#it was registered in december 2015

[reasonsforhope]

Hazel Chandler was at home taking care of her son when she began flipping through a document that detailed how burning fossil fuels would soon jeopardize the planet.

She can’t quite remember who gave her the report — this was in 1969 — but the moment stands out to her vividly: After reading a list of extreme climate events that would materialize in the coming decades, she looked down at the baby she was nursing, filled with dread.

 “‘Oh my God, I’ve got to do something,’” she remembered thinking...

It was one of several such moments throughout Chandler’s life that propelled her into activist spaces — against the Vietnam War, for civil rights and women’s rights, and in support of environmental causes.

She participated in letter-writing campaigns and helped gather others to write to legislators about vital pieces of environmental legislation including the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act, passed in 1970 and 1972, respectively. At the child care center she worked at, she helped plan celebrations around the first Earth Day in 1970. 

Now at 78, after working in child care and health care for most of her life, she’s more engaged than ever. In 2015, she began volunteering with Elder Climate Action, which focuses on activating older people to fight for the environment. She then took a job as a consultant for the Union for Concerned Scientists, a nonprofit science advocacy organization. 

More recently, her activism has revolved around her role as the Arizona field coordinator of Moms Clean Air Force, a nonprofit environmental advocacy group. Chandler helps rally volunteers to take action on climate and environmental justice issues, recruiting residents to testify and meet with lawmakers. 

Pictured: Hazel Chandler tables at Environment Day at Wesley Bolin Plaza in front of the Arizona State Capitol in Phoenix, Arizona, in January 2024.

Her motivation now is the same as it was decades ago. 

“When I look my grandchildren and my great-grandchildren, my children, in the eye, I have to be able to say, ‘I did everything I could to protect you,’” Chandler said. “I have to be able to tell them that I’ve done everything possible within my ability to help move us forward.” 

Chandler is part of a largely unrecognized contingent of the climate movement in the United States: the climate grannies. 

The most prominent example perhaps, is the actor Jane Fonda. The octogenarian grandmother has been arrested during climate protests a number of times and has her own PAC that funds the campaigns of “climate champions” in local and state elections. 

Climate grannies come equipped with decades of activism experience and aim to pressure the government and corporations to curb fossil fuel emissions. As a result they, alongside women of every age group, are turning out in bigger numbers, both at protests and the polls. All of the climate grandmothers The 19th interviewed for this piece noted one unifying theme: concern for their grandchildren’s futures. 

According to research conducted by Dana R. Fisher, director for the Center of Environment, Community and Equity at American University, while the mainstream environmental movement has typically been dominated by men, women make up 61 percent of climate activists today.  The average age of climate activists was 52 with 24 percent being 69 and older...

A similar trend holds true at the ballot box, according to data collected by the Environmental Voter Project, a nonpartisan organization focused on turning out climate voters in elections. 

A report released by the Environmental Voter Project in December that looked at the patterns of registered voters in 18 different states found that after the Gen Z vote, people 65 and older represent the next largest climate voter group, with older women far exceeding older men in their propensity to list climate as their No. 1 reason for voting. The organization defines climate voters as those who are most likely to list climate change, the environment, or clean air and water as their top political priority.

“Grandmothers are now at the vanguard of today’s climate movement,” said Nathaniel Stinnett, founder of the Environmental Voter Project.

“Older people are three times as likely to list climate as a top priority than middle-aged people. On top of that, women in all age groups are more likely to care about climate than men,” he said. “So you put those two things together … and you can safely say that grandma is much more likely to be a climate voter than your middle-aged man.” 

In Arizona, where Chandler lives, older climate voters make up 231,000 registered voters in the state. The presidential election in the crucial swing state was decided by just 11,000 votes, Stinnett noted.

“Older climate voters can really throw their weight around in Arizona if they organize and if they make sure that everybody goes to the polls,” he said. 

Pictured: Hazel Chandler’s recent activism revolves around her role as the Arizona field coordinator of Moms Clean Air Force, a nonprofit environmental advocacy group.

In some cases, their identities as grandmothers have become an organizing force. 

In California, 1000 Grandmothers for Future Generations formed in 2016, after older women from the Bay Area traveled to be in solidarity with Indigenous grandmothers protesting the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline at the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. 

“When they came back, they decided to form an organization that would continue to mobilize women on behalf of the climate justice movement,” said Nancy Hollander, a member of the group. 

1000 Grandmothers — in this case, the term encompasses all older women, not just the literal grandmothers — is rooted at the intersection of social justice and the climate crisis, supporting people of color and Indigenous-led causes in the Bay Area. The organization is divided into various working groups, each with a different focus: elections, bank divestments from fossil fuels, legislative work, nonviolent direct actions, among others...

“There are women in the nonviolent direct action part of the organization who really do feel that elder women — it’s their time to stand up and be counted and to get arrested,” Hollander said. ���They consider it a historical responsibility and put themselves out there to protect the more vulnerable.” 

But 1000 Grandmothers credits another grandmother activist, Pennie Opal Plant, for helping train their members in nonviolent direct action and for inspiring them to take the lead of Indigenous women in the fight. 

Plant, 66 — an enrolled member of the Yaqui of Southern California tribe, and of undocumented Choctaw and Cherokee ancestry — has started various organizations over the years, including Idle No More SF Bay, which she co-founded with a group of Indigenous grandmothers in 2013, first in solidarity with a group formed by First Nations women in Canada to defend treaty rights and to protect the environment from exploitation. 

Pictured: Pennie Opal Plant has started various organizations over the years, including Idle No More SF Bay, which she founded in 2013 alongside Indigenous grandmothers.

In 2016, Plant gathered with others in front of Wells Fargo Corporate offices in San Francisco, blocking the road in protest of the Dakota Access Pipeline, when she realized the advantages she had as an older woman in the fight. 

As a police liaison — or a person who aims to defuse tension with law enforcement — she went to speak to an officer who was trying to interrupt the action. When she saw him maneuvering his car over a sidewalk, she stood in front of it, her gray hair flowing. “I opened my arms really wide and was like, are you going to run over a grandmother?”

A new idea was born: The Society of Fearless Grandmothers. Once an in-person training — it now mostly exists online as a Facebook page — it helped teach other grandmothers how to protect the youth at protests. 

For Plant, the role of grandmothers in the fight to protect the planet is about a simple Indigenous principle: ensuring the future for the next seven generations. 

“What we’re seeing is a shift starting with Indigenous women, that is lifting up the good things that mothers have to share, the good things that women that love children can share, that will help bring back balance in the world,” Plant said...

[Kathleen] Sullivan is one of approximately 70,000 people over the age of 60 who’ve joined Third Act, a group specifically formed to engage people 60 and older to mobilize for climate action across the country. 

“This is an act of moral responsibility. It’s an act of care. And It’s an act of reciprocity to the way in which we are cared for by the planet,” Sullivan said. “It’s an act of interconnection to your peers, because there can be great joy and great sense of solidarity with other people around this.”

-via The 19th, January 31, 2024

#climate change #climate activism #climate crisis #climate action #grandmother #older adults #elders #feminism #climate hope #family #intergenerational relationships #grandchildren #climate protest #good news #hope #hopepunk #environment #environmental activism #hope posting #boomers #gen z #age

[silicacid]

No evidence of inflated mortality reporting from the Gaza Ministry of Health

Benjamin Q Huynh, Elizabeth T Chin, Paul B Spiegel

Published: December 06, 2023

Mortality reporting is a crucial indicator of the severity of a conflict setting, but it can also be inflated or under-reported for political purposes. Amidst the ongoing conflict in Gaza, some political parties have indicated scepticism about the reporting of fatalities by the Gaza Ministry of Health (MoH).

The Gaza MoH has historically reported accurate mortality data, with discrepancies between MoH reporting and independent United Nations analyses ranging from 1·5% to 3·8% in previous conflicts. A comparison between the Gaza MoH and Israeli Foreign Ministry mortality figures for the 2014 war yielded an 8·0% discrepancy.2 Public scepticism of the current reports by the Gaza MoH might undermine the efforts to reduce civilian harm and provide life-saving assistance. Using publicly available information, we compared the Gaza MoH's mortality reports with a separate source of mortality reporting and found no evidence of inflated rates. We conducted a temporal analysis of cumulative-reported mortality within Gaza for deaths of Gazans as reported by the MoH and reported staff member deaths from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), from Oct 7 to Nov 10, 2023. These two data sources used independent methods of mortality verification, enabling assessment of reporting consistency.

