 2008, got the same results. However, the debut of the label’s first girl group in 2011, HEARTBURN, put the company on the map, bringing national success. The soloist JUDY in 2013 would be their first act to debut disastrously, but it would also be why Cult Creative’s name is known worldwide; the soloist would vindicate herself in her subsequent release and become the label's most prominent artist.

 Native Name. 컬트 크리에이티브; 컬트 창작 기록

Romanized Name. keolteu keulieitibeu; keolteu changjag gilog

Formerly. Cult Creative Records ( 2003 - 2017 )

Company Type. Public

Industry. Entertainment

Genre. K-pop  •  Pop  •  R&B  •  Dance  •  Hip Hop

Founded. October 5, 1995

Founders. Monika Holičová & Park Jin-young

Headquarters.  Mapo-gu,  South  Korea

Key People. Han Byuncheol ( founder ), Ha Hyeju ( coo ) & Baek Jimin ( ceo & president )

Website. www.cultcreative.com

      ── ⠀† ˙    CULT CREATIVE CONTROVERSIES.   

 Dispute with Natthawut Sangsingkeo

In early June 2019, it was reported that Natthawut Sangsingkeo, also known as Dean, a member and composer of the Starborn Creative and Cult Creative group Zombie Pop, filed a lawsuit against the latter company for copyright infringement. He claimed he was not credited for writing So Hot and Chained Up by HeatBurn and Red String, respectively. The suit was announced via a Starborn Creative representative.

In a separate statement, the representative made it clear they were suing both Cult Creative and the producer, who was revealed to be BEAM (real name Lee JiYoung), who failed to credit Dean appropriately. They named the former for failing to hold the producer accountable for his actions. 

Cult Creative later released its statement, saying the accusations were “false” and that there was no evidence that Dean had participated in the composition of either song, to which Dean later submitted proof that he wrote a majority of both songs. The courts sided with Dean, stating the evidence provided was undeniable. The suit would be settled, with the artist getting royalties for 50% of both songs.

However, after this suit was settled, Dean would file another. He stated the previous case’s conclusion was inadequate as he had written a significant amount of both songs. Again, due to Dean's additional evidence, the courts sided with him. 

Ultimately, Cult Creative gave him 100% of the songwriting royalties. Later, a Cult Creative representative released a statement publicly apologizing to Dean and announcing they had terminated BEAM’s contract. 

      ── ⠀† ˙ ̟   CULT CREATIVE ARTISTS.

KIM RUBY ﹙ female soloist  ── 2005 - 2020 ﹚

HAEWON ﹙ female soloist  ── 2008 - 2017 ﹚

TRUE BLUE ﹙ four-member boy group  ── 2009 - 2018 ﹚

HEAT BURN ﹙ four-member girl group  ── 2011 - present ﹚

JUDY ﹙ female soloist  ── 2013 - present ﹚

RED STRING ﹙ male duo  ── 2014 - 2019; 2023 - present ﹚

SUJIN ﹙ soloist ── 2015 - present ﹚

JINNY ﹙ soloist ── 2015 - present ﹚

TOSKA ﹙ female trio  ── 2016 - present ﹚

KOI POND ﹙ five-member co-ed pop punk band   ── 2017 - 2019 ﹚

ZOMBIE POP ﹙ six-member boy group ── 2018 - present / co-managed with Starborn Creative ﹚

DITTO ﹙ female duo  ── 2019 - present﹚

 ELODIE ﹙ female soloist ── 2023 - present ﹚

      ── ⠀† ˙ ̟   CULT CREATIVE PRODUCERS.

DAPHNE CHOI ﹙ female producer  ── 2005 - 2019 ﹚

REDHORSE ﹙ producer  ── 2007 - present ﹚

ELIJAH ALESANDER ﹙ male producer  ── 2007 - 2009; 2014 - present ﹚

DAI ﹙ male producer  ── 2010 - present ﹚

JUDITH SONG ﹙ female producer  ── 2015 - present ﹚

BEAM﹙ male producer  ── 2015 - 2019 ﹚

      ── ⠀† ˙ ̟   CULT CREATIVE KEY PEOPLE.

