#whether they are in italy or in korea

[helianthus21]

for the Early Adoption/Always Brothers AU ✨ following @nalivaa's idea that Han-seo was introduced to the Jang household earlier in this one so a younger, even less patient Han-seok decided he was just Not Gonna deal with a whole stupid toddler so he dropped him of at an orphanage (where Vincenzo found him<3 (there's a lot of details that don't,,, make sense so just posting on tumblr for now)

When Han-seo was dropped off at the orphanage, Vincenzo had already been there for a while.

The weeks, months, years had bled away his hope that his mother would ever come back for him, and the realization had poured like molten lava around his heart and, hardening, turned it to stone. Since then, he had kept to himself, glaring away every well-meaning kid that approached him with doe-eyes, kept everyone at arm's length because he hated the world, he hated his mom, he hated himself.

Other kids came and went.

Kids with similar fates as Vincenzo’s. Kids without parents. Kids who were all alone in the world. Kids who were angry like him, empty like him, lonely and lost. 

But Vincenzo didn’t care about their fates. Because nobody cared about Vincenzo’s either. 

Because most of the kids here, Vincenzo found, were here because their parents had died, and not because their mom dropped them off somewhere only to never show up again.

Kids left and came. Some ran away. Some got adopted, by young couples, rich couples, middle-aged couples. Couples whose gazes drifted right over Vincenzo because Vincenzo wanted them to. His mom hadn’t wanted him, and so Vincenzo didn’t want anybody else either.

Mostly, Vincenzo never even learned the names of the new kids. They’d be gone soon anyway, and their stories were all the same. So when a young boy walked right into the orphanage one day, an even smaller boy tucked in his arms, Vincenzo didn’t even lift his head from the little figure of a bird he’d been carving from a chunk of wood while everybody else was out on a field trip.

“Stop crying,” said the boy. It’s possible he’d been saying more to the younger before that, but it was the sudden sharpness in his tone that made Vincenzo prick up his ears.

Turning his head slightly, he chanced a glance at the pair. The older of the two looked younger still than Vincenzo, and what was strange about him was that he was dressed very formally: instead of streetwear, he was wearing one of those little suits for kids that Vincenzo had worn only once, when his mom had made him attend the funeral of his grandfather. Back then, Vincenzo had found it very confining, the suit. He’d kept pulling at his sleeves and his collar, but this boy seemed to feel right at home in his clothes, confident even.

The other boy, the smaller boy, was indeed crying. Vincenzo must have simply blocked it out before.

“You’re just useless, you know? Stupid,” continued the boy in a voice that was in stark contrast to the words he spoke. The sharpness gone, it was like he was just stating a simple fact, like water is wet, the sky is blue. “Stop crying,” he said again. “Nobody wants you anyway. So this is the best for everyone, you see?”

Between the sobbing, the boy hiccuped, “H-hyung.”

The older boy, the brother, as Vincenzo assumed now, slammed his fist on the table, right next to where he had placed the younger. “Cut that out!” The venom was back in his voice. “I’m not your brother! We’re nothing, not even by half from now on. Got it? Bye forever.” 

Vincenzo looked around. None of the adults were in the room at that hour, just old man Don who was too drunk most of the time to notice what was going on in the world around him. 

There was no one there to witness how another little boy was abandoned at the very same orphanage. No one to witness his fate, the beginning of his story, except for Vincenzo. 

Vincenzo, who watched the older brother walk past him, out of the orphanage without a single glance back, looking much lighter now, like a burden had been lifted from him. 

And the little boy continued sobbing. 

Vincenzo abandoned his woodwork and stepped closer to the table. The other boy had pushed a chair to the table and climbed onto it to be able to place his brother there, but Vincenzo could reach it without any help. He had a round face, the boy, red from all the screaming, with puffed cheeks that made him almost look cute, and head full of dark hair, curling slightly behind his ears. He, too, was wearing a little suit, and Vincenzo wondered if they had indeed been at a funeral. Looking at the boy now, he couldn’t be much older than 2 years. Maybe less. 

"Nobody wants you, huh?" 

The moment he spoke up, the boy stopped crying. 

Not because all his tears were dried up, Vincenzo guessed, but rather because listening to Vincenzo seemed to take up all his attention. With big eyes, he tracked each and every movement Vincenzo made like it was the most interesting thing in the world. 

"No mother, no father? A bastardo of an older brother?" He shot a venomous look at the door through which the boy had disappeared, moments ago. When he turned back to the boy, though, he made sure to keep his face neutral. "Well, you’re in good company. Nobody wants me either.”

Tears welled up again in the boy’s eyes but he stayed silent and that was almost more tragic. And for the first time in a long time, Vincenzo felt something in his chest change shape. Like a crack running up a stone. But nothing can break stone, can it?

This boy, though.

This boy was like him, more so than any other kid that shared this fate, it seemed. This boy was wrong, like Vincenzo – no! This boy had something about him that made other people cast him out, discard him like yesterday’s trash. This boy, who was only beginning to learn how to speak or walk on his own two feet. No, it wasn’t his fault that people couldn’t accept him. 

So, before the thought had even reached his mind as anything more palpable than a mere idea, Vincenzo had already made a decision.

“Let's just take care of one another from now on, huh?" He stretched out his index finger and the little boy reached for it, little fist closing around it with surprising strength. Vincenzo smiled. The stretch of his cheeks felt foreign on his face. "I'll take care of you." He turned the word around in his mind before he said it, "Dongsaeng."

It felt right. 

The boy tilted his head at him. "T'seng?" 

"No. Not me." He tapped his palm against his own chest. "I'm Vincenzo."

"'Cenzo."

Vincenzo crinkled his nose at the messy pronunciation. The word must feel foreign on his tongue, too. "Actually, for you it would be hyung,” he decided instead. “Can you call me hyung?"

The boy laughed, and forgotten seemed all the tears he had spilled just a minute ago. "Hyung!"

His chest almost hurt from the debris behind his ribcage. "That's it!” he agreed. “There you go."

Vincenzo would remember that day, as clearly as when it happened, for the rest of his life.

Han-seo, though, would forget how exactly he came to be at the same orphanage, right when Vincenzo had needed him most. He would forget the older boy, no longer his brother but a stranger now, who abandoned him at the very doorstep where Vincenzo lost his mother. He was still too young, then, to remember. He would’ve forgotten that he and Vincenzo had ever been anything other than brothers, too, if not for the other kids and the adults at the orphanage reminding him that legally, biologically, they were not. 

It didn’t matter to them, anyway.

Not until a new couple entered the orphanage, and their gazes didn’t just drift over Vincenzo.

[mammonscheeks]

demon brothers + dateables as destinations in the human world

✎ a/n: these are my opinions! i'm south and west asian, so i am most knowlegeable about those countries, please correct me if i've said anything incorrect!

LUCIFER

new york city, usa. he likes the cold, industrial corporate feel of nyc. it helps him avoid his feelings.

anywhere in germany. he likes their no-nonsense culture and unspoken social rules.

MAMMON

las vegas, nevada, usa. he always begs mc to take him there. the flashy lights and casinos are right up his alley.

dubai, uae. he loves the luxurious feel of it, and how its the center of celebrity gatherings, vacations, and parties.

LEVIATHAN

tokyo, japan (especially the akihabara/electronic district). he's always updated on pop culture and the newest technology/games.

seychelles island, africa. he likes swimming, but not socializing on the beach. that's why he likes isolated islands.

SATAN

london, england. he's interested in their medival history and seeing the places that inspired novels like harry potter and the sherlock holmes franchise.

cat island in japan, or any mediterranean country where cats freely roam.

ASMODEUS

paris, france. he'd love paris fashion week. he also just seems french to me, idk.

seoul, south korea. he'd adore seoul's culture, everything from the modern sappy kdramas to traditional dresses, like hanbok. he would bring an empty suitcase to stuff it with beauty products.

BEELZEBUB

mumbai, india. this metropolitan city in india offers so many different kinds of food. he would love to eat his way through the city, if not the entire country.

every city in mexico. he'd try the regional cuisine, but also hang out at the beach with his brothers and mc (so cute).