We observed similar daily trends, indicating temporal consistency in response to bombing events until a spike of UNRWA staff deaths occurred on Oct 26, 2023, when 14 UNRWA staff members were killed, of whom 13 died in their homes due to bombings. Subsequent attacks raised the UNRWA death rate while MoH hospital services diminished until MoH communications and mortality reporting collapsed on Nov 10, 2023. During this period, mortality might have been under-reported by the Gaza MoH due to decreased capacity. Cumulative reported deaths were 101 UNRWA staff members and 11,078 Gazans over 35 days. By comparison, an average of 4884 registered deaths occurred per year in 2015–19 in Gaza.

Cumulative reported mortality rates (Oct 7–Nov 10, 2023)

Data are calculated by separate death reports from the Gaza Ministry of Health (MoH; red line) and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA; blue line).

If MoH mortality figures were substantially inflated, the MoH mortality rates would be expected to be higher than the UNRWA mortality rates. Instead, the MoH mortality rates are lower than the rates reported for UNRWA staff (5.3 deaths per 1000 vs 7.8 deaths per 1000, as of Nov 10, 2023). Hypothetically, if MoH mortality data were inflated from, for example, an underlying value of 2–4 deaths per 1000, it would imply that UNRWA staff mortality risk is 2.0–3.9 times higher than that of the public. This scenario is unlikely as many UNRWA staff deaths occurred at home or in areas with high civilian populations, such as in schools or shelters.

Mortality reporting is difficult to conduct in ongoing conflicts. Initial news reports might be imprecise, and subsequent verified reports might undercount deaths that are not recorded by hospitals or morgues, such as persons buried under rubble. However, difficulties obtaining accurate mortality figures should not be interpreted as intentionally misreported data. Although valid mortality counts are important, the situation in Gaza is severe, with high levels of civilian harm and extremely restricted access to aid. Efforts to dispute mortality reporting should not distract from the humanitarian imperative to save civilian lives by ensuring appropriate medical supplies, food, water, and fuel are provided immediately.

#show this academic journal every time someone said they doubt the number of casualties in gaza #its even UNDERREPORTED #BC ISRAEL KEEP KILLING HCW AND UN STAFF #free palestine #from the river to the sea palestine will be free #palestine #gaza

[allthebrazilianpolitics]

Brazil Has Had 10,000 Cases of Femicide since the Approval of the Law on the Subject in 2015

Midwest has the highest rate per 100,000 inhabitants

A study released on Thursday (7) by the Brazilian Forum of Public Security shows that at least 10,655 women were victims of femicide in the country from March 2015 (when the law on the subject was created) to December 2023 —the survey takes into account cases that were officially registered as such by the police.

According to the entity, this number would be higher were it not for underreporting in the first years of the legislation.

Continue reading.

#brazil #brazilian politics #politics #feminism #public security #mod nise da silveira #image description in alt

[foxes-that-run]

What do you think of the unreleased song "something I've been waiting for"? I don't knoe when it was written but could it be about TS too?

I think so. It was registered at the same time as Already Home in December 2015.

It was leaked on 27 March 2023. The day after Harry kissed Emrata in Tokyo. 3 days later Taylor replaced Invisible String with The 1 and the Joe split was announced the next week.

The lyrics don't specify anything about the muse, but there are a few lines that are similar to songs from 2014/15.

"Now that I have found you, got something to lose" is similar to Taylor's Holy Ground " And for the first time I had something to lose"

"This might sound crazy / 'Cause I just lost my mind, mind, mind" is similar If I could Fly (below) and to Taylor's Wonderland "And in the end, in Wonderland, we both went mad" and another unreleased I just wanna love you "Selfish, crazy and I'm never gonna change"

"I’ve been here for years wasting love, wasting time" is similar to If I Could Fly " I've been going out of my mind (I feel it I feel it) Know that I'm just wasting time"

[coochiequeens]

This is why I hate all those people who say stuff like “I would trust my child with a drag queen”. No one should trust a drag queen who wants to preform his act in front of minors.

A registered child sex offender has been charged after police learned he had been teaching dance to children in violation of his conditions. 

Dwight Evan Chisolm, 31, a lifetime registrant of the Wisconsin sex offender registry, appeared in court on Monday. Local NBC 26 referred to Chisolm with “she/her” pronouns, and stated he was facing one count of working with children as a child sex offender and two counts of bail jumping, but, according to the Brown County inmate directory, Chisolm is specifically being held on charges of “intentionally photographing a minor without consent” as a condition release violation.

Chisolm, who is a transgender drag queen known by the name “Sno Wight,” was initially convicted in 2011 on charges of sexually assaulting a child and sentenced to three years in prison in Brown County.

Upon his release in 2015, Chisolm was listed in official records as homeless and was therefore ordered to report his whereabouts to authorities on a weekly basis. But two years later, the Wisconsin Department of Corrections lost contact with Chisolm, who had stopped making the mandatory weekly declarations of his location. For the following year and a half, authorities were unable to locate him. 

In December of 2018, the state’s District Attorney’s office charged Chisolm with failure to provide information as a sex offender and a judge signed a warrant for his arrest.

The next year, Chisolm was again arrested for sexual offenses involving a minor. 

In September of 2019, he was charged with child enticement and sexual intercourse with a child after allegedly abusing a 17-year-old boy he groomed online through both the popular gay hookup app Grindr and Snapchat. According to court records, the victim had informed Chisolm of his age, and Chisholm had claimed to be 22 years old, despite actually being 27.

The teen told authorities he had twice met up with Chisolm, with whom he performed sexual acts in the garage of a property on Green Bay’s east side, which is listed as Chisolm’s residence. The property is located across the street from Green Bay East High School.

Now, Chisolm is once again in police custody after law enforcement learned that he had been volunteering at Wolves Cave Studio in Green Bay where he had been teaching dance using the monikers “Coach Sno” and “Sno Wight.” 

Local news reported that the owner of the studio confirmed that Chisolm had been volunteering there, but declined to be named. The owner told NBC 26 that she had been unaware of Chisolm’s history of sexually abusing minors and, because he was not a paid employee, had not thought to perform a background check.

Chisolm is currently being held at the Brown County Main Jail on a $5,000 bond ahead of a May 18 preliminary hearing.

Chisolm operates two Facebook profiles under the name “Sno Wight” where he can be seen advertising his dance classes for boys and girls aged 6 to 19. The promotional image contains photos of young girls in suggestive poses.

On both profiles, Chisolm has posted videos of children performing drag. 

One video shared by the sex offender features a 13-year-old boy who was recently discovered to have performed at a party sponsored by an app designed for adult gay men seeking sex, called Jack’d. The child, Kingston Wells, performs under the name Ally Marc Jacobs and is being mentored by a gay porn model. Wells has sparked controversy on social media for frequently performing in adult venues.

On TikTok, Chisolm posts videos of himself that are mainly centered around his drag shows, which he both organizes and participates in, as well as his trans activism.

In one video, he can be seen dancing on a stage at an unspecified bar, wearing a long blonde wig. The event was part of a series of festivities associated with Pride Alive, an LGBT organization which was promoted by the Human Rights Campaign. In photos uploaded to the group’s Facebook page, children can be seen attending drag shows and handing money to the adult performers.

Another video of Chisolm available on his TikTok profile shows him appearing to threaten anyone who uses “the wrong pronouns” to address him. He has also shared a video wherein he twerks in his underwear, which is captioned: “It doesn’t matter what’s between my legs, I’m still a woman.”

In a series of videos posted in December last year, Chisolm rails against “black people discriminating against the LGBT community.” 

“I don’t tolerate discrimination. I don’t tolerate hate. You will accept me and love me for who I am. All I do is bleed love and grace. It is you who make me the monster, it is you who make me angry,” Chisolm threatens. “I am a very loving and caring person, but when it comes to discrimination, I will spit in your motherf*cking face, b*tch.” Also at that time, Chisolm complained about being excluded from the LGBT community, saying he was “ripped to pieces” and “thrown to the wolves to be eaten alive.” 

“In my own community I am excluded from things… a lot of people think I’m supposed to shut up and be swept under the rug,” he says. This he blames on on his history of sexual offenses, which Chisolm describes as “bumps in my past” that he is made to “suffer for every single day.” 

According to court records, Chisolm attempted to be removed from the sex offender registry in 2021, but the motion was denied. 

One month after he filed the request, he performed drag at the Tarlton Theater to commemorate the Trans Day of Remembrance as part of a troupe called Divaluscious. Photos shared to Chisolm’s Facebook account show him holding a transgender pride flag while standing outside of the building. For his advocacy, he was given a platform and interviewed on ABC 2.

Drag performances and transgenderism are historically intertwined, with the designer of the transgender pride flag himself having attended such shows before claiming to be a woman and a lesbian. 