HAN BYUNCHEOL ﹙ founder ﹚ 

HA HYEJU﹙ coo ﹚ 

BAEK JIMIN ﹙ ceo & president ﹚

[pinkscaped]

͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏͏ ͏ ͏ ͏𝆹 🌐. ˚ . . ࣪. CICADA was a seven-member boy group under ANGELICO ENTERTAINMENT. They were well known for their dark, apocalyptic, and mysterious concepts. The group was very popular domestically, always charting high within Korea. While garnering minor success internationally, they were wildly more successful within Asia.

CICADA was first introduced to public through a series of puzzles via the Angelico website in 2019. The website had appeared to be “hacked” with crypitc messages and instructions on it that varied randomly alongside ciadad imagery. After solving the randomized puzzle, it would redirect you to page with a profile of a “cicada” none of their names being revealed and most of their information being blacked out besides their birthday, position, and how they plan to defeat the “infestation”. While these puzzles confused the public at first, it was very interiguing and left the public curious.

Three months after this “hacking” occurred, an apocalyptic drama titled “CICADA” appeared on Netflix, starring a main cast of eight boys. The plot revolves around a group of survivors during an apocalypse caused by an infection of mutated cicadas. The series was praised for its unique plot line, horror elements, and surprisingly good performances performed by the soon-to-be idols. The group also recorded the soundtrack for the show. After the first season was aired, CICADA debuted in 2020 under the same name with the members ISSEI, MIDNIGHT, CHANSOL, ASH, DAEUL, JIHO, and HYO.

Despite their domestic success and the millions of dollars poured into them, Son Roan disbanded the group in 2023, not even a month after being appointed CEO. Their disbandment was shocking and sudden, resulting in protest trucks being sent to the company with Son Roan would pose mockingly in front of, showing no empathy or mercy for his decision to disband the once successful boy group.

͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏͏ ͏ ͏ ͏𝆹 🌐. ˚  . . ࣪. BASIC INFO ?!

DEBUT DATE: March 12th 2020.

FANDOM NAME: LOCUSTS.

YEARS ACTIVE: 2020 - 2023

DISCOGRAPHY:

͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏͏ ͏ ͏𝆹 🌐. ˚  . . ࣪. THE LINEUP ?!

TANAKA ISSEI. 1996. LEADER & MAIN VOCALIST.

JEON JIHO. 1997. MAIN VOCAL & LEAD DANCER.

LEE HYOJIN. 1997. MAIN DANCER & MAIN VOCALIST.

PARK DAEUL. 1997. MAIN VOCAL & LEAD RAPPER.

NA "SOL" CHANSOL. 1999. MAIN RAPPER.

ASH KIM. 2000. VISUAL & LEAD VOCAL.

SAMMY "MIDNIGHT" SON. 2002. MAIN DANCER & LEAD RAPPER.

͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏𝆹 🌐. ˚  . . ࣪. WHAT'S THE STORY ?!

TW // Mentions of Death, Murder, Domestic Abuse and Sexual Assault under the cut.

After Cicada's disbandment, Tanaka Issei returned to Japan with much love. He left music behind and became a highly sought-after actor, ignoring his idol past. He even seemingly had "Cicada" blocked from his Instagram comment section. The past is the past to Issei. He wants to let it die.

Jiho would leave the group before the official disbandment, sensing the ship was already sinking. He never liked being an idol, especially in Cicada. He's openly discussed how he disliked most of the members, calling them "entitled assholes" and saying how he is in contact with none of them. He is now the drummer of the band Bones N' All. He seems happier now.

Lee Hyojin was last seen on October 7th, 2023. He was the most popular member with a promising solo career ahead of him. No one is sure where he went or what he's up to, but there is no active investigation into his disappearance despite his fans' protests for the police to at least perform a wellness check on the idol. Their cries fall on deaf ears.

Park Daeul would leave the idol industry and become a creative director and producer. His fans insist he's been blacklisted due to his short-lived solo career being blocked from broadcasting by Angelico Entertainment for "copyright issues" that no one could find the logic behind. Daeul succumbed to his fate behind the scenes quite easily, primarily known for working with the up-and-coming group Brat Pack and being Amanda Summer's protege.

Na "Sol" Chansol would become a successful soloist, actor, and producer. Sol is very well known around the entertainment industry and is the only member who speaks neutrally about Cicada. He never said he hated it, but he never said he loved it. He just says he was there, and he's grateful for the musical growth. Sol is signed under Pursue Entertainment and is their highest performing artist though the bar wasn't high.