BELPHEGOR

cairo, egypt. he was once fascinated with humans, and often watched them build civilizations from heaven when he was an angel. he would enjoy the historical wonders of egypt.

reykjavic, iceland. idk why he just gives me iceland vibes. life there can be slow and cold, and it often gets less light than other countries.

DIAVOLO

transylvania, romania. he loves its breathtaking castles and culture, and is intrigued with all the pop culture references of vampires.

petra, jordan. this is a significant place in abrahamic religions, known for being haunted by demons, or jinn. diavolo would be fascinated by this history, whether its actually haunted or not. i know he'd eat up those scary ghost tours (insert fic about that here) and even probably try and scare a few tourist groups, despite barbatos advising him against it.

BARBATOS

istanbul, turkiye. istanbul has well-maintained structures from the byzantine empire, the ottoman empire, and even "newer and hip" neighborhoods. barbatos, being able to see the past and future, would appreciate the blend of it all here, like he's walking through time.

kathmandu, nepal. he'd enjoy the peace of monasteries and mountains, which are as old as the earth itself.

SIMEON

tuscany, italy. he'd enjoy the vast fields, heavenly sunsets, small towns and historic churches. he would find tuscany a peaceful place to write, but appreciates the community feel of small italian towns. would definitely be so friendly he'd get invited to eat dinner at a random family's house.

thessaloniki, greece. he would absolutely love seeing all the greek orthodox churches there, with their blue and white colors and dome roofs. he is just amused to see the religious structures humans have created. he'd also probably be interested in greek mythology, even though he's an angel.

LUKE

cape town, south africa. he would be so excited to see penguins at the beach and would enjoy the burst of color south africa offers. he'd also enjoy the modern bakeries and desserts in south africa.

lyon, france. the country is known for desserts. luke would probably take a baking class there to learn how to bake more things.

SOLOMON

salem, or just any small town in massachusetts. as a sorcerer, he's intrigued with their history of "witch hunting" and the paranormal.

lalibela, ethiopia. being old, he's intrigued with how ancient cities like lalibela have changed since biblical times. he also probably enjoys learning about different cultural practices and what they have in common with his sorcery. he also wants to learn how to cook more dishes from different countries, but fails miserably

[mariacallous]

In early 2020, deepfake expert Henry Ajder uncovered one of the first Telegram bots built to “undress” photos of women using artificial intelligence. At the time, Ajder recalls, the bot had been used to generate more than 100,000 explicit photos—including those of children—and its development marked a “watershed” moment for the horrors deepfakes could create. Since then, deepfakes have become more prevalent, more damaging, and easier to produce.

Now, a WIRED review of Telegram communities involved with the explicit nonconsensual content has identified at least 50 bots that claim to create explicit photos or videos of people with only a couple of clicks. The bots vary in capabilities, with many suggesting they can “remove clothes” from photos while others claim to create images depicting people in various sexual acts.

The 50 bots list more than 4 million “monthly users” combined, according to WIRED's review of the statistics presented by each bot. Two bots listed more than 400,000 monthly users each, while another 14 listed more than 100,000 members each. The findings illustrate how widespread explicit deepfake creation tools have become and reinforce Telegram’s place as one of the most prominent locations where they can be found. However, the snapshot, which largely encompasses English-language bots, is likely a small portion of the overall deepfake bots on Telegram.

“We’re talking about a significant, orders-of-magnitude increase in the number of people who are clearly actively using and creating this kind of content,” Ajder says of the Telegram bots. “It is really concerning that these tools—which are really ruining lives and creating a very nightmarish scenario primarily for young girls and for women—are still so easy to access and to find on the surface web, on one of the biggest apps in the world.”

Explicit nonconsensual deepfake content, which is often referred to as nonconsensual intimate image abuse (NCII), has exploded since it first emerged at the end of 2017, with generative AI advancements helping fuel recent growth. Across the internet, a slurry of “nudify” and “undress” websites sit alongside more sophisticated tools and Telegram bots, and are being used to target thousands of women and girls around the world—from Italy’s prime minister to school girls in South Korea. In one recent survey, a reported 40 percent of US students were aware of deepfakes linked to their K-12 schools in the last year.

The Telegram bots identified by WIRED are supported by at least 25 associated Telegram channels—where people can subscribe to newsfeed-style updates—that have more than 3 million combined members. The Telegram channels alert people about new features provided by the bots and special offers on “tokens” that can be purchased to operate them, and often act as places where people using the bots can find links to new ones if they are removed by Telegram.

After WIRED contacted Telegram with questions about whether it allows explicit deepfake content creation on its platform, the company deleted the 75 bots and channels WIRED identified. The company did not respond to a series of questions or comment on why it had removed the channels.

Additional nonconsensual deepfake Telegram channels and bots later identified by WIRED show the scale of the problem. Several channel owners posted that their bots had been taken down, with one saying, “We will make another bot tomorrow.” Those accounts were also later deleted.

Hiding in Plain Sight

Telegram bots are, essentially, small apps that run inside of Telegram. They sit alongside the app’s channels, which can broadcast messages to an unlimited number of subscribers; groups where up to 200,000 people can interact; and one-to-one messages. Developers have created bots where people take trivia quizzes, translate messages, create alerts, or start Zoom meetings. They’ve also been co-opted for creating abusive deepfakes.

Due to the harmful nature of the deepfake tools, WIRED did not test the Telegram bots and is not naming specific bots or channels. While the bots had millions of monthly users, according to Telegram’s statistics, it is unclear how many images the bots may have been used to create. Some users, who could be in multiple channels and bots, may have created zero images; others could have created hundreds.

Many of the deepfake bots viewed by WIRED are clear about what they have been created to do. The bots’ names and descriptions refer to nudity and removing women’s clothes. “I can do anything you want about the face or clothes of the photo you give me,” the creators’ of one bot wrote. “Experience the shock brought by AI,” another says. Telegram can also show “similar channels” in its recommendation tool, helping potential users bounce between channels and bots.

Almost all of the bots require people to buy “tokens” to create images, and it is unclear if they operate in the ways they claim. As the ecosystem around deepfake generation has flourished in recent years, it has become a potentially lucrative source of income for those who create websites, apps, and bots. So many people are trying to use “nudify” websites that Russian cybercriminals, as reported by 404Media, have started creating fake websites to infect people with malware.

While the first Telegram bots, identified several years ago, were relatively rudimentary, the technology needed to create more realistic AI-generated images has improved—and some of the bots are hiding in plain sight.

One bot with more than 300,000 monthly users did not reference any explicit material in its name or landing page. However, once a user clicks to use the bot, it claims it has more than 40 options for images, many of which are highly sexual in nature. That same bot has a user guide, hosted on the web outside of Telegram, describing how to create the highest-quality images. Bot developers can require users to accept terms of service, which may forbid users from uploading images without the consent of the person depicted or images of children, but there appears to be little or no enforcement of these rules.

Another bot, which had more than 38,000 users, claimed people could send six images of the same man or woman—it is one of a small number that claims to create images of men—to “train” an AI model, which could then create new deepfake images of that individual. Once users joined one bot, it would present a menu of 11 “other bots” from the creators, likely to keep systems online and try to avoid removals.

“These types of fake images can harm a person’s health and well-being by causing psychological trauma and feelings of humiliation, fear, embarrassment, and shame,” says Emma Pickering, the head of technology-facilitated abuse and economic empowerment at Refuge, the UK’s largest domestic abuse organization. “While this form of abuse is common, perpetrators are rarely held to account, and we know this type of abuse is becoming increasingly common in intimate partner relationships.”

As explicit deepfakes have become easier to create and more prevalent, lawmakers and tech companies have been slow to stem the tide. Across the US, 23 states have passed laws to address nonconsensual deepfakes, and tech companies have bolstered some policies. However, apps that can create explicit deepfakes have been found in Apple and Google’s app stores, explicit deepfakes of Taylor Swift were widely shared on X in January, and Big Tech sign-in infrastructure has allowed people to easily create accounts on deepfake websites.