As Reduxx has previously reported, Navy veteran Robert Hogge admitted to committing fetish burglaries, an offense that involves the theft of women’s underwear, and wrote disturbing erotic fiction on themes of age regression, body swapping, and children who do not age.

By Genevieve Gluck

Genevieve is the Co-Founder of Reduxx, and the outlet's Chief Investigative Journalist with a focused interest in pornography, sexual predators, and fetish subcultures. She is the creator of the podcast Women's Voices, which features news commentary and interviews regarding women's rights.

After Bud Light’s “ill-fated marketing campaign” that featured a transgender woman, it appears that Smirnoff, a brand of vodka produced by the British company Diageo, has made a failed attempt to keep its partnership with Texan drag queen and transgender-identifying woman Maxine St. James LaQueene quiet.

In September 2022, LaQueene expressed his excitement in joining Smirnoff’s “Show Up Show Off” drag competition through an Instagram post. Although the partnership did not make headlines at the time, the performer caused a stir at the Texas Capitol last week, taking center stage on various news sites.

LaQueene, among other protesters, began to chant during a legislative vote on a bill, SB 14, that would ban transgender surgery for kids under the age of 18. After Speaker of the House Dade Phelan, a Republican, demanded they be removed, a photo was snapped of LaQueene bent over while in custody, displaying a clear view of his backside and genitals to bystanders.

Detransitioner and activist Oli London made the connection between Smirnoff and LaQueene through a series of tweets last Friday, sharing images from the House floor as well as the original image of their partnership announcement.

“Hey @SmirnoffUS why do you have a brand partnership with this Drag Queen?” the tweet began. “He exposed his genitals while teens were present in an unlawful insurrection in Texas. He also posts disturbing fetish images of his genitals online. Is this who you want to be the face of your brand?”

In an email to Fox News Digital after London’s discovery, Smirnoff confirmed its partnership with LaQueene for a promotional campaign in 2022, but claimed he “is not currently a Smirnoff partner, and does not currently have any contract with Smirnoff.”

“Smirnoff’s partnership with LaQueene proves that Bud Light isn’t the only beer company with left-wing activists in their marketing department,” Joseph Backholm, senior fellow for biblical worldview and strategic engagement at Family Research Council, told The Washington Stand. “Their attempt to distance themselves from LaQueene proves the boycott against Bud Light has scared other companies.”

Despite their alleged partnership being annulled, London continued to post about Smirnoff’s relationship with LaQueene and revealed a promotional video featuring the drag queen in full costume. In the same tweet, he wrote, “Radical Trans Activist who exposed his testicles in front of teens in the Texas State House has a long-term paid brand partnership with @SmirnoffUS. Will the brand continue to pay this man or drop him as ambassador immediately?”

As repercussions of the events at the Texas Capitol continue to unravel, LaQueene was quick to defend himself. He claimed to have been attacked by conservatives for flashing bystanders, and asserted that he “did not consent” for a photo to be taken. LaQueene also claimed that flashing bystanders was simply “an accident” and he is “completely speechless.”

“People like Dylan Mulvaney and LaQueene need Jesus and therapy, not social status and influence,” Backholm concluded. “Corporate America may be slow to learn this lesson, but the market is helping them understand.”

Originally published by The Washington Stand

#Keep drag queens away from children #Sno Wight is Dwight Evan Chisolm #Drag queen with a criminal record #TIM sex offender #USA #wisconsin #All Ages and Drag Show don’t belong in the same sentence #Wolves Cave Studio didn’t perform background checks on people interacting with minors #smirnoff #Maxine St. James LaQueene Is a man #Texas #SB 14 #The dude flashed his junk in public and complained that his picture was taken

[seasurfacefullofclouds1]

Louis is very measured and thoughtful. If we see or hear of him doing something it’s because he wants us to see or hear it. The one-and-done pap walk with Sofie was clearly to send the message that Eleanor and he were broken up, without him having to make a statement or something so formal.

Louis is very lucky that he can exist under the radar in many places and he takes advantage of that.

The walk with Sofie Nyvang is a great example of Louis’ economy of action.

A lot of fans (including me) laughed at how cleverly we deconstructed this calculated pap walk, but Louis got his message across with minimal fuss. There was never any follow up because none was needed; the five-minute stroll set the news of a clean break, and it very clearly showed who was in control.

… which begs the question of who or what entity set up the PR of Louis and Eleanor “getting back together” and how it was done.

Leaving aside the “truthfulness” of the Elounor relationship, I’ll list a few thoughts about it.

1. The public message of Elounor’s “reconciliation” happened pretty fast. Eleanor’s Instagram in December 2016 showed the same kind of influencer posts as she always did. Despite the gravity of events, Louis and his family didn’t figure into her posts at all. Later, Louis made a statement that he was glad Eleanor shared in his sadness during the last days of Jay’s illness, but it was Danielle Campbell who comforted his sisters and him during this time. Danielle had met and shared in baby Freddie’s time with Louis, not Eleanor.

2. Yet within weeks in January 2017, all the social media cues were set up for a Elounor reunion. Like a 1D PR playbook, James Corden and Lou Teasdale followed Eleanor’s Instagram account days before fans “met” them together, and then were asked to delay posting the photos for a few weeks.

3. Confirming Elounor and disavowing Larry were the central talking points of Louis’ very first solo interview— with Dan Wootton— despite Louis’ first solo single (Back To You) being about a recurrent, toxic, unhealthy romantic relationship. Amusingly, Louis had to make disclaimers that the song was not about himself.

4. The topic of Elounor was again front and center for Louis’ second interview with Dan Wootton, to promote his single Two Of Us. Wootton pushed Louis to answer that Eleanor was indeed “The One,” and marriage was likely. By this point, the Elounor PR had become clumsily heavy-handed.

5. Louis shows his deftness at public messaging at interesting times. A few weeks after news of Brianna Jungwirth’s pregnancy broke, Louis was papped holding hands with Tamara Bell at Glastonbury, erasing any hope of a “1D marriage.” Later in 2015, fandom found that the Clark-Jungwirth family had registered a series of website urls ahead of Freddie’s birth with various baby names. However, Louis announced Freddie’s name himself, taking back control of the PR circus.

Control is an interesting concept in a celebrity’s life, especially in someone like Louis who began his celebrity life at a young age, under a lot of deceit and manipulation. We can now see whom Louis allows into his inner circle, whom he brings to public and private spaces. I always think about what Theo Hutchcraft said about Louis’ decisions about music— he’s intelligent, he’s quick to make decisions, and then he adamantly sticks to them and rarely changes his mind. I think this “don’t look back in regret” attitude applies to a lot of Louis’ life. Louis says he’s forgetful because he’s a “stoner,” but I honestly think he likes to keep life simple without overthinking too much. He has this elegant way about him, and his mind is very precise and quick.

#louis tomlinson #eleanor calder #one direction

[maya-chirps]

Celebrating Christmas in the Philippines: The Christmas Capital of Asia (Part 2)

A parol shop selling other Christmas decorations posted by yeowatzup (2005) via Wikimedia

This is a second part of a longer post on Christmas in the Philippines. Part 1 can be found here.

(Also I know this is a little late, had some personal stuff this holiday season so sowwyy)

Practices in the Present Day

Christmas traditions today are a mixture of both traditionally Hispanic and American practices with some new and additional modern things added in from the past century. Most of these traditions are still done by a lot of Filipino families today and continue to be icons in Filipino culture.

The Longest Christmas

An image of a calendar posted by Benham Norouzi (2021) via Unsplash

It is well-known that the Philippines starts the Christmas traditions on the 1st of September, making it the earliest start of the any Christmas season in the world. This comes from a lot of factors, primarily because Filipinos love the idea of counting down the 100 days before then (which start at the 16th of September), and was later on used in other settings like when people would put up decorations in their own homes and in businesses encouraging the later commercialized holiday to also start early with sales and other deals (Handong, 2017). This later made it sort of official that Christmas would start on September, earning the season the colloquial name "The Ber Months" or "The Ber Season".

As I said in a previous post, however, actual celebrations often start after undas and more specifically after the start of Advent and more intensely during the start of Simbang Gabi or Misa de Gallo on the 16th of December and you would be hard-pressed to actually find people celebrating before then.

It doesn't stop people from having online count downs with Jose Mari Chan's infamous Christmas song "Christmas in our Hearts" in the background (that had been memed on in the Philippines on the scale of "All I want for Christmas is You" in America) on the 31st of August to midnight to greet the 1st of September though.