Ash Kim would become an actor and influencer, but he expressed interest in being an idol again and would need to be in a group. Ash talks pretty negatively about his time in Cicada, often saying he was picked on and outright bullied by the other members, but refuses to drop names. It doesn't matter now, though, that Ash is a wildly successful actor, specifically in the BL genre, which has garnered him a strong and dedicated fanbase.

Finally, Sammy "Midnight" Son would re-debut as a soloist under Angelico just a few months after this sudden disbandment. He's pretty sheltered, not allowed to speak about the group or how he feels about the disbandment. There's always a manager with Sammy, watching what he does and says, carefully protecting his image. No one knows Sammy's true thought but his eyes are sad.

So, what is the real story of Cicada? Most of the characters are evil, particularly Lee Hyojin, Park Daeul, and Tanaka Issei.

Lee Hyojin would begin dating Chloe Lee of the massive girl group, Venus. To put it bluntly, he was abusive. He often berated Chloe, talked down on her, pushed her around, and sexually assaulted her multiple times throughout their relationship. Chloe had never been in a relationship at that point; she thought it was normal until the night in the field.

Under the assumption they would be having sex in Hyojin's car in the field behind the Angelico dorm, a common hang-out place for Angelico artists, Chloe would go without much of a debate. She didn't know the actual plan Hyojin had crafted.

That night, Hyojin would make Chloe have sex with three other men that night, three men she didn't want to have sex with. The only two she knew were Daeul and Issei, but the other one still remains nameless. All of this was done for the men's enjoyment, Hyojin believing it would give Chloe "Stockholm syndrome" and keep her with him forever––Yeah, incredibly ass backwards but there's no logic in a mind like Hyojin's.

In a final act of cruelty, the men would leave Chloe in the field after the attack, leaving her to walk back to her dorm alone and in the dark. On her walk back, she bumped into Son Jinhwa, who immediately took her to the hospital due to her condition. Though she had a rape kit done and a police report, she would not name her assailants either to Jinhwa or to the police.

Still, it didn't take a rocket scenitist to figure out who was resposible.

Hyojin had never been right. He had an extensive record of harassing girls at his school and beating the shit out of any guy who disagreed with him. His mother died giving birth to him, and his father hated him because of it. You could say, from the start, he was born rotten. He was raised by his grandmother, who became bedridden when he was eleven, leaving him to take care of her. His life was tragic, but none of that mattered. An abuser is an abuser with a tragic backstory or not.

After Son Roan disbanded Cicada and effectively blacklisted Hyojin, Daeul, and Issei from working in the Korean entertainment industry ever again, Hyojin would storm to the Venus dorm at 2 in the morning in a rage. He would then not only beat the daylights out of Yoonah and Klara, but he would attempt to murder Chloe for "ruining his life" by choking her. This would result in him being struck upside the head with a frying pan by Sena Kim, effectively killing him.

Later, his body would be burned by Chloe Lee, Son Jinhwa, and Son Roan.

To read about the extent of Hyojin's crimes and further lore on Angelico's cover-ups, you can click anywhere to be redirected to a discontinued piece explaining all of it. While the lore surrounding Jinhwa has been completely altered, the scene where Hyojin and Daeul (pretend Issei is there as well lol) is unaltered.

[aeyeona]

( . æ エスパ

( ?! )

( æ ) 𝓑 asics .

?! . birth name : hwang yeona ( 황 연나 )

?! . english name : vivianna hwang

?! . surnames : yeo ( aespa ) , yoona ( pred-debut giselle ) , vivi ( brother ) , nana ( MY )

?! . birthdate : septembre 22, 2001

?! . birthplace : suyeong-gu , busan

?! . hometown : seoul , south korea

?! . age : 22 years old

?! . zodiac : virgo

?! . chinese zodiac : snake

?! . ethnicity : korean

?! . nationality : korean

?! . language : korean ( fluent ) , chinese ( fluent ) , japanese ( fluent ) , english ( learning )

( ?! )

( æ ) 𝓟 hysical .