Kate Ruane, director of the Center for Democracy and Technology’s free expression project, says most major technology platforms now have policies prohibiting nonconsensual distribution of intimate images, with many of the biggest agreeing to principles to tackle deepfakes. “I would say that it’s actually not clear whether nonconsensual intimate image creation or distribution is prohibited on the platform,” Ruane says of Telegram’s terms of service, which are less detailed than other major tech platforms.

Telegram’s approach to removing harmful content has long been criticized by civil society groups, with the platform historically hosting scammers, extreme right-wing groups, and terrorism-related content. Since Telegram CEO and founder Pavel Durov was arrested and charged in France in August relating to a range of potential offenses, Telegram has started to make some changes to its terms of service and provide data to law enforcement agencies. The company did not respond to WIRED’s questions about whether it specifically prohibits explicit deepfakes.

Execute the Harm

Ajder, the researcher who discovered deepfake Telegram bots four years ago, says the app is almost uniquely positioned for deepfake abuse. “Telegram provides you with the search functionality, so it allows you to identify communities, chats, and bots,” Ajder says. “It provides the bot-hosting functionality, so it's somewhere that provides the tooling in effect. Then it’s also the place where you can share it and actually execute the harm in terms of the end result.”

In late September, several deepfake channels started posting that Telegram had removed their bots. It is unclear what prompted the removals. On September 30, a channel with 295,000 subscribers posted that Telegram had “banned” its bots, but it posted a new bot link for users to use. (The channel was removed after WIRED sent questions to Telegram.)

“One of the things that’s really concerning about apps like Telegram is that it is so difficult to track and monitor, particularly from the perspective of survivors,” says Elena Michael, the cofounder and director of #NotYourPorn, a campaign group working to protect people from image-based sexual abuse.

Michael says Telegram has been “notoriously difficult” to discuss safety issues with, but notes there has been some progress from the company in recent years. However, she says the company should be more proactive in moderating and filtering out content itself.

“Imagine if you were a survivor who’s having to do that themselves, surely the burden shouldn't be on an individual,” Michael says. “Surely the burden should be on the company to put something in place that's proactive rather than reactive.”

[hyperdramas]

dokyeom with a talented cook s/o

warnings: mentions of overreating & being self-conscious about weight, a single the bear reference

now playing: flamingo, kero kero bonito (2020 lyr would have screamed in joy)

— seokmin is a great cook okay he's stated in the most recent allure korea video that he enjoys cooking and can make a mean sotbap

— but he wants to be spoiled by you sometimes

— ESPECIALLY if you can cook well

— he's really shy in the way he asks you to make something for dinner

— but you know he wants something

— he's always hovering around you when you walk into the kitchen for whatever reason, and after a while you just ask "what do you wanna eat dokyeom?" to which he pretends to act surprised about

— loves ANYTHING you cook or bake but has a personal list of requests he usually asks you for

— seokmin loves when you guess what he wants to eat before he tells you

— 9 times out of 10 it's an italian dish since he's still on his italy kick from nana tour

— will try to help you in the best way he can

— seokmin has matching aprons for you and him so whenever one of you is cooking, the other can supervise or watch with a matching apron

— helps you cut anything you need and is literally SO professional w it

— dicing tomatoes and onions like carmy berzatto from the bear

— eats and eats and EATS until he's satisfied (he's a plate cleaner)

— sometimes feels self-conscious about his weight or body and will not eat as much or as fast as he usually does (which you catch onto quickly)

— he's also very wary of overreating and sometimes will not eat at all (which you're very strict about at times because you want him to be healthy)

— you always assure him that he doesn't need to eat much, but also doesn't need to go without food or be hard on himself for enjoying a good meal

— professional at pairing drinks or wine with any meal

— he always gets cheery after that, and you give him a nice bowl of vanilla ice cream to cheer him up

— seokmin is your eager taste tester

— any sauce, broth, noodle, or egg you cook, seokmin is on standby, ready to try & give you feedback on it

— a great detector of missing flavors

— if your dish needs more salt, pepper, soy sauce, sesame oil, or whatever else you added in, seokmin can tell you what you need without hesitation

— always eats your food, whether it's something he's tried before, something he hasn't had, or testing an experiment you had just created

— calls you every fancy name under the sun when you plate your dishes like a professional with the smeared sauce on the plate & perfect seasoning

— literally brags to his friends about how you were a michelin-star chef in your past life

— buys new cookbooks almost every month so he can convince you to cook something out of them

— will pay for the groceries for the meal and EVERYTHING (he will do anything just as long as he gets to eat it)

— values meal time with you, and will always try to make a way for the two of you to have dinner together and at the same time

— seokmin LOVES you, but he also LOVES your cooking <3

[fortunatelychaoticphantom]

The current situation is Israel is very confusing to a lot of people, and the word "colonizers" is thrown a lot in conversations, social media and protests. If you are not sure whether you can or should call Israel a colonial state, here is a handy guide divided by origin-country of the speaker:

The UK: OUR INDEPENDENCE IS LITERALLY FROM YOU!

Italy: THIS IS LITERALLY ALL YOUR FUCKING FAULT!

Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Greece, North Macedonia, Turkey, Mongolia: Every single one of you has conquered us at least once, so keep your mouth shut or start talking about reparations. (Yes, even the Mongols. Did you know that? I only found out a couple of years ago. Isn't that cool? I mean bad. Very bad...)

Every single country in the American continent + the surrounding islands, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, China, India, Russia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia: LOL. Don't even fucking look at us.

Portugal, Spain, France, Belgium, The Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Austria, Sweden, Norway, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Japan: Let me check a history book for a sec. Yeah, no.

Every other nation in the world: I don't know enough about your history to put you in another category, but no.

Liberia: Literally the only nation in the entire world that knows even half of what we’re going through. They’re not colonizers, and neither are we. Stop trying to force your Western terminology on our history.

North Korea: I think you need to deal with some other issues right now darling...

Hope this helps.

[strawwritesfic]

Avengers Guys Taking Care of You When You're Sick Imagines

Hello! I caught some sort of very fun disease doing work-related things last weekend, so I came up with these imagines! I thought I'd post them for funises and because making you think of the dialogue yourself is way easier when there's very little oxygen entering my brain.

Disclaimer: I don't really do imagines, so I'm not even 100% sure that's what these are. They might just be headcanons? Listen, man, I'm an old person on the Internet. I don't know what I'm doing.

Also, I wrote these starting in the middle of the night after having only eaten marginally for three straight days and sleeping about a total of two hours over the course of 48 hours. Also, I didn't proofread them on account of the cinderblock shoved up my nose being very distracting. (But if there's something wrong, do feel free to bring it to my attention, and I will change it.)

Pretend these are in a world where COVID isn't a concern. I didn't feel like dealing with masking and isolation.

Let me know if you'd like to see later phases or groups!

EDIT: I forgot Clint. I blame the cinderblock. He's been added.

Enjoy!

Tony Stark

Let's face it. This guy is not in any position to play nurse. He hardly knows how to take care of himself; you're a different person entirely! Plus, he's not exactly into the idea of catching your cooties. Once you've got the ick, he is out of the bedroom and camping in his lab until you're no longer showing symptoms.

But that doesn't mean you're facing this alone. If this is before Pepper takes over Stark Industries as CEO, Tony's got her and Happy running around making sure you have anything you want--anything. More cold medicine? Done. A house call from your doctor? Called them 20 minutes ago; they're on their way. An authentic pizza directly from Italy? It's yours. If it's after, he will go get everything for you himself; it's just going to take a lot longer, and it'll probably take him five trips to actually get the right thing.

He won't leave you completely alone either. He'll call you up on one of the tablet phones and talk to (or at) you for hours. Heck, if you're bored, he might even set it up so you can watch him tinker on the suits from bed.

James Rhodes

You don't want Rhodey to find out you're sick. He's a busy guy, whether he's working with the Air Force or the Avengers. But he's gonna find out. Maybe he isn't able to call you as often as he'd like, but as soon as he makes contact, he's going to know you're sick from the word "hello."