24th as the Day of Celebration

Other practices that Filipinos inherited from the Spanish from this time was the practice of mostly celebrating the holiday on the eve of instead of the actual day of the 25th. This comes from an older Roman Catholic tradition of having Christmas mass from night time to the next day based on the traditional belief that Jesus was born on exactly midnight on the 25th (The Pillar, 2021). Celebrations like Christmas Eve dinner (the Noche Buana) and gift giving happen during this time with gift opening happening during the stroke of midnight.

Personal side-note, since I'm not gonna add a final section detailing more personal stuff here because it's getting too long: as a kid, I was always confused at American TV shows that showed people sleeping at night before opening up presents in the morning. It never really registered and I always questioned why they had to wait 'til morning for them to open presents. because of this, the whole Santa Claus thing didn't make sense to me either.

Simbang Gabi

People attending Simbang Gabi captured in St. Anthony de Padua Parish Church, Iriga City, Camarines Sur uploaded by Patpat Nava (2015) via Wikimedia

Similar to most Christian countries from the 16th to the 18th Century, the Philippines celebrated Christmas as a religious holiday focused on prayer and masses, often seen in the form of Simbang Gabi or Misa de Gallo which I had discussed in full detail with its history and current practices here. The basics of it is that Filipinos would celebrate Christmas and the lead-up to the holiday by going to church every day for nine days until the 25th starting on the 16th. The practice was brought over by the Spaniards as it can be seen practiced or some form of it practiced in Spain and a few other Hispanic countries.

Other than just church-going, Simbang Gabi is also famous for its many foods that had come to be strongly tied to the event, mostly rice cakes that are sold outside of churches early in the morning and late at night like Puto Bumbong, Bibingka, Sapin-sapin, and many more.

The Parol or The Star Lantern

A photo of parols displayed on a store credited to Sagisag PH posted by Behold Philippines (2021).

One of the most recognizable symbols of the Filipino Christmas is the star lantern known as parols that often can be seen decorating the houses of Filipinos of all different backgrounds. According to Giselle Tong-Walters of the Association for the Advancement of Filipino American Arts and Culture or FilAm Arts, the parol predates Spanish colonization as precolonial Filipinos would often hang lanterns on their homes at night to tell any traveler that may have seen it that they are welcome to seek refuge there (Dormido, 2023).

Others note that the parol had taken inspiration from the Mexican piñata which had originally come from Spain that had come from Italy some time in the 1300s and was said to have been first used in the Philippines as a light-source to guide people early in the morning during Simbang Gabi which remains the popular origin for the parol today (MyParol, n.d.).

The modern parol is said to have been first created by Kapampangan artist Francisco Estanislao in 1908 by using the traditional five-point design by using Bamboo strips and Japanese paper which was later done with the use of the newly created material cellophane as well as the increased use of electric lights that made the star lanterns that Filipinos are familiar with today (Tapino, 2018).

Today many variants of the lantern exists including more and more complicated designs with even the use of sea shells being fairly common.

Seashell lanterns are also a fairly common sight during the holiday season. Image posted by Tapino via Spot.ph (2018).

The Nativity or Belen Display

Capas Municipality’s 13-meter tall Belen takes on Eiffel Tower as the backdrop for their winning Belen, made of bamboo, recycled materials and decorated with LED lights. Image posted by Christine Dayrit via PhilStar (2018).

Like a lot of religious Christian places or former religious Christian places, the nativity is a common sight during the Christmas season with some families owning their own personal display and communities typically having larger ones in their centers. Some people create more handcrafted versions if they don't have the money to buy their own set and some communities may even hold competitions to see who could make the most creative ones.

Noche Buena

An image of a Filipino Noche Buena spread posted on Lessandra.com (2020)

Just like the Spanish, Filipinos celebrate Christmas with a Christmas feast on noche buena (en. the good night) or Christmas Eve with itself as noche buena instead of referring to it as the dinner on noche buena. This particular naming quirk extends over for New Year's Eve Dinner being called medianoche despite the word simply referring to midnight.

The reason for this may come from the fact that Filipinos had gravitated more to using the literal terms with Bisperas ng Pasko and Bisperas ng Bagong Taon (en. The day/night before Christmas and The day/night before the New Year) which made noche buena and medianoche redundant, later tying them to specifically refer to the dinner, although that's more speculation on my part.

The practice, of course, had come from Spain some time during the 17th Century when it was first exported the empire's colonies through Roman Catholicism (Paz, 2022). The dinner was marked with lots of food and may include multiple families eating together.

Typical food found during Noche Buena include the hamon (glazed ham), lechon (roasted pig), lumpia (spring rolls), leche flan (milk flan), graham cake, and queso de bola (a special cheese ball), among many other foods. These food are also the same or similar food that are served during medianoche or New Year's Eve Dinner.

Gift-giving and the aguinaldo or the pamasko

Photo of people giving each other gifts posted in an article by Lumina Homes (2020)

Gift giving is often done on the 24th, typically after either Christmas Eve mass or Noche Buena. Most families would wait until midnight as the date goes to the 25th in order to open presents with the typical Christmas gift giving flair.

Besides the gifts themselves, it's tradition for godparents to give money to their godchildren in red packets we call ampao, with this being called the aguinaldo or the pamasko. The practice originated from Chinese-Filipino communities who would often do this for Chinese New Year's which later spread to non-Chinese communities who instead would give the red envelopes during Christmas (Ki, 2019). Although some may think that the money giving stops after adulthood, some godparents

Two Red Hang Bao or Ampao typically given during Chinese New Year posted by Mikhaila Archer via Cosmopolitan (2022).

Christmas Caroling

Video of children caroling posted by Rauselle Pascua (2023) via YouTube

Christmas Caroling in the Philippines typically start at the beginning of the Simbang Gabi and ends on the 24th, with some caroling much earlier, where children to full adult groups may go door to door to carol for candy, food, or money. Children often go in groups and sing the typical Filipino Christmas songs with makeshift instruments such as tambourines made out of cans and small metal bits to make sounds, while teenagers and adult groups may go around from house to house with guitars and other portable instruments in order to receive cash.

The songs that they sing may range from traditional Filipino songs or modern Christmas songs from both local and international places.

I don't have a source for this one since I do want to look more into the history of Christmas Caroling in the Philippines maybe next year so enjoy this other video of a group of guys dancing Jingle Bells posted by SG TV (2019).

Side Story: I used to spend Christmas with my, honestly, wealthier grandmother and it wasn't uncommon for carolers to go up our door and just sing for candy or money. It often started on the 16th because caroling wasn't allowed any time before that. We used to have a weird little rule that children would get candy, while teenagers and adults will get money. Teenage boys would come around as whole groups with guitars and sing for money, while kids didn't mind the candy. After a while, there would be times that different people in the house would give candy away so we weren't able to keep track of which kid had already gone to our house. It wasn't until one of the people who worked for my grandma recognized a couple of kids that we realized that they've just been going around the neighborhood before doing another round when people may had already forgotten them. Honestly, I'm a little impressed.

Panunuluyan

Photo of a Panunuluyan posted by Philippines Tourism (@/MorefunTourism) (2018) via Twitter/X

The Panunuluyan is a traditional play that reenacts the night of Jesus' birth where Mary and Joseph were trying to seek shelter (NCCA Official, 2015). The name comes from the Filipino word tuloy which although typically mean "to continue" is used in this context to mean "to allow in" or "to enter in" referring to guests or visitors entering someone's home. Schools and churches typically do this play as part of their Christmas festivities but it isn't as common as it was in the past (Tan, 2016).

Panunuluyan is also called by different names such as Panawagan (en. announcement) in Cavite and Batangas, Kagharong in the Bikol region, and daigon, pakaon, and patores in Visayan speaking regions (NCCA Official, 2015).

Side story: I had a queer classmate who played Mary in one of these plays against their will in a seminary house production because their mom just said so and the place didn't had any afab people (because seminary house obv), and they ended up falling in love with the guy who played Joseph, serving as the only male crush they have ever had. Hilariously, on a seminary boy meaning a dude who wants to be a priest. I feel bad for them...

The Feast of the Three Kings

A photo of the reenactment of the Epiphany story in Gasan, Marinduque showing the three magi meeting with King Herod. Photo posted by Eli J. Obligacion (2011) via the blog Marinduque Rising.

Observed every 6th of January, the Epiphany or the Feast of the Three Kings is a religious observation that marks the formal end of the Christmas season in the Philippines. In the current day, most communities simply go to church to celebrate the epiphany, it was once a common practice to have a large celebration during the day which involves three people dressed up as the three kings, riding horses to the local church, distributing gifts to the townspeople. This practice is still done in some communities in the country today (Primer, 2021).