?! . height : 5'5" / 166 cm

?! . blood type : B -

?! . piercings : two ( left ear ) , three ( right ear )

?! . face claim : miyeon ( g-idle )

?! . voice claim : liz ( ive )

?! . dance claim : tzuyu ( twice )

?! . rap claim : kazuha ( lesserafim )

( ?! )

( æ ) 𝓒 areer .

?! . stage name : yeona ( 연나 )

?! . trainee period : three years and four months

?! . company : SM entertainment

?! . group : aespa ( 2020 - now )

?! . position : main vocalist , lead dancer , sub rapper

?! . official symbol : spider web ( 🕸 )

?! . official animal : fox ( 🦊 )

( ?! )

( æ ) 𝓟 ersonality .

?! . mbti : ESTP — T ( her previous results where : ENFP -> INFP )

?! . enneagram : 7w8

?! . positive traits : optimistic , extravert , generous , confident , compassionate , loyal , cheerful

?! . negative traits : picky , messy , moody , sarcastic , lazy , snobby , idealist

( ?! )

( æ ) 𝓕 acts .

?! . she is a really good friend of Yeri ( Red Velvet ) , Lia ( Itzy ) and Dowoon ( Day6 ) .

?! . during her trainee years she was roommate with Kim Yooyeon .

?! . her most viewed fancam is the 2023.11.12, they were performing 'Drama' at the Inkigayo, she reached 562k in the first 24 hours .

?! . her actual bubble username is " 마이의 보호자🤍" wich translate to " MY's protector ", and her actual weverse username is "꽁꽁 얼어붙은 한강 위로 고양이가 걸어다닙니다 🐈" .

?! . she share her birthday with Nayeon ( Twice ) and Seungmin ( Stray Kids ) , but she was born on the same day as him .

?! . her main hobby is to take pictures of her members when they are sleeping .

?! . before performing, her habit is to do tongue twisters .

?! . she's really bad at video games but likes to watch people play .

?! . in 'Celebrity', we can see her thirty seconds where she plays a Japanese celebrity who came to take a picture with 'Seo A Ri'.

?! . she was a big fan of the girl group 'Kara' during her training period.

?! . her audition song was 'One in a Million' ( Twice ) .

?! . in 2022, she was in hiatus for 2 months because she had a nose job .

[bearsbeetstextposts]

𝙹𝚁𝙴𝙶!! 𝚃𝙷𝙾𝚄𝙶𝙷𝚃𝚂 𝙾𝙽 𝙹𝚁𝙴𝙶

ok SO. I was sooo obsessed with Jreg in, like, early 2020 when Centricide was in its heyday. His videos felt so edgy and forbidden, but also like he captured the classic Gen Z vibe of absurdist humor! I came for the insane political takes and stayed for the homoerotic tension between Commie and Ancom. I think the Sanders Sides format done with personified edges of the political compass was a creative idea that worked really well for him. I do think his later stuff, like the whole mental illness series, felt a little bit tired and less fun to watch (even if that was his meta intent—like the videos where he starts to do a bit and then looks straight into the camera and goes “I can’t do this anymore”).

I don’t wait with bated breath for his next video anymore like I used to, but it’s still fun to check in sometimes to get the Jregian take on whatever recent political event has been in the news. I think a lot of the deeper themes Jreg covers in his art, like mental distress caused by isolation, or the disillusion of the youth with the modern political state resulting in either hopelessness or a push toward extremism, are still very relevant and will be for a long time.

I also really vibe with the Jreg fanbase. His fans just seem like people I’d get along with irl—or, at the very least, the kind of people whose antics are entertaining to witness from afar.

What are…your thoughts on Jreg?

[happykjd]

Chen, Baekhyun and Xiumin’s full statement through their legal representative.

This is lawyer Lee Jae Hak of the law firm LIN, representing EXO members Baekhyun, Xiumin, and Chen (Byun Baek Hyun, Kim Min Seok, Kim Jong Dae, hereafter “artists”). Hereinafter, our legal representative would like to express the position of the artists regarding the exclusive contracts between the artists and SM Entertainment (hereafter “SM”).

Previously, the artists sent certifications of contents to SM seven times through their legal representative from March 21 until recently, and through this, they repeatedly requested copies of transparent settlement reports and settlement grounds.