He hates that you're often sick when he's quite literally half a world away. He doesn't want you to deal with your illness alone--and you won't. If he's still working primarily at the Air Force, you're on base with loads of fellow military officers and their spouses, and soon you've got more casseroles than you know what to do with. If he's with the Avengers, things are a little trickier. He can't ask Dr. Cho to fly in from Korea for a cough, and it's not like FRIDAY can answer the door for Uber Eats. Pepper and Tony aren't going to let one of their best friend's SO suffer, though! They love you, too. One or both of them is going to make sure you've got a house call from a doctor very soon.

As soon as Rhodey is off work, he's back with you. He'll cook dinner--something healthy that he knows you like. Then you'll both head to the couch or bed, snuggle up under a big blanket, and watch old movies until you fall asleep beside him.

Thor Odinson

Asgardians don't get run-of-the-mill illnesses, and any illness they do get is way more spectacular than what Midgardians deal with. Because of this, Thor finds your run-of-the-mill illness fascinating. Like, almost annoyingly so. Although he's fine to leave you to go on missions or the like, he is otherwise right there with you, delighting in every cough, sniffle and sneeze. If anyone on the team points out that you're, you know, sick, Thor is quick to remind them how incredibly tough his SO is. He knows you'll pull through!

Still, he doesn't want you to feel awful, so he's going to seek out advice on what he can do to help you. The results that come from this depend on who Thor decided to ask. Dr. Strange? Probably earn you some decent medications and/or treatments, even if Thor isn't 100% sure exactly how to use them. Loki? Then you're probably going to end up with Thor trying a dozen different things that don't make you feel worse but definitely don't make you feel better either. Hey, Loki's got no vested interest in helping out his brother's SO.

At the end of the day, at least you won't be left alone very often, and there is something endearing about a guy who thinks it's cute when you're so full of snot you can't think.

Loki Laufeyson

Loki is a much less...obtrusive companion than his brother is. Sick Midgardians are boring. They just lay around all day, producing the most horrible liquids from every part of them. He's got better things to do than sit around all day watching that...

...is what he wants everyone to think. He knows you don't like be smothered either. So Loki does go about his day as usual for the most part, but that doesn't mean he isn't checking in quite regularly. He'll slip into your room every few hours or so just to make sure you're resting. He won't wake you if you are. And the things you need have a funny way of appearing on your bedside table whenever you wake up: the remote control, a container of hot tea, even clean pajamas if you aren't feeling capable of walking to the bathroom for a shower.

But just because you don't like being smothered doesn't mean you want to be alone the entire time. Loki knows that. He's probably not going to crawl into bed next to someone who is coughing and sneezing and already warmer than they want to be, but he's perfectly content to pull a comfortable chair over to your bedside and sleep there. And when you get bored of watching TV or just need something quiet to fall asleep to, he's always happy to read aloud to you from whatever book he's reading.

Steve Rogers

Steve may no longer have the ability to get sick, but he remembers being sick when he was skinny, and he knows it's no fun. He also remembers the things that Bucky did for him that helped, and he'll try all of that on you. This leads to a bit of quarreling when Tony reminds him that they live in the 21st Century and have better ways of helping people with sore throats and coughing. But Steve eventually relents, and you get a good combination of things that make you feel better.

He's good at compartmentalizing, so he can put worrying about you aside when he needs to lead the team. The second they don't need him anymore, you're back at the forefront of his mind, and he's headed right to wherever you are. Even if you don't need anything he can provide you, he wants to make sure you're okay.

Since Steve doesn't get sick, he's 100% ready to cuddle. This is great when you have chills, and not so great when you're having hot flashes. He respects you if you ask him to please get the hell out of the bed. He lets you rest when you need rest, and is perfectly happy to just hang out in the room with you, quietly drawing in his notebook so he's there if you do need him.

Bucky Barnes

If Steve remembers getting sick, Bucky remembers being the one to take care of Steve when he was sick (after Steve's mom died). He does not handle seeing you sick well. At all. He cannot stop worrying about you at all. Never mind that all you've got is a stuffy nose and a cough, he's pretty much convinced that you are going to die on him any minute.

He's very reluctant to leave your side when you're sick. Even if there's some world ending-crisis that the team needs him for, he'd rather stay with you. Oh, he'll go to help with the world-ending crisis, but he's going to be thinking about you the entire time. Everybody on comms is going to get real tired of him using any downtime to wonder aloud if this will make [Name] feel better.

If you're lucky, Natasha or Sam or Steve might take pity on you and insist that Bucky take some time away and quit worrying so much. But unless they take him on outing to get you something (food, flowers, medicine, etc.), he's not going to want to go. Unless he's directly looking at you and confirming that you're okay himself, he's just not going to be able to settle. Until your fever breaks, don't expect Bucky to leave your side for very long, if at all.

Clint is a very normal guy wen it comes to his SO being sick. He's not too pushy or too distant. When you wake up with a sore throat, he makes you a cup of hot water with lemon juice in it, brings you a small breakfast in bed, and checks the medicine cabinet before he leaves for work. If there's anything you're low on, he'll make sure to pick it up on the way home. He'll call you at lunchtime to check on you, and if you say you need anything then, he'll pick that up on the way home, too.

If he has to go far away for work, of course Natasha is there to run errands and check on you. And if they're working together far away, you might get a very rare, very strange visit from Director Fury delivering cough syrup. Coulson pops by, too. Clint's got a pretty big support network willing to fill in any gaps he can't when he's working.

When he's at home, Clint mostly leaves you alone. He knows you need rest. There's plenty of work for him to do around the place anyway. But whenever he takes a break, he'll pop into the bedroom and ask you if you need anything if you're awake. He's always quick to tell the streaming service you're still watching, too, just so it's still going when you wake up. And he buys loads of your favorite takeout to tempt you to eat.

[slayerkitty]

Visual Effects in Only Friends MV part 2

The second song on the Only Friends OST dropped today; So What? by the amazing Ford Arun. Much like the first MV for Only Friends, this one is also has visual frameworks that made me stop and stare.

Just like my first post on this subject, where I talked about the late 90s/early 00s aesthetic of the show as well as controlled voyeurism (aka we only see what they want us to see), these themes show up again here, but a little differently. Unlike the Let's Try MV and the BTS vids which use multiple different effects and transitions as well as framing a lot of the scenes to look like (possibly) 90s camcorder footage, So What? has two visual effects (I think technically three, and I'll point out why I say it this way in a minute).

The first one is the camcorder footage effect. Except that it's even different from the Let's Try MV. While the Let's Try MV has the "play" prompt onscreen and time stamps, it now, to me, feels more like CCTV video than camcorder video. The video effect on So What? is definitely camcorder footage because it is time and date stamped.

Now, the time and date stamp is February 1st, 2020 at 6:06pm for every screen it appears on, which to me cannot be an accurate date/time for any of the scenes. Several of these scenes were from episodes 4, 5, 6, or potentially yet to air. Chuem drops info about Covid in episode one and in February of 2020, we were so early into the pandemic during that time that I'm not sure she would have referred to it so casually, plus with no Covid precautions being taken onscreen it does feel the show is set currently (aka 2023).

Why this date? Why 6:06pm? WHAT IS JOJO TRYING TO SAY HERE? Is this a specific reference to something upcoming on the show? Is this date famous in Thailand for something? Did he just pull a date and time out of a hat?

Onto the second effect: the yellow text on the screen is back! It was heavily used as a visual effect in episode one, and after a discussion with @ignoranaxed I did add it to my Narrative Frameworks post where I'm tracking visual effects on the show. We discussed whether or not this was an homage or reference to SKAM Norway, an extremely popular coming of age teen drama that had an amazingly done queer season (Season three. If nothing else, stop what you're doing and go watch SKAM Norway season three. You can thank me later). The show was so popular it has been remade in Spain, Italy, France, Germany (named Druck), Belgium (named WtFock), the United States and has even been announced as a Korean (BL?) drama for next year.