From photos I've seen of some of the festivities, two members of the three may put on blackface and/or redface to symbolize all three magis who are typically shown as having different skin tones as seen in the previously linked article from Primer, although some places instead have children play the parts of the magi without any blackface or redface.

Closing

As a kid, Christmas has always been special to me and now that I'm older, it's gotten a lot less cheery as all young adults may feel with the season getting less about joy and presents and more about either work and expenses. That sorta happened here when I was initially rushing this even when I was not in the mental headspace for it so taking a break was almost mandatory. I definitely feel a little bummed that I wasn't able to finish this the day of, but I can't really change it as much.

To those finishing my late extremely long-ass infodump about Christmas in the Philippines, thank you so much for reading and have a Happy New Year!

(Part 1: Etymology and History)

(Reference List)

#mayaposts #mayapino #filipino #philippines #culture #filipino culture #christmas #filipino christmas #history #filipino history #traditions #christmas traditions #filipino christmas traditions #colonial history #spanish colonial history #food #long post

[magnoliamyrrh]

Today, Friday 5 February at 08:30 CET, WikiLeaks releases a collection of documents that open up a corrupt multi-billion dollar war by Western and Chinese companies grab uranium and other mining rights in the Central African Republic (CAR) and escape paying for the environmental consequences. Among the hundreds of pages in this publication are detailed maps of mining rights, mining contracts with illegal kickbacks and secret investigative reports. The documents have been long sought by fraud investigators. In December 2015 a case was filed against Areva, alleging corruption related to the €1.8 billion purchase of three uranium mines in 2007.

Effective oversight process by the local authorities is subverted either by duping state officials with deceiving front companies, such as the UN registered World Sports Alliance (WSA), now recycled into a cover for mining companies, or by corrupting them through the payment of 'cash bonuses'. After a profitable exploitation of resources, companies such as Areva – a French multinational group specialising in nuclear power – abandon the country, leaving behind nuclear contamination without having launched any of the promised investments.

[sug4rsweet]

[ KAORI ♡ DISCOGRAPHY ! ]

[ 2011 — 2012 ! DEBUT ! SELF-TITLE ]

after signing with AVEX TRAX in october 2011, KAORI’s debut single—“TREAT ME (AKACHAN O ATSUKATTE)”—was released on december 7th, 2011. the first of three singles, it was immensely popular, debuting at no. 2 on the ORICON charts and selling over 90,000 units. it also found itself on the BILLBOARD HOT 100, debuting at no. 86, KAORI’s first of many entries. the music video received over 2 MILLION views within its first 24 hours

released two months later, her debut album—KAORI—also saw success. selling over 400,000 copies, the album debuted at no. 18 on the BILLBOARD 200. it received universal acclaim, with critics lauding KAORI’s versatility and interpretation of the electropop genre. considered a classic within her discography, the album is widely loved by fans

[ 2013 ! SWEET 18 ]

returning with a slightly more mature image and a more pop rock / electropop oriented sound, KAORI’s sophomore album reflected her first year as an adult. with a darker style reminiscent of KODA KUMI, RIHANNA, or LADY GAGA, the first single from the upcoming album was an almost drastic change from KAORI’s debut. debuting at no. 1 on the ORICON charts, “BLACK NIGHT” was the first number one single of her career. it sold over 100,000 units and debuted at no. 69 on the BILLBOARD HOT 100. the music video garnered over 3 MILLION views in its first 24 hours, and the single only garnered more attention once it was used in an anime a mere month after its release

the album released 2 weeks later, and it was a smash hit with the public. praised for its stronger sound and KAORI’s subsequently stronger image, SWEET 18 did wonders for her career. it sold a little over 500,000 copies, and found itself at no. 11 on the BILLBOARD 200—one place away from top ten. with its slew of iconic tracks, the album is also beloved among fans

[ 2015 ! DRIVE MY LIFE ]

returning to the music scene after a 2 year hiatus, KAORI made her comeback with a much more polished image and sound. a combination of electropop and r&b, DRIVE MY LIFE is seen as a “turning point” in KAORI’s career. the album’s lead single had a strong edm sound, and it sold nearly 300,000 units, debuting at no. 2 on the ORICON charts, and at no. 35 on the BILLBOARD charts

being an era in which KAORI took a lot of creative control, the album itself was definitely a game changer. selling over a MILLION copies, it was KAORI’s first “million seller,” and it ended up at no. 9 on the BILLBOARD 200—her first top ten entry. DRIVE MY LIFE is often cited as her best work (if not THE best work she’s ever done), and not only is that an opinion echoed by most of KAORI’s fans, but it’s also the album that caught the attention of more recent fans

[ 2017 ! KAGAYAKU ]

after another 2 year hiatus, KAORI returned with her first extended play. a brighter, more “unique” sound accompanied the album, giving KAORI the chance to show off her vocal range. the lead single—“PINK ROAD (PINK NO MICHI)”—had a higher register than what fans were used to, and due to it’s vocal difficulty, it’s often cited as another fan favorite. the track debuted at no. 3 on the ORICON charts, and at no. 40 on the BILLBOARD HOT 100, selling a little over 80,000 units

due to being an ep, KAGAYAKU is KAORI’s second lowest selling album to date. despite that, it still received favorable reviews from critics and fans alike. the album sold over 300,000 copies, and it found itself at no. 20 on the BILLBOARD 200—her second lowest charting album on the chart so far. the album, its concept, and its tracks are all widely loved, however. it was seen as “experimental,” and many of KAORI’s fans enjoy the more psychological meanings behind each track

[ 2018 ! FEEL ]

after a year long break due to produce 48, KAORI returned with her first full album in three years; FEEL. described as more “lighthearted,” the album is a return to her more electropop and “2010s j-pop” sound. the lead single—“COME INTO THE DISCO”—is a favorite of older fans, as it’s reminiscent of KAORI’s earlier sound. the track debuted at no. 1 on the ORICON charts, her first number one single on the chart in five years. selling nearly 400,00 units, it also debuted at no. 16 on the BILLBOARD HOT 100—her highest charting single in the united states to date

fans and critics ate up this release, praising KAORI for her return to her initial sound, while also managing to make it sound more “fresh” and modern. FEEL sold over a MILLION copies, making it her second “million seller” album so far. and finally, the album debuted at NO. 1 on the BILLBOARD 200; her first number one album on the chart in SIX YEARS. the album is frequently hailed as another one of KAORI’s best works, and is praised for being a stellar comeback

[ 2020 ! L.O.V.E ]

after another hiatus spurred on by KAORI’s personal life and promotions in china, she returned after two years with one of her most critically acclaimed albums to date. capturing the sound of heisei era j-pop and riding on the wave of the “2000s revival,” L.O.V.E is certainly a more r&b centric album. the lead single—“GRLTLK”—is one of KAORI’s highest charting singles to date. selling over 300,000 units, the track debuted at no. 1 on the ORICON charts (as expected). the biggest surprise, however, is when it debuted at NO. 9 on the BILLBOARD HOT 100—her second top ten entry on the chart, and her HIGHEST CHARTING single so far. the song’s unexpected entry into the top ten is definitely what motivated fans to shoot for number one

like stated before, L.O.V.E was an immensely acclaimed album. on the BILLBOARD 200, it was her SECOND number one album in 2 years—quite the impressive feat for a j-artist. it sold nearly a million copies, and fans universally agree that the singles from this era are some of KAORI’s best. a tour to promote the album had been in the works since the start of 2020, but unfortunately, it had to be cancelled. an online concert with over 500,000 VIEWERS was held instead, and in 2022, KAORI’s annual concert in tokyo was used to promote the album

[ 2023 ! DEJA VU ]

after another hiatus and her longest one yet, KAORI made a comeback with her highly anticipated SIXTH album, DEJA VU. spearheaded by a more “sexy” image in comparison to KAORI’s previous works, the era was certainly one of her most eventful ones to date. the lead single—“WANT ME WANT ME”—was a smash hit, debuting at no. 1 on ORICON and selling over 300,000 units. in an iconic moment, the single finally debuted at NO. 1 on the BILLBOARD HOT 100; KAORI’s first EVER number one single on the chart. it remained there for 6 WEEKS, and it gave her the international attention that she had been wanting

the album also sold well, becoming KAORI’s third “million seller,” and eventually selling over 2 MILLION copies. it debuted at no. 1 on the BILLBOARD 200, the first time she had an album and a single both chart at number one simultaneously, and it stayed there for nearly 8 WEEKS. the album was acclaimed by critics and loved by fans, particularly due to KAORI’s increasingly maturing image. the singles are seen as a “highlight” of the album, and DEJA VU has gone down as one of the highest selling albums in japan, as well as KAORI’s most iconic