It is the bare minimum and legitimate right of the artists to request accurate and transparent basis for settlements that have not been clear until now, and SM is also obliged to comply in accordance with the exclusive contracts and the Popular Culture and Arts Industry Development Act. However, SM eventually maintained an unjust position stating that they cannot provide copies of the reports.

In addition, after SM signed long-term contracts with the artists that span over 12 to 13 years in the past, they pushed for the artists to sign subsequent exclusive contracts once again, resulting in long-term contracts that span over at least 17 to 18 years or more. SM has been repeatedly committing unjust use of power such as this.

Regarding this, the artists feel that SM is using their superior position to force artists to sign so-called slave contracts that span over almost 20 years including their training periods, which are also far from being short. The artists would like to convey the various injustices that they have not been able to speak of through the statement below.

1. The artists’ positions regarding their activities and SM’s refusal to provide settlement reports

1. The artists signed long-term exclusive contracts with SM for more than 12 to 13 years and have faithfully carried out entertainment activities as members of EXO.

2. During the period of long-term exclusive contracts mentioned above, the artists only believed SM’s explanation about the settlement amount and received their shares only by referring to the reports unilaterally made by SM, which had no specific and objective evidence. Regarding this, the artists have recently officially requested copies of the settlement reports and the basis for their settlement several times through the legal representative, but SM responded that they cannot provide copies of the reports in the end.

3. SM has an obligation to provide settlement reports and settlement basis including details of total income, details of expenses subject to deduction, and details of amount subject to deduction according to the existing exclusive contracts and the Popular Culture and Arts Industry Development Act. Moreover, since the above exclusive contracts state that the settlement cycle comes twice a year, the above settlement reports and settlement basis must also be provided twice a year. However, during those 12 to 13 years of the exclusive contract period, SM has not properly provided such settlement reports and settlement basis to the artists.

4. According to a judicial precedent, an exclusive contract is based on a high degree of trust. Thus, if the agency does not fulfill its obligation to provide settlement reports, the artists’ rights to review the settlement of profits and file an objection against the agency are not properly guaranteed, resulting in failure to provide settlement reports to be a reason for terminating the exclusive contract (refer to Seoul High Court order from 2019Na2034976 on January 31, 2020). Despite numerous requests made through the artists’ legal representative in the meantime, SM has failed to fulfill its obligation to provide reports, and as a result, grounds for termination of the existing exclusive contracts have arisen.

5. Although the artists earnestly requested that copies of the settlement reports be provided by May 31 through certifications of contents on several occasions, [SM] refused to provide the basis for their settlement, so it was inevitable that they have come to notify SM of the termination of the existing exclusive contracts as of June 1.

6. If SM had accurately paid the settlement to the artists, there would have been no reason why they could not provide the settlement reports and settlement basis. The fact that SM is unable to provide such settlement reports and settlement grounds is strong counter-evidence that SM did not properly pay the settlement to the artists. Thus, the artists plan to take all civil and criminal legal action including a lawsuit for settlement payment against SM in order to check the exact details of the settlement.

7. Furthermore, as in the case of the artists (Baekhyun, Xiumin, and Chen), if settlement reports and settlement basis have not been provided to other SM artists, this is not just a problem for Baekhyun, Xiumin, and Chen but a potential issue for all artists under SM.

8. In fact, it is very difficult for Baekhyun, Xiumin, and Chen to file a legal lawsuit against a large enterprise like SM, but they undertook it with the thought and courage that this is also for [clarifying] various doubts that many SM artists have.

2. Artists’ positions regarding the unjust long-term contracts and attempts to extend them further

1. The artists have signed exclusive contracts that are over 12 or 13 years with SM. This is far beyond the seven years determined by the Fair Trade Commission for the Standard Exclusive Contract Form for Entertainers, and it is unilaterally disadvantageous to the artists as it exceeds a reasonable limit at the very least.