Is this an actual homage? I came down on the side of maybe. I can't swear it is, but I can't say it isn't. That yellow text on the screen is iconic due to SKAM Norway, and it is used in every single remake of the show (if Korea doesn't use it, I will cry. Also, if Korea doesn't release/air it in the same way, I will cry). Leaving that aside, the yellow text is in Thai, and as yet, I have no idea what it says because my subs only translated the song lyrics, not the onscreen words. If anyone who knows Thai can help me with this, I would love you forever because there's one other thing that shows up in yellow on the screen, and it's this:

WHY AN ELLIPSES, JOJO? WHAT DID IT SAY BEFORE THIS? I NEED TO KNOW WHY IT'S TRAILING OFF. IS IT TO BE CONTINUED? THE NOT KNOWING WILL DRIVE ME INSANE.

Onto the third , but maybe not really an effect: Is Ford photoshopped in here?

I ask this because if he is (and I can't quite tell but I think maybe?) then does that mean this is future footage coming up on the show? Or, like Let's Try MV did with it's extra SandRay footage in the car, was this just shot for the MV? I'm curious to see what people think on this.

Now for the rest of the MV where I just melt down because WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS DRAMA BETWEEN YO AND PLUG, JOJO? YOU CAN'T DO THIS. Also, is this Sand hugging Yo?

You can't do this to my girl. This will hurt.

Do we think this is Boston and Nick potentially going ice skating or roller skating? Because if it's roller skating, JOJO I WILL LOVE YOU FOREVER.

In summary, the visual frameworks are back in play once again and what they're choosing to show and how feel important.

Tagging the ephemerality squad: @waitmyturtles, @wen-kexing-apologist, @ranchthoughts, @chickenstrangers, @lurkingshan, @twig-tea, @clara-maybe-ontheroad, @distant-screaming

Apologies to anyone I missed. If you would liked to be tagged in my OF posts/meta, please let me know and I will add you.

[zvaigzdelasas]

Europe split over US, UK strikes on Houthis in Yemen - Reuters

Italy, Spain and France stood out on Friday by not taking part in U.S. and British strikes against the Houthi group in Yemen and not signing a statement put out by 10 countries justifying the attacks.

The divergence highlights divisions in the West over how to deal with the Iranian-backed Houthis, who have been targeting civilian ships in the Red Sea for weeks in what they say is a protest against Israel's military campaign in the Gaza Strip.[...]

The Netherlands, Australia, Canada and Bahrain provided logistical and intelligence support for the operation, U.S. officials said.

In addition, Germany, Denmark, New Zealand and South Korea signed a joint statement with these six nations defending the overnight attacks and warning of further action to protect the free flow of Red Sea trade if the Houthis did not back down.[...]

A source in Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's office said Italy had declined to sign the statement and as a result was not asked to participate in the attacks.

However, a government source said Italy had been asked to take part but declined for two reasons -- firstly because any Italian involvement would have needed parliamentary approval, which would have taken time, and secondly because Rome preferred to pursue a "calming" policy in the Red Sea.

Hours later, a government statement added that "Italy supports the operations of allied countries, who have the right to defend their vessels, in the interest of global trade flows and humanitarian assistance."[...]

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a French official said Paris feared that by joining the U.S.-led strikes, it would have lost any leverage it had in talks to defuse tensions between Hezbollah and Israel. France has focused much of its diplomacy in recent weeks on avoiding an escalation in Lebanon.

Asked whether France refused to participate, U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said he wouldn't elaborate on diplomatic conversations.[...]

[A] diplomat who is aware of France’s position said Paris did not believe the attack could be deemed legitimate self-defence.[...]

Spanish Defence Minister Margarita Robles said Madrid had not joined the military action in the Red Sea because it wanted to promote peace in the region.

"Every country has to give explanations for its actions. Spain will always be committed to peace and dialogue," she told reporters in Madrid.

12 Jan 24

[reasoningdaily]

It's no secret that European colonialism was a vast, and often devastating, project that over several centuries put nearly the entire world under control of one European power or another. But just how vast can be difficult to fully appreciate.

Here, to give you a small sense of European colonialism's massive scale, is a map showing every country put under partial or total European control during the colonial era, which ran roughly from the 1500s to the 1960s. Only five countries, in orange, were spared:

As you can see, just about every corner of the globe was colonized outright or was dominated under various designations like "protectorate" or "mandate," all of which are indicated in green. This includes the entirety of the Americas (French Guiana is incorrectly labeled as part of Europe due a technical issue, but make no mistake, it was colonized) and all of Africa save for little Liberia. More on Liberia later. The Middle East and Asia were divided up as well.

Some countries instead fell under "spheres of influence," marked in yellow, in which a European power would declare that country or some part of it subject to their influence, which was a step removed from but in practice not all that distinct from conquering it outright. Iran, for example, was divided between British and Russian sphere of influence, which meant that the European powers owned exclusive rights to Iranian oil and gas in their areas, among other things.

Most of the areas under spheres of influence on this map were politically dominated by the British, who ruled through proxies: Afghanistan (which also endured Russian influence), Bhutan, and Nepal. Mongolia was effectively a proxy state of the Soviet Union for much of the Cold War.

Something similar happened in China, where European powers established parts of coastal cities or trade ports as "concessions," which they occupied and controlled. Some, such as Shanghai, were divided into multiple European concessions. Others, like British-controlled Hong Kong, were fully absorbed into the European empires. This is why China is labelled as partially dominated by Europe.

Modern-day Saudi Arabia came under partial domination; in the early 1900s, most of the Arabian peninsula transitioned from the Ottoman Empire to the British Empire, though the British left much of the peninsula's vast interior relatively untouched. Parts of modern-day Turkey itself were divided among World War One's European victors, though Turkish nationalists successfully expelled them almost immediately in a war for independence that established modern-day Turkey.

There are only four countries that escaped European colonialism completely. Japan and Korea successfully staved off European domination, in part due to their strength and diplomacy, their isolationist policies, and perhaps their distance. Thailand was spared when the British and French Empires decided to let it remained independent as a buffer between British-controlled Burma and French Indochina. Japan, however, colonized both Korea and Thailand itself during its early-20th-century imperial period.

Then there is Liberia, which European powers spared because the United States backed the Liberian state, which was established in the early 1800s by freed American slaves who had decided to move to Africa. The Liberian project was fraught — the Americans who moved there ruled as a privileged minority, and the US and European powers shipped former slaves there rather than actually account for their enslavement — but it escaped European domination.

There is also debate as to whether Ethiopia could be considered the sixth country never subjugated by European colonialism. Italy colonized neighboring countries, and Ethiopia ceded several territories to Italian colonization as part of an 1889 treaty. The treaty was also intended to force Ethiopia to cede its foreign affairs to Italy — a hallmark of colonial subjugation — but the Amharic version of the treaty excluded this fact due to a mistranslation, leading to a war that Italy lost. Later, Italy conquered Ethiopia in 1935 and annexed it the next year, but this lasted only until 1941. While some consider this period of Italian rule to be a function of colonialism, others argue that it's better understood as part of World War Two and thus no more Italian colonization than the Nazi conquest of Poland was German colonization — although it could be certainly be argued that these fascist expansions were in fact a form of colonialism, as many eastern Europeans might.

The colonial period began its end after World War Two, when the devastated nations of Western Europe could no longer afford to exert such global influence and as global norms shifted against them. The turning point is sometimes considered the 1956 Suez Crisis, in which the US and Soviet Union pressured British and French troops to withdraw after invading Egypt to seize the Suez Canal with Israeli help. But it took a couple of decades for the European colonialism to fully collapse; France was fighting for Algeria until 1962 and Portugal did not abandon its African colonies until 1974. So this map, of a European-dominated world, is not as distant as it may feel for many Americans.

[nxmuzluv]

THE FIRST SINGLE … ˗ˏˋ ꒰ ♡ ꒱ ˎˊ˗

“GIRLS DON’T CRY” is the debut single by CHOUKA AIKAWA. Released on April 5th, 2024, the song went on to top charts in various countries. Hailed as one of the best debuts of 2024, critics and fans alike fell in love with the song’s “girlish” and carefree production, and praised how Chouka stayed so true to her hyperfeminine, “princesscore” image. The song’s success as caused critics to name her as a pop girl on the rise.