[ DISCOGRAPHY ♡ AS KYANDI ! ]

[ 2015 ! CANDY GIRL ]

one of the most beloved albums in KAORI’s discography, CANDY GIRL began her KYANDI alter ego. delving into the previously unheard of genres of “kawaii rock” and “r&b pop,” (which later transformed into “KAORI-POP”) the album was unique and allowed KAORI to take on a slightly “cuter” but still relatively mature image, reminiscent of TOMMY FEBRUARY6 or KYARY PAMYU PAMYU, as well as ease back into the rock genre that she took on during the SWEET 18 era. the lead single of the album—“TOKERU NO COTTON CANDY”—is another fan favorite. selling over 200,000 units, the single debuted at no. 3 on the ORICON charts, and found itself at no. 20 on the BILLBOARD HOT 100

CANDY GIRL is an iconic piece of KAORI’s discography, as it began her well known alter ego. it sold over 700,000 copies, debuting at no. 25 on the BILLBOARD 200. favored by critics for its unique sound and unconventional image, loved by fans, and coming right after the explosive DRIVE MY LIFE, CANDY GIRL is certainly era defining

[ 2016 ! SUGAR!!! ]

the second ep of KAORI’s career, SUGAR!!! allowed her to take on an even cuter image without the commitment of a full album. although it didn’t sell as high and is almost forgotten among the general public, it’s well known among fans and was still a commercial success. the first of two singles from the album—“BIRTHDAY”—is more memorable among the public, and was a hit with critics, with most praising KAORI for her ability to adapt to drastically different concepts and effectively coining her “POP CHAMELEON” title. the single sold a little over 80,000 units, charted at no. 6 on the ORICON charts, and debuted at no. 51 on the BILLBOARD HOT 100. all three are KAORI’s lowest chart placements to date, but the single was still a resounding success, and it was praised for its cuter sound and production quality

so far, SUGAR!!! is her lowest selling album, but of course, it was still successful. selling nearly 200,000 copies, it charted at no. 29 on the BILLBOARD 200—her lowest charting album ever. despite that, the album was well received by critics and is adored by fans, with many calling the singles standout tracks

[ 2017 ! KISEKI NO ICE CREAM ]

with more time to focus on her alter ego, KISEKI NO ICE CREAM came a mere couple of months after KYANDI’s last release. with a distinctive video game concept and references to shōjo manga such as CUTIE HONEY, the album and its singles were widely praised. the lead single—“PRESS PLAY”—stood out, as it gave KAORI a rare chance to display her talents as a rapper. the track sold nearly 200,000 units, debuted at no. 2 on the ORICON chart, and charted at no. 15 on the BILLBOARD HOT 100. through twitter, the single went pretty viral on the internet, surprisingly bringing it up to NO. 10 on the BILLBOARD chart, her FIRST top ten entry on the chart

KISEKI NO ICE CREAM did exceptionally well, selling over 900,000 copies—her highest selling album as KYANDI. it debuted at no. 14 on the BILLBOARD 200, and is a favorite among many people, with critics calling the album KAORI’s best work under her alter ego

[ 2024 ! RINGO ]

her first KYANDI album in SEVEN YEARS (the longest break KAORI’s taken in between releases), the release of RINGO and the return of her alter ego was highly celebrated. an (almost) drastic shift in sound in comparison to her previous works as KYANDI, the album took on a more rock / pop punk sound, reminiscent of 2000s era AVRIL LAVIGNE or PARAMORE. the lead single—“MONOCHROME RAINBOW”—was an instant hit, debuting at no. 1 on the ORICON charts and selling nearly 400,000 units; KAORI’s highest selling single under her alter ego. it charted at no. 11 on the BILLBOARD HOT 100, before rising to NO. 8 after being used as the ending theme for the anime series MY HERO ACADEMIA

the album itself performed the best out of KYANDI’s albums, becoming KAORI’s first “million seller” album under her pseudonym. it charted at no. 1 on the BILLBOARD 200, and became the HIGHEST SELLING ALBUM of the year in japan

#🍬 … KAORI ! #DISCOGRAPHY ! #kpop oc #kpop oc soloist #kpop soloist #kpop solo artist #koc soloist #fictional idol #fictional idol community #fictional idol oc #fictional idol soloist #jpop oc soloist #jpop oc #jpop idol oc #jpop soloist #Youtube

[gwheelerinvestigation]

Comprehensive Timeline of the Events So Far

it's come to my attention that my old timeline was probably very outdated.

1950s-1970s: MKUltra. Some crazy advancement is made that allows later events to take place.

1992-2001: The Living Brain Project. A multinational team made up of hundreds of researchers - many of them former war criminals from Nazi Germany, Japan, and Spain - is conscripted by the US government for a top-secret project. This project involved creating and then killing 999 Simulacra, and mixing their souls/code together to create an amalgamation called the Living Brain, which was portioned into exactly 14,985 flash drives.

3/30/2008: Years after the project was canned by the government, the Alaskan facility that housed the Living Brain Project is entered again for an unknown purpose.

2008-2009: "C.J.", last name unknown, somehow obtains parts of the Living Brain Project Material and begins using it to develop AI beings for a video game that became known as Urrezko Kaiola.

2009-2011: Urrezko Kaiola is beta tested. There are 28 people known to have been involved with the project, including C.J., Abigail and Caroline Wheeler, Jesus "Carmello" de la Rosa, Ross J. Blackwood, Ashton Alexander, Je-eun and Seo-hyun Park, Sarah Williams, Rose Bennett, Eric Ramirez, Kieran M. Jacobs, Kenneth G. Peterson, Maria and David Taylor, and Joshua Campbell.

Early 2012: Urrezko Kaiola is finished.

November 2012: Sarah Williams is found dead. Coroner's report indicates she was electrocuted, death ruled an accident.

May 2013: Abigail Wheeler goes missing.

1/31/2014: Abigail Wheeler is declared dead.

March 2014: Eric Ramirez is found dead in his house by a mailman with two gunshot wounds, one in his chest and one in his head. Death ruled suicide (how was it ruled a suicide?)

4/13/2014: my sister Caroline Wheeler attempts to murder a man, presumed to be C.J., with an illegally owned pistol, but he survives due to body armor. one onlooker is injured. Caroline is arrested.

June 2014: I inherit my sister Abigail's laptop. On it is a game that I played a lot as a bored young teenager. Only recently did I find out that it was apparently an earlier version of a game that would be released to the public much later (see 9/22/2017)

July 2014: Ross J. Blackwood goes missing. He was declared dead within two weeks of his disappearance (why so fast?)

7/31/2014: Caroline Wheeler is sentenced to 9-13 years in prison + 10 years of probation for attempted murder, aggravated assault, and other charges. She would much later make up a false story that I believed for years that she was falsely convicted for Abigail's disappearance instead.

Sometime in 2014: Ashton Alexander breaks into the complex that houses Urrezko Kaiola. He is caught and arrested, and imprisoned for five to six years for breaking and entering.

Summer 2015: Jesus "Carmello" de la Rosa goes missing. As of writing he has not been declared dead. The California property that houses Urrezko Kaiola's systems is allegedly still registered in his name.

December 2015: Kenneth G. Peterson dies in a shootout with the LAPD after a carjacking turned into a shootout.

May 2016: Rose Bennett goes missing.

July 2017: Maria and David Taylor are killed in a drive-by shooting. No suspects were ever arrested.

9/22/2017: Doki Doki Literature Club!!, a polished version of the horror game I played as a kid, is released. This might have Living Brain involvement as well. It was supposedly made by a guy named Dan Salvato.

Spring 2018: Je-eun and Seo-hyun Park are kidnapped at Jeju International Airport by undercover North Korean agents and smuggled across the border. (were they defectors?)

Summer 2018: An album called Urrezko kaiola is released by a Basque punk rock band. (is this even related? coincidence?) at this point, i'm pretty sure this is not related. but i'm keeping it on the timeline cause i like the song

2019: Kieran M. Jacobs goes missing.

January 2020: Ashton Alexander is released from prison.

3/30/2020: Urrezko Kaiola begins being released for consumption for free on the internet with Chapter Zero. Allegedly this version is "sanitized", lacking many of the more overtly dangerous/potentially supernatural elements of the original version. (similarity with DDLC?)

4/3/2020: Chapter One is released.

4/11/2020: Chapter Two is released.

4/13/2020: I get into contact with Ashton Alexander, the other only beta tester I've yet found besides my sisters.

Also 4/13/2020: Another entry into the former Living Brain Project facility is made.

9/5/2020: Chapter Three is released.