2. Previously, regarding the 13-year contract period, which includes the extended period from the provisional injunction decision at TVXQ’s case, SM received the judgment that it is an excessively long-term exclusive contract that is unilateral in structure and that it is a contract that excessively infringes on the economic freedom and basic rights of the applicants (TVXQ members) by imposing excessive quid pro quo (benefit in return) or an unreasonable burden on them, exercising unfair control using their superior position. As it is a legal act that violates good moral and other social order, it was judged that there is considerable room to consider that all or part of the contents of the contract are invalid or that its validity has expired due to the expiration of the reasonable duration (refer to the Seoul Central District Court order from 2009KaHap2869 on October 27, 2009). In addition, in the case of provisional injunction in the above case, the court once again pointed out that it is very difficult for idol stars such as the applicants (TVXQ members) who have teenagers as their main fanbase to maintain their existing popularity in the same field until or after they are in their 30s. Thus the exclusive contracts with unreasonably long contract periods deprive the artists of the opportunity to acquire appropriate compensation for their exceptional talent and constant efforts they put in to succeed in the entertainment industry, and in fact, they may perform the same function as lifelong contracts (refer to the Seoul Central District Court order from 2010KaHap1245 on February 15, 2011).

3. The existing exclusive contracts have contract validity periods that severely bind personal rights for a long period of time, which is applicable to “making transactions with the other party to the transaction by unfairly taking advantage of the bargaining position of the business entity itself” from Article 45 Paragraph 1 (6) of the Monopoly Regulation And Fair Trade Act. In addition, according to the types of unfair trade practices from Table 2 of this act’s decree, enforcement of a long time period like this applies to “coercive provision of benefits” or “provision of disadvantages.”

4. Moreover, SM made the artists sign exclusive contracts for seven years based on their debut date and an extension of additional three years in the case [they do] overseas activities. However, in the case of K-pop artists, it takes at least a few months and up to several years to debut after signing an exclusive contract, and overseas activities are presupposed. Furthermore, even though Xiumin and Chen are the members who [SM] planned from the start to be active in China, they were forced from the beginning to sign long-term contracts which span over 10 years or more from the date of their exclusive contracts.

5. Meanwhile, as if a 12 to 13-year-long contract period is not enough for them, SM is trying to claim a contract period of at least 17 to 18 years by having the artists sign the subsequent exclusive contracts again. This is SM repeatedly perpetrating extremely unjust use of power against their artists.

6. In the process of sealing the subsequent exclusive contracts, the artists were unable to negotiate properly, and it was difficult to reflect their wishes or set the terms of the contract on equal footing. Even in the case of the provisional disposition for TVXQ, the court determined that the applicants (TVXQ members) only passively signed a fixed exclusive contract presented by SM, and they were not involved in determining the contents of the contract through negotiations with SM. In the case that an agreement was not drawn between the applicants (TVXQ members), it should have been possible to stop existing negotiations and start negotiations with entertainment agencies other than SM, but no choices were guaranteed, and therefore, no negotiations in the true sense of the word could occur between the applicants (TVXQ members) and SM. Even if there was an annex agreement after the applicants (TVXQ members) became established as celebrities, as applicants who were already bound to the pre-existing contract, they could not link their elevated status to strengthening their negotiating power. It was determined by the court that subsequent contracts are unfairly signed contracts with defects due to the difference in bargaining power (refer to the Seoul Central District Court order from 2010KaHap1245 on February 15, 2011).

7. Furthermore, regarding the act of signing a subsequent exclusive contract, we criticize that it falls under Article 45 Paragraph 1 (6) of the Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act under “making transactions with the other party to the transaction by unfairly taking advantage of the bargaining position of the business entity itself.” Compulsory long-term periods such as this using subsequent exclusive contracts applies separately to the “coercive provision of benefits” or “provision of disadvantages” of attachment 2 of Table 2 of the act’s decree.

8. Furthermore, we are aware that long-term exclusive contracts such as these are the similar cases for the majority of SM artists and not only just Baekhyun, Xiumin, and Chen.

9. Regarding the act of signing a long-term existing exclusive contract as well as a subsequent exclusive contract, Baekhyun, Xiumin, and Chen are sincerely considering filing a complaint to the Korea Fair Trade Commission.

3. Words to fans

1. We apologize for causing great concern to fans through this issue, and there is no way to fully express our apology.

2. Although legal action is inevitable due to a difference in our position with SM, we will do our best to find a wise way to resolve this dispute so that we do not cause fans too much concern.

3. As we try to speak up with our small voices regarding the unfairness we couldn’t speak of until now, we are actually very frightened and fearful of this moment right now.

4. We hope that you take interest in what we are saying as well as our difficult courage. We once again sincerely thank our fans who have supported us for a long time.

source

[myimaginarywonderland]

I am going to say it as someone who doesn't like Max:

The penalties are confusing. Not the fact that he got them. But the way they were 10 seconds for things that are classified the same way other incidents have been classified which got 5 second penalties or sometimes even none.