TRACKLIST … ˗ˏˋ ꒰ ♡ ꒱ ˎˊ˗

GIRLS DON’T CRY ! LEAD SINGLE

CAKE ! B-SIDE

GIRLS DON’T CRY (SPED UP)

PHOTOCARDS … ˗ˏˋ ꒰ ♡ ꒱ ˎˊ˗

COMMERCIAL PERFORMANCE … ˗ˏˋ ꒰ ♡ ꒱ ˎˊ˗

Highly praised for its sound and how it fit Chouka’s style, “Girls Don’t Cry” was a resounding success. The music video’s teaser, which was released with no prior notice onto a completely new YouTube channel (“c.a.”) with no previous content (it was later turned into a channel for all of Chouka’s music related endeavors), garnered over 3.2 million views within its first twenty-four hours after Chouka posted it to her Twitter and Instagram accounts. The single’s title was revealed on both platforms an hour later, coinciding with the launch of her official website, which displayed the title alongside a countdown timer.

The song received over 400,000 pre-saves, and the title was trending on Twitter with over a million Tweets. Shortly before “Girls Don’t Cry” dropped, Chouka’s website was updated with the single’s cover, and she posted behind the scenes photos of her on its set, which received over two million likes within the first day.

Upon the song’s release, it was a smash hit. The music video garnered 32 million views within its first 24 hours, finding itself at #1 on YouTube’s trending page, and topping both the Spotify and Apple Music charts. It went on to become the second most streamed song on Spotify in regards to first day streams. “Girls Don’t Cry” topped charts in several countries, including Japan, South Korea, Australia, the United Kingdom, Italy, France, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and the Philippines (it also managed to remain atop the Oricon chart for seven weeks).

Surprisingly enough, “Girls Don’t Cry” would debut at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 with sales of over 200,00 units, despite industry insiders predicting a Top 20 debut; probably due to the song’s immense popularity online. Unfortunately, it would never reach #1, falling to #7 after five weeks and staying there for two until falling off, but Rosettes were still happy to see that Chouka’s debut managed to get that high. In total, the single would sell over 850,000 units within its first week, cracking a million by the end of April.

Additionally, the song was also praised for its lyricism and feminist commentary on how women who are seen as “strong” or “smart” are not allowed to cry or display negative emotions and are expected to act as role models, while women who appear as if they have everything are told to “just deal with it” and that they have “nothing to be upset about.” Many Rosettes (and critics) were also surprised to find out that Chouka had written most of the lyrics, as she never expressed interest in songwriting before.

“Cake” was released as a single a month later, on May 3rd, 2024. Although the music video received over 11 million views within its first twenty-four hours, Rosettes were … a bit divided. It seemed like none of them could figure out whether they liked the song or not, with certain Tweets saying …

˗ˏˋ ꒰ ♡ ꒱ ˎˊ˗ “ y’all are just HATERS ! like y’all have truly forgotten what real pop music sounds like bc cake is a hit idc ! ”

˗ˏˋ ꒰ ♡ ꒱ ˎˊ˗ “ chouka girl with all due respect i think letting a major label get a hold of you was a mistake ”

˗ˏˋ ꒰ ♡ ꒱ ˎˊ˗ “ no bc this is girly girl music ! it’s cute it’s fun it’s bouncy and it’s so HER ! chouka bby get behind me PUT DOWN THE HATERADE NOWWWW !! ”

˗ˏˋ ꒰ ♡ ꒱ ˎˊ˗ “ #notmychouka girl why does this sound so EMPTY ??? republic needs to pay for their crimes bc ….. ”

Despite the confusion, “Cake” also went on to top charts. It also debuted atop the Apple Music chart, and came in second beneath “Girls Don’t Cry” on Spotify. It managed to debut at #6 on the Billboard Hot 100, although Rosettes were gunning for a higher placement (it was definitely because they couldn’t stop beefing with each other). The song remained on the chart for two weeks (managing to jump to #5 during its second), before completely falling off the Top Ten.

Luckily, more retrospective reviews shows that Rosettes have warmed up to “Cake,” saying that it fit the aesthetic of the lead single. Everyone loved the “sugar sweet” concept that Chouka had going on, and expressed pleasant surprise that her try at a music career was going so well.

STYLING … ˗ˏˋ ꒰ ♡ ꒱ ˎˊ˗

ERA HIGHLIGHTS … ˗ˏˋ ꒰ ♡ ꒱ ˎˊ˗

Definitely a fun era! Republic was truly pushing this single and girl, it showed. There were billboards playing her music video (Rosettes in New York even crowded around one when it first launched), ads plastered all across YouTube, “Girls Don’t Cry” was all over the radio, and it was the most popular song on TikTok for a good month.

The promotions were insane! Chouka was all over television this era. She was on the Kelly Clarkson Show (which was too cute! Like Kelly literally complimented her accent), she was on Jimmy Fallon, she was on GMA … like you truly could not escape her! She also had a photoshoot with Harper’s Bazaar and people ate it up! It was very Marie Antoinette themed with huge dresses, pastries, and of course, it was shot at a chateau in France!

And of course she had to promote in Japan! Chouka performed both “Girls Don’t Cry” and “Cake” on Music Station, and no one expected either song to have choreography. But the choreo was so cute, and especially for “Girls Don’t Cry!” Like you could truly tell that Chouka was having a blast, and everyone was so surprised at her stage presence because she’s literally a YouTuber. She also held a press conference in Tokyo, and she even got to visit a pop-up event held by Rosettes at a café in her hometown, Kyoto! It was the cutest thing to see her interacting with her fans, and she thanked them at least five times.

Chouka managed to squeeze in Korean promotions, as well! She performed both of her singles on M Countdown, Inkigayo, and The Show, and she was even on Weekly Idol! She held a small fansign for 200 fans who participated in the pre-order and received a “mystery ticket” with their album, and it was so cute! Chouka was cracking jokes with them and receiving SO many gifts (most of which were either pink or ridiculously expensive; she got a lot of bouquets, too!). Her Korean promos even saw the birth of her first fansite, Strawberry Sweet! She also appeared on the cover of Vogue Korea, and after that, Korean promotions ended unfortunately.

Side note, every performance of “Girls Don’t Cry” started with a costume change! It was usually Chouka tearing off a huge ball gown like skirt to reveal her shorter costume underneath, and her performance on M Countdown was literally her playing a princess getting ready for a ball. There was also a lot of ribbons, platform heels, and satin gloves used styling wise, and Chouka’s makeup was always so soft and pink!

Although she didn’t have enough songs to perform a full set, Chouka attended Coachella anyways and met a bunch of Rosettes! Jason (her fiancé) also tagged along, so fans got to meet him, too! Fashion girls were all over her festival looks too … being raised in Milan truly did wonders for her fashion sense.

Girl, the way the “#GirlsDontCryChallenge” blew up on TikTok is insane. The song had over a million videos underneath it by the start of June, and Chouka was doing it with celebs like Kelly, Tate McRae, Olivia Rodrigo, the members of Aespa, the members of Itzy, Rosé of BLACKPINK, Nayeon and Momo from TWICE, Yuju, the members of Viviz, and a few members of Stray Kids and NCT; among others! Chouka also did the challenge with Leeseo, Rei, and Wonyoung of IVE, and the way Dives and Rosettes were across every social media app absolutely freaking out that Chouka and Wonyoung were the same room was truly crazy.

Towards the end of promotions, a full length documentary covering the making of “Girls Don’t Cry,” the music videos, and the subsequent performances premiered on YouTube. It was a mix of professional camera shots and footage personally shot by Chouka herself, which was refreshing since Rosettes got to see a sillier side to her personality. The documentary garnered over 3 million views within the first twenty-four hours, and would end up at #5 on YouTube’s trending page.