9/19/2020: Chapter Four is released.

September 2020: Ashton begins exhibiting strange behaviors and not answering calls. When he can be heard from, he is incoherent.

October 2020: K begins investigating both the events of Urrezko Kaiola and the Living Brain Project.

12/5/2020: Chapter Five is released.

3/8/2021: Chapter Six is released.

3/11/2021: Another entry to the Living Brain Project facility is made, that cannot be accounted for by K's entries.

9/16/2021: I get burgers with Ashton. He ominously states that he "has to do something" and "has to finish his work" before bolting into traffic. When I finally find him, he's leaning over the bridge. He says that this is the last step he needs to take to be "whole". He implores me to "take notes" and "watch what happens next", before jumping off of the 500' drop off the bridge. His body is never discovered.

Also 9/16/2021: Chapter Seven is released.

February 2022: I begin investigating the strange AI characters in earnest.

11/17/2022: Due to the degradation of the platform under Elon Musk, the Urrezko Kaiola characters stage a mass exodus of Twitter (now known as X).

12/4/2022: I create this Tumblr account.

8/21/2023: Chapter Eight is released.

#urrezko kaiola #investigation #timeline

[houseofbrat]

Andrew, his lawyers, and his publicists really trying to work the refs in the UK press via Camilla Tominey in The Telegraph ten days ago:

There is also hope that any unsealing of court papers in the Dershowitz case may clear up an ongoing confusion over Ms Giuffre’s place of residence.

Mr Brettler initially tried to halt the US civil case against the Duke by claiming that the federal court in New York did not have jurisdiction over the matter because Ms Giuffre is domiciled in Australia, not Colorado as she alleged.

Arguing the case should be halted until the “issue of subject matter jurisdiction is adjudicated”, he wrote to the court in December 2021: “In her complaint Ms Giuffre alleges she is a citizen of the state of Colorado; the evidence demonstrates that she is actually domiciled in Australia, where she has lived for all but two of the past 19 years.

“It is undisputed that at the time she filed this action Ms Giuffre had an Australian driver’s licence and was living in a $A1.9 million [about £1.1 million] home in Perth, Western Australia, where she and her husband have been raising their three children.

“In reality, Ms Giuffre’s ties to Colorado are very limited. She has not lived there since at least 2019 – approximately two years before she filed this lawsuit against Prince Andrew – and potentially, according to her own deposition testimony, not since October 2015.”

Ms Brettler said Ms Giuffre only recently registered to vote in Colorado using her mother and stepfather’s mailing address there.

Yet the court rejected this argument, along with Mr Brettler’s plea for the case to be thrown out because Ms Giuffre had a “tortured interpretation” of the law she was relying on. He said some of the alleged offences were said to have happened outside New York state and beyond the jurisdiction of the New York Child Victims Act (CVA) that she was using.

Because this is what the US FEDERAL JUDGE had to say about it:

LEWIS A. KAPLAN, District Judge.

Defendant moves for an order compelling plaintiff to respond to“targeted” but as yet unspecified “written discovery requests pertaining to her domicile,” requiring her “to submit to a two-hour remote deposition limited to the issue of her domicile,” and staying all other discovery until the Court determines whether subject matter exists, lack of which would be a potential defense that the defendant refers to as “anticipated” and that he concededly has not actually raised.

The motion (Dkt 58) is denied, substantially for the reasons set forth in the plaintiff's opposition to defendant’s motion. Among other relevant points, it appears that the defendant previously served on the plaintiff extensive discovery, including at least one comprehensive request for documents relating to her domicile, to which responses are due, and have been promised, by January 14. See Dkt. 58-2, at 2.

This ruling is without prejudice to any defense of lack of subject matter jurisdiction that defendant may raise by motion or by answer. It likewise is made without determining the merit, or lack of merit, in plaintiff's assertion that defendant’s motion is “a transparent attempt to delay discovery into his own documents and testimony.” Dkt. 60, at 2.

SO ORDERED.

Dated: December 31, 2021

What were some of the reasons set forth in the plaintiff’s opposition? Consider this portion: 

First, Prince Andrew has not made a strong showing that any forthcoming motion he may file will have merit. Defendant repeatedly states that Plaintiff resides in Australia, but where she resides is not the question—it is her domicile, and domicile and residence are distinct legal concepts. See GTG Holdings, Inc. v. Amvensys Cap. Grp., LLC, 2016 WL 931215, at *1 (N.D. Tex. Mar. 11, 2016). “Domicile has been described as the place where a person has his true fixed home and principal establishment, and to which, whenever he is absent, he has the intention of returning.” Linardos v. Fortuna, 157 F.3d 945, 948 (2d Cir. 1998) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). Accordingly, Plaintiff’s domicile is (and was at all relevant times) Colorado.

Defendant’s selective excerpts of Plaintiff’s prior depositions omit testimony that demonstrates her intent to return to Colorado. For example, Plaintiff testified that she and her husband left Colorado because his elderly father needed their imminent care in Australia after multiple surgeries.(2) As Defendant himself points out, Plaintiff is registered to vote in Colorado, where her mother currently resides. See Dkt. 58-9. 3 These facts, and additional evidence for which Defendant has already sought discovery, establish Plaintiff’s Colorado citizenship. See, e.g., King v. Cessna Aircraft Co., 505 F.3d 1160, 1171 (11th Cir. 2007) (domicile in California where parents testified that, prior to plaintiff’s dying while living abroad, she intended to return home).

Defendant mischaracterizes Plaintiff’s pleadings in the Dershowitz case to suggest, for example, that an allegation in a proposed amended complaint that she “was a citizen of the State of Colorado” is an admission that she was no longer a citizen of Colorado at the time of amendment. Mot at 4. Plaintiff worded the allegation in that way, however, because diversity jurisdiction over her second amended complaint depended on the court having jurisdiction at the time of filing the action. See, e.g., Coury v. Prot, 85 F.3d 244, 248 (5th Cir. 1996) (“diversity of citizenship must exist at the time the action is commenced”).

There we have it. Domicile and residence are different legal concepts in the USA. 

Andrew’s “friend” who talked to Tominey is really dumb. 

“He settled without admitting any guilt and has always resolutely insisted that he has been falsely accused. He’s been utterly consistent about that for more than a decade.

“But when he settled, it didn’t clear his name. So there is a legal resolution, but this was always a three-stage process: legal resolution, followed by clearing his name, followed by whatever it is he wants to do next.

“You can’t expect the Duke to live permanently in this no man’s land with a legal resolution of a civil case, no investigation by any legal authority, let alone any charges. He’s not been found guilty of anything in a court of law, yet in the court of public opinion, his name remains sullied because people think there is no smoke without fire.

“No investigation”? 

You refused to talk to the US DOJ, remember Andrew? Because believe me, everyone at the prosecutor’s office at SDNY remembers. And your Mummy isn’t around to protect you any longer. 

Keep your “sources” talking in the UK press, Andrew. People who work at the US Department of Justice can read articles on the internets just like everyone else. They can see you sending out that bimbo, aka Lady Victoria Hervey, and doing yourself no favors. 

Keep it up Andrew and the US DOJ will grant your wish for an official and very PUBLIC acknowledgement that they’ve been investigating you! 

#the telegraph #camilla tominey #the disgusting one doesn't get his name in a tag #epstein shit #pr is public reputation management #Alan Dershowitz is TRASH

[phanfictioncatalogue]

Christmas AU’s (3) Masterlist

part one, part two

A million little suns (ao3) - jestbee

Summary: Dan is just trying to get as far away from his home town as possible at Christmas when he gets stuck in a snow storm. He's rescued by an enigmatic stranger who take him back to his cabin in the mountains. What Dan doesn't know is that his rescuer is prolific, best-selling writer of erotica, Ricky Blitz. Will Dan end up with a porn-worthy situation all of his own? (hint: yes)

Air Hockey (ao3) - philsmeatylegss

Summary: Christmas fic where neko!dan, who has a horrific past, faces his greatest challenge yet: meeting his fiancé’s family…

all i want for christmas (is you) (ao3) - lestered (clonetrobed)

Summary: He finds himself huffing out a small, high-pitched laugh that he couldn’t even dream of passing off as part of his natural register. “Hah… yeah. Mhm. Nice. Morn… ing. Yup. Sure is.”

Dan’s smile falls a tiny bit, a hint of confusion flickering behind his eyes. Unfortunately, that’s an expression Phil is all too familiar with receiving.

AU where Dan is Phil's Christmas coworker crush, and awkward boys are awkward.