Even in this race, drivers like Perez or Lawson despite driving others of track did not get any penalties.

While I understand that what Max did was clearly more obvious and deliberate, as a fan I still have to ask why did he get that penalty when others haven't? Because the intent was the same behind all of the moves.

I absolutely think he deserved to get a penalty do not get me wrong and I am not defending him. But there is still no consistency when you had other drivers doing the same thing yet not even being penalised and then had Max get 10 seconds for both.

This championship should not end like 2021 but with the inconsistencies it could and that is what is terrifying and what all of us have been screaming about even before 2020.

The FIA does not punish everyone the same, there is no consistency when it comes to when a penalty is given and when not and when it directly affects race and championship results, that can not happen.

This lack of clarity and this wild way of punishing seemingly almost after what the public says or in an interest for entertainment is not okay regardless of which drivers are involved in the incidents because it creates unfair treatment.

[not7wu]

Title: Tonight (Our Fingers Touch the Sky)

Status: Ongoing

Total Word Count: 57.3k in progress

Pairing: SeokjinxReader, Friends to Lovers, The Gang is Here (Platonic)

Rating/Genre: Mature; Idol AU, Canon Divergence, Thriller, Amnesia

Summary: You find yourself in Seoul, Korea with no memory of how you got there.  All you know is that you woke up naked–in Jin’s bed!  And you’re friends with BTS.  You’re told the life you knew is a dream, but you can’t shake the feeling that BTS are hiding something from you.  Whatever it is, you’re determined to get to the bottom of it. 

Preview: He knows your name? Kim motherfucking Seokjin knows your name. “And you’re Kim Seokjin, Worldwide Handsome, also known as Jin of BTS.”

Your word vomit has you wanting to die on the spot. Jin huffs a laugh. “Are you gonna start reciting my birthday, astrological sign, and MBTI results next?”

December 4, 1992. Sagittarius. INTP. You think it, but self preservation has you blessedly silent. His eyes twinkle like he knows what you’re thinking anyway.

Chapter List:

Ch. 1 - Where are you? - f/a/c; 6k

Ch. 2 - The Rules - f/a/c; 5.2k

Ch. 3 - Best Friends - f/a/c; 4.7k

Ch. 4 - A Crappy Day - f/a/c; 5.8k

Ch. 5 - Family - f/a/c/s; 6.5k

Ch. 6 - A Symbiotic Relationship - f/a/c; 6.5k

Ch. 7 - House of Cards - f/a; 6.8k

Ch. 8 - A Trusted Friend - f/a; 5.7k

Ch. 9 - Building Bridges - f/a/c; 4.7k

Ch. 10 - Branded - f/a/c; 5.4k

Ch. 11 -

Add/Remove yourself to the taglist here!

Back to the Multiverse Masterlist!

Warnings: Amnesia, Anxiety, Swearing, Depictions of and Implied Violence, Abandonment Issues, Stalking, Gun Violence, Coma, PTSD, Trauma, Set in 2020 during the Pandemic

A/N: Yallz have no idea how excited I am to finally be sharing the fruits of my labor. This fic is something I wrote during the pandemic in my Baby Army days when the few fanfics I read didn't satisfy me. It took me a while to learn how to navigate to find the good stuff. The ones I stumbled upon were too insta-love/smutty with NO plot; of course this was back when my love for BTS was at the stage of innocent adoration in contrast to where I am now in my delulu derangement. :D

Holed up with my roommate/cousin, "S", and our friends Garrett and Marlena in 2020, I wrote this to pass the time and to entertain them. S is a Jin-bias, so some of the scenes are catered to her.

This is a completed fic that I am rewriting, so don't worry that I'll fall off the face of the earth. The end will come and I hope it will satisfy your Jin loving, plot driven heart! A new chapter will be posted every Monday. I hope you enjoy the fic!

Here's the Youtube / Spotify playlist I listen to on shuffle as I write this.

Also, last but not least, thank you to my betas, @justamomnamedamie and @miksancheese ! I seriously could not do this without you!

Click here if you prefer to read on AO3!

Back to the Multiverse Masterlist!