At the end of promos, Chouka posted a long, heartfelt letter to her Instagram thanking fans for their support and expressing how surprised she was at the single’s success. She wrote, “I know that you guys have been waiting three years for me to try my hand at music, and words cannot express how happy I am that it was worth the wait. Over these last few months, you all have shown me so much love, and just thinking about it is moving me to tears as I write this! I promise that I’ll repay your support tenfold. You guys truly mean the world to me, and I wouldn’t be half the person I am today if it weren’t for you. You are truly my other half, even if I unfortunately don’t know you personally (don’t tell Jason I said that). I hope and pray that one day, I’ll be able to meet every single one of you from around the whole world in person, and tell you just how much you mean to me. Until next time, my loves. Ti amo sempre e per sempre. Ciao ciao. ♡”

Additionally, there was also a remix planned with PinkPantheress, but unfortunately, plans ended up falling through because Chouka simply … didn’t want to do it. However, Rosettes ended up finding out about the planned collab, and demand for it was huge. So the remix could happen in the future! Who knows.

All in all, this era was great. It truly showed how much untapped star power Chouka had, and the numbers proved it. It reinforced her “It girl” status, showing that no matter what industry she tried her hand at, she would still dominate. ˗ˏˋ ꒰ ♡ ꒱ ˎˊ˗

[mariacallous]

Americans on November 5 will be electing a wartime president. This isn’t a prediction. It’s reality.

Neither candidate has yet spoken plainly enough to the American people about the perils represented by the growing geopolitical and defense industrial collaboration among China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea. This axis of aggressors may be unprecedented in the potential peril it represents.

Neither candidate has outlined the sort of generational strategy that will be required by the United States to address this challenge. Irrespective of whether former President Donald Trump or Vice President Kamala Harris is elected, this will be the unavoidable context of their presidency. One will become commander-in-chief at the most perilous geopolitical moment since the Cold War—and perhaps since World War II.

In that spirit, Washington Post columnist George F. Will this week compared the 2024 US elections to the 1940 US elections, when the United States hadn’t yet formally declared war on Imperial Japan, Hitler’s Germany, or Mussolini’s Italy.

What was different then was that one of the two candidates, incumbent President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, sensed he was about to become a wartime president and was acting like it. FDR, wrote Will, “was nudging a mostly isolationist nation toward involvement in a global conflict” with his 1937 “quarantine speech” on aggressor nations and through his subsequent military buildup.

FDR’s opponent was Republican businessman Wendell Willkie, who like FDR was more internationalist than isolationist, in the tradition of his party’s elites of that time. “In three weeks,” Will writes, “Americans will not have a comparably reassuring choice when they select the president who will determine the nation’s conduct during World War III, which has begun.”

The point is that just as World War II began with “a cascade of crises,” initiated by the coalescing axis of Japan, Germany, and Italy, so today there is a similar axis—China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea. Will reckons our current global crisis began no later than Russia’s 2014 seizure of Crimea.

This isn’t the first time that I have quoted diplomat-historian Philip Zelikow in this column. Writing in Texas National Security Review this summer, Zelikow reckoned that the next president has a 20-30 percent chance of being involved in worldwide warfare, which he differentiates from a world war in that not all parties will be involved in every aspect or region.

Zelikow, who recently expanded on these ideas among experts at the Atlantic Council, reckons that the next three years mark a moment of maximum danger. Should the United States navigate this period successfully, alongside global allies and partners, the underlying strengths of the American economy, defense industry, tech, and society should kick in and show their edge over those of the authoritarians.

The problem in the short term is that the United States is facing challengers in Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, who may see a window of opportunity in the United States’ domestic distractions, a defense sector not yet adequate for emerging challenges, and an electorate that questions the value and necessity of US international engagement. Both leaders might calculate that acting more forcefully against Ukraine and Taiwan now could produce a greater chance of success than a few years in the future.

Wrote George Will: “From Russia’s western border to the waters where China is aggressively encroaching on Philippine sovereignty, the theater of today’s wars and almost-war episodes spans six of the globe’s 24 time zones.” He says this is what “the gathering storm” of world war looks like, borrowing the title of the first volume of Winston Churchill’s World War II memoirs.

Will charges the two presidential candidates with “reckless disregard” for failing to provide voters “any evidence of awareness, let alone serious thinking about, the growing global conflagration.”

If that sounds like hyperbole to you, it’s worth reading FDR’s third inaugural address in January 1941, almost a year before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, which prompted Congress to declare war on Japan the following day.

“To us there has come a time,” said Roosevelt, “in the midst of swift happenings, to pause for a moment and take stock—to recall what our place in history has been, and to rediscover what we are and what we may be. If we do not, we risk the real peril of isolation, the real peril of inaction. Lives of nations are determined not by the count of years, but by the lifetime of the human spirit.”

War isn’t inevitable now any more than it was then. When disregarded, however, gathering storms of the sort we’re navigating gain strength.

“In the face of great perils never before encountered,” Roosevelt concluded, “our strong purpose is to protect and to perpetuate the integrity of democracy. For this we muster the spirit of America, and the faith of America.”

[whitehartlane]

the kmj situation is wack for so many reasons … while i can understand minjae being exhausted both physically and mentally after playing 90 minutes of pretty much every napoli game this season and every game being important what with them gunning for the serie a title and being strong contenders for the cl, the man either needs better pr training or just needs to rue on his feelings for a while before saying them out loud.

it’s fine to want to focus on your club for the moment, but to explicitly say that you ‘don’t want to focus on the national team’ comparing it to your club in one breath is 1) implying that you want to retire from the nt, 2) just generally not reading the room right especially when your nt has just gotten a new coach that needs to work out the kinks and figure out the system, and 3) a slap in the face to the fans of your country supporting your career. south koreans especially take great pride in their nation and their nation’s outputs—just look at the (very well deserved) support that korean ppl always have for players like son heungmin or park jisung. while he is playing for a big club in italy now and is very talented and successful, minjae came up through the k league and, before transferring to napoli, mostly had korean fans/fans who are also avid fans of korean football. to indirectly undermine that is a no-go.

absolutely he is allowed to feel the way he feels and this opens up a lot of necessary conversations about player wellness, but being professional is also part of the game. he could have gracefully bowed out of at least one friendly citing physical exhaustion (especially since klinsmann so far seems to be the kind of guy to prioritise player comfort) instead of making comments like this to the press afterwards. most likely he had no malicious intentions, but this is just unfortunately shooting his own self in the foot.

also regarding the whole blocking sonny thing—i won’t get into speculation or whatever there because they’re grown men but it’s wild that ppl are blaming this on sonny being shady with his post about it being an honour to play for korea. sonny’s always been the kind of guy to openly love playing for his nt and it’s a big responsibility he takes both physically and mentally to try and play in every game the nt organises despite being a constant starter for a premier league club (just look at the way he fought to play in the wc despite his injury). whether this is right or wrong isn’t important—it’s his choice as is any other player’s choice to not play, and we shouldn’t demonise them for that. the simple fact of the matter is that sonny always makes these kinds of posts after every international game; in my eyes, it has nothing to do with minjae’s comments at all.

all in all, just a weird situation that’ll most likely taint the way a lot of kr minjae fans see him … just quite unfortunate really.

[mrs-monaghan]

I might be biased (actually, I’m totally biased lmao) but outside of the fandom I feel like JK and JM are the most popular and well-known members. People around me like my sisters, my boyfriend, friends, coworkers… if I ask them to name a few members they will definitely say JM and JK, maybe Suga as well and JHope since Lollapalooza. Maybe it depends on whether people are on Twitter or socmed or if they keep up with music releases in general. I find it interesting that photoshoot rumor has been automatically linked to Tae and JK. If it’s true I’m curious to see how it will come out. I’m a bit on the fence to be honest but hey, those two look handsome so I’ll take it anyway haha maybe I’ll get called out for saying this but I think the fandom and especially a certain kind of fans tend to overestimate Tae’s popularity outside of Army.

Okay anon. This sounds like a fan game. Let's do it. I'm on Google. I won't have enough room for images so just take my word for it 😂😂😂. I'm just gonna type in a bunch of countries. Here we go.

Korea - Jimin (we know this one so let's just drop it here)

US - JK

Japan - V (with 1.7 million votes)

UK - Jhope

Now that one surprises me. Which, idk why coz he's fucking amazing but I didn't expect him to be the most popular here. I mean good for him though 💜

Australia - Jimin

India - V

South Africa - JK

Russia - V

France - V

Germany - Jimin

Brazil - Jimin

Turkey - Jimin

Argentina - Jimin

China - V (Damn son!)

Vietnam - Jimin (I'm shooketh 👀)

Nigeria - Jhope (why do I keep getting surprised 😂😂)

Malaysia - JK

Singapore - JK

Canada- Suga (finally!)

Italy- JK

Thailand - JK

Who's the most popular member in the world you ask? Drumroll please........ 🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁 JK!!!!!

Anon this game was fun in the beginning but now I have to stop because its getting depressing. 21 countries I looked up. Where's the love for Namjin?

[howwelldoyouknowyourmoon]

Unification Church-linked group paid Trump $2.5 million for video messages: Mainichi exclusive

October 26, 2023

President Donald Trump in their video messages for a Universal Peace Federation event in September 2021. (Image taken from the group's website)

TOKYO -- Former U.S. President Donald Trump received some $2.5 million from the Universal Peace Federation (UPF), a Unification Church affiliated group, to make video appearances on three occasions between 2021 and 2022, while then Vice President Mike Pence was paid $550,000 for speaking at a UPF event, the Mainichi Shimbun has confirmed by acquiring U.S. official records and checking them with court documents in Japan. • Meanwhile, the UPF has maintained that the group didn't pay former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who made a video appearance at its event in September 2021. If this is true, we must question why Abe agreed to speak for the event free of charge. In the video, Abe said he "highly appreciated" the Unification Church, formally called the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, for its efforts to "place importance on the value of family." This video appearance is believed to have been one of the triggers for his assassination in July 2022.

...

At the February 2022 World Summit in Seoul, Trump gave a roughly nine-minute video speech, during which he praised Han for "her outstanding commitment to the cause of peace." He also touched on the conservative newspaper founded by Han and Moon, saying that it "has made a priceless contribution to the defense of truth, faith and freedom, both here in America and all over the globe." Pence was physically present at this event, giving a speech for about 11 minutes.

According to Trump's reports submitted to the OGE, he made $2.5 million for his three video appearances spanning a total of roughly 28 minutes, meaning that he was paid some $90,000 per minute.

On these large amounts of compensation, Yasuo Kawai, an attorney from the Lawyers from Across Japan for the Victims of the Unification Church team, said, "The church's main source of income is supposedly donations from Japanese followers, which means that a significant chunk (of these payments to Trump and Pence) could have been covered by the donations."

Asked whether donations by followers were used as resources to pay for these political figures, the Unification Church Japan told the Mainichi Shimbun, "The Japan corporation doesn't keep track on how the world headquarters distributes donations from Japan to the world." The Mainichi also made an inquiry with the Unification Church world headquarters in South Korea but didn't receive a response by the requested deadline.

Other than the U.S., former prime ministers of France and Italy, as well as a former Brazilian president, among other political leaders in the world, have joined UPF events or appeared in video messages. Sociology of religion professor Yoshihide Sakurai at Hokkaido University graduate school points out that having globally famous leaders at their events allows the Unification Church to make followers believe that Han and Moon are great people recognized at a world level. He added, "The church uses them to spread and promote their teachings."

[s4g2]

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[miss-rum-hee]

Hey, it's me again. Since your ask box is rarely open (I'm assuming to avoid trolls and idiots spamming you with nonsense), I feel there's a new problem with bigotry. It's very important.

Since Oppenheimer came out there's been discourse on if Hiroshima and Nagasaki were okay or not. Sadly too many dummies are out here saying they deserved it.

Here's some of the stuff they say as to "why"

"It stopped the war/Japan didn't surrender/An invasion would have been worse": This one I'm not gonna say is right or wrong because official sources and historians debating on these things still so whether you believe that is up to you.

THE BIG ONE I AM SICK OF: Using Japan's wrongdoings as a whataboutism dogwhistle. I'm sick of seeing people be like "But Pearl Harbor/Nanking Massacre/Southeast Asia invasions/Unit 731/Torture!". I get it, those were all awful, but the fact that you justify killing random strangers based on the actions of their military and government, when THEY'RE the actual ones at fault, is stupid and racist. They do this with Russians too and occasionally Chinese people. For them "Dictator = everyone" when it comes to dictatorships (the only one they can tell the difference with is North Korea, any other dictatorship, NOPE!)

To add to the point, many people (Americans and Southeast Asians) forget that America has been menacing them for, like, ever! Ever heard of the My Lai massacre? Just like Nanking, Americans slaughtered and r*ped Vietnamese people. The Pearl Harbor idiots forget that America literally bombed Laos and Cambodia, MULTIPLE TIMES. Filipinos still worship Americans as if America didn't actually bomb Manila when there in WW2 to target the Japanese, yet killed WAY MORE FILIPINOS IN THE PROCESS AND THE FILIPINOS THINK THE AMERICANS "SAVED THEM FROM THE WICKED JAPS". Everyone is rightfully mad that the government has "not said sorry" (they have multiple times but they were hollow because the government is very fringe and they try and make that stuff seem okay and don't tell the whole truth in schools), but nobody is mad or racist towards Italians, nobody seems to care that Italy never apologized for their actions, even the countries victimized by Italy. Even during the war nobody really cared. Despite the fact that Italy also has a very fringe government now and Mussolini's GRADDAUGHTER is in one of the parties and is a simp for her grandpa.

The worst part of all of this, I've seen critics of the bomb and surviviors actually harassed and cyberbullied by Japanophobes. Here's some of the examples: There's a trend of people calling Japanese people who don't like Barbenheimer "nationalists", "tankies", "Japanese imperialism apologists", etc, who "need to cope/get a life/cry about it", and they don't have even mercy on CHILDREN. I saw a quote from a survivor someone shared that was a father talking about watching his son die slowly in front of him. And guess what, some Filipino came along and was like "WHAT ABOUT ALL THE FILIPINO KIDS THE JAPANESE KILLED?!", and my mind was literally BLOWN. Look, that was awful, I get it. But I have no respect for you. The NERVE of you to make it about yourself. This isn't ABOUT Japan vs. the Philippines. THIS IS ABOUT AMERICA VS JAPAN. Go complain on a post about the Philippines. This is a PARENT and his SON who may I say, was 4. Yes, 4. And this fool essentially said "This 4 YEAR OLD is a soldier responsible for the deaths of my people's children!". Dude, the children had nothing to do with it. I don't support defending anyone's war crimes and that includes America, but at least those were adults. CHILDREN can't even process anything that's happening and you're mad at THEM?

America and its simps really need to stop thinking they're good nd that they can't commit war crimes. They wanted to get revenge and kill as many people as possible. They wanted to show off to Russia. They literally had internment camps for the Japanese PEOPLE which has even less excusable reasons and merit than the bombs. There's nothing else to it and no matter if worse could have happened, there's no justifying the killing civilians and children part. These fools are mad at the wrong people.

On the bright side, a lot of the people who used the first point are actually willing to admit that they killed random people and that they wished it didn't happen. And I respect those people because they actually can tell the difference or still recognize Japanese criticism and Japanese survivors and deaths were not just "tankies getting what they deserved".

Look up my reblogs for more info, and check Twitter and Youtube comments under Oppenheimer criticism videos and you'll see the racists in all their glory.

So yeah, if people like Oppenheimer that's fine, it apparently isn't trying to make the bomb seem okay, but the criticism has attracted dumbasses making fools of themselves. And people should watch movies like Barefoot Gen, Godzilla, Tora Tora Tora, and Grave of the Fireflies after for some blatantly and UNBIASED takes from Japanese people, rather than American "Icky Japanese Tankie" movies.

Honestly that whole discourse is a fucking mess rn, I ain't even touching it with a 20 ft pole