Christmas Constellations (ao3) - brookwrites

Summary: Phil works putting up signs at a department store, and the signs never stop getting bigger and better. All the department store chains never cease to attempt to one-up each other, and this holiday season Phil’s has decided to try to beat out the competition with inclusiveness and feature a gay couple in their ads. As annoying as putting up a whole line of ads is, Phil can’t help but find himself infatuated with one of the men in the picture. After staring at him for too many shifts in a row, Phil ends up obsessively wondering if he’s single and if he’s even gay. Eventually he decides that there’s only one way to find out.

Christmas Contest (ao3) - Full_Moon_Lover

Summary: "Your lawn is in shambles and you're making the whole neighbourhood look bad so I'm going to yell passive aggressive comments at you until you get off your butt and mow the law for the first time in a year."

Christmas Lights (ao3) - boredomandwhiskers

Summary: Dan and Phil live opposite each other. Dan hates Christmas so Phil tries to teach him what it's about.

December Twenty-Second - placingglaciers

Summary: It’s the beginning of winter, Dan is alone during this Christmastime, and so is the guy he bumped into on the street.

First Snowfall - paradisobound

Summary: Dan is a neko who has never seen snow before. The initial wetness and cold feeling of the snow leave him scared but Phil soon shows him how fun snow can actually be.

Home for Christmas (ao3) - Azure (Fancy_Ravenclaw)

Summary: Every year Dan goes to a ballet performance of the Nutcracker around Christmas (he even starts to enjoy it after a while), but what he’s really waiting for is the nights he gets to spend with one of the lead dancers after the show.

Howell the Grinch Stole Christmas (ao3) - ticklishpickle

Summary: Eight years ago, after an incident he'd rather not discuss, Dan Howell ran away to a mountain north of Memeville to become the Grinch. He had never succeeded before, but this year, Dan was determined to steal Christmas, and he didn't care what Santa thought about it.

A fic very roughly based off How the Grinch Stole Christmas ft. Santa!Phil and Grinch!Dan

(technically a friends to enemies to lovers fic)

How I Met Your Father - gorgeousdan

Summary: It’s Christmas Eve and Daphne Howell asks to hear the story of how her fathers met. Meanwhile, in 2015, Dan has been acting strange, and even he doesn’t know the cause.

I’m Dreaming of a Happier Christmas (ao3) - orphan_account

Summary: Not the most comfortable Christmas to say the least

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas (ao3) - citizen101erased

Summary: Dan has just started as a new teacher at a secondary school in Manchester, and immediately gets put in charge of the annual Christmas celebration. But between constant budget cuts, the two main roles coming down with laryngitis, and the original teacher possibly coming back earlier than expected, it will take all of Dan’s creativity - and that of the cute English teacher, Mr. Lester - to keep the show going, whatever it takes.

i've got you on my nice list (ao3) - deletable_bird

Summary: “Phil Lester, actually,” he added, “and I’m a huge fan of people who hospitably provide tasty holiday drinks to harangued Christmas maintenance men.”

Merry Christmas, You Spoon (ao3) - kae_karo

Summary: Dan is Death, Phil is Life, and Christmas is coming up - their first Christmas together - though Dan's worried: something feels a little...off.

Not So Lonely on Christmas (ao3) - pasteldanhowells

Summary: A stranger walks into Dan's coffee shop, messy and muddy. Dan's trying to focus on helping the stranger, but all he can really think about is how cute he is.

Patching the Holes (ao3) - philsmeatylegss

Summary: Dan is really close with his grandma. He spontaneously decides to come out to his very homophobic family on Christmas. Obviously doesn’t go well. Then stuff happens

The Scent of Pining (ao3) - americanphancakes

Summary: Dan and Phil grew up together, but were separated by university and the mundanities of life. After years of missing each other, keeping track of each other's careers, and asking their families about each other, they finally reunite at a Christmas party back home. Surrounded by fragrances that cast their memories back to their childhood together, they each work up the nerve to finally do something about how they've been feeling for a decade.

Tonight - mairieuxes

Summary: Dan Howell is a famous musician, and on Christmas Eve, he sings to his husband.

Two Strangers Drinking Champaign In An Airport - dxnhowell

Summary: Dan and Phil in an airport terminal drinking champagne out of plastic cups with a bunch of those airport TV screens in the background with all the flights cancelled.

Under The Mistletoe - dxnhowell

Summary: It’s no secret that Dan and Phil hate each other, everybody knows it, including their own families. But now, It’s the holiday’s time, and a Christmas party is being thrown at the Lester’s house, and of course… Dan’s family has been invited. Dan’s being forced to go, even though he clearly doesn’t want to but his mother doesn’t care. The night quickly changes when Dan and Phil get stuck under a mistletoe.

#phanfictioncatalogue #phanfiction #phanfic #phan #masterlists #christmas #christmas masterlist #au

[greekroyalfamily]

Happy 27 th birthday to HRH Princess Maria-Olympia of Greece and Denmark (born 25 July 1996)

She is a fashion model, socialite and member of the non-reigning Greek royal family. She is the oldest child and only daughter of Pavlos, Crown Prince of Greece, and his wife, Marie-Chantal Miller. Her paternal grandparents are Constantine II of Greece and Anne-Marie of Denmark, who were the last King and Queen of the Hellenes, while her maternal grandfather is duty free entrepreneur Robert Warren Miller.

Princess Maria-Olympia of Greece and Denmark was born on 25 July 1996 at Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York City to Pavlos, Crown Prince of Greece, and his wife, Marie-Chantal. She was baptized in the Greek Orthodox Church by Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople at the Church of St. George in Istanbul, Turkey, on 22 December 1996.Her godparents are her paternal aunt Princess Alexia of Greece and Denmark, her maternal aunt Pia Getty, her grandfather's second cousin Charles III, and Prince Michael of Greece and Denmark. Her family relocated to London, where she spent most of her childhood. She is the older sister of Prince Constantine-Alexios, Prince Achileas-Andreas, Prince Odysseas Kimon, and Prince Aristidis-Stavros.

The princess herself uses the name Olympia in everyday life.

Olympia of Greece attended her first couture show around the age of 11 in Rome together with her parents.

She studied art history, theatre, photography, and graphic design while in boarding school in Switzerland with hopes of pursuing a career in art or fashion.She interned in Dior's couture department, at the age of 17.

In 2016, Maria-Olympia studied photography at Parsons School of Design in New York. It was reported that she was romantically involved with her godfather's son and third cousin once removed Prince Harry, but a senior official representative of the British Royal Family denied the rumors. In April 2016, Maria-Olympia posed alongside two of her first cousins, Isabel Getty and Princess Talita von Fürstenberg in a Vanity Fair feature.As of 2021 she is in a relationship with Peregrine Pearson, the son and heir of Michael Pearson, 4th Viscount Cowdray.

She revealed she has dyslexia in an interview with Tatler.

Maria-Olympia registered at college in New York in the fall of 2015.In 2019 she completed her studies with a degree from New York University's Gallatin School of Individualized Study in Fashion Business and Marketing.

She has modeled for Teen Vogue, Town & Country, Tatler, Hello!, ¡Hola!,and W In June 2017, Maria-Olympia walked the runway for Dolce & Gabbana.She has also modeled for Michael Kors.She became the face for Pretty Ballerinas's Spring/Summer 2019 collection.

Using her name Olympia the Saks Potts S/S 2019 show during Copenhagen Fashion Week in August 2018 was named OLYMPIA after her and opened by the princess herself as the first model on the stage.

She revealed she has dyslexia in an interview with Tatler.

Maria-Olympia registered at college in New York in the fall of 2015.In 2019 she completed her studies with a degree from New York University's Gallatin School of Individualized Study in Fashion Business and Marketing.

She has modeled for Teen Vogue, Town & Country, Tatler, Hello!, ¡Hola!,and W In June 2017, Maria-Olympia walked the runway for Dolce & Gabbana.She has also modeled for Michael Kors.She became the face for Pretty Ballerinas's Spring/Summer 2019 collection.

Using her name Olympia the Saks Potts S/S 2019 show during Copenhagen Fashion Week in August 2018 was named OLYMPIA after her and opened by the princess herself as the first model on the stage.

Χρόνια πολλά για τα 27α γενέθλια στην ΑΒΥ Πριγκίπισσα Μαρία-Ολυμπία της Ελλάδας και της Δανίας (γεν. 25 Ιουλίου 1996)

Η Μαρία Ολυμπία είναι μοντέλο μόδας, κοινωνικά και μέλος της ελληνικής βασιλικής οικογένειας. Είναι το μεγαλύτερο παιδί και μοναχοκόρη του Παύλου, διαδόχου της Ελλάδας, και της συζύγου του, Μαρί-Σαντάλ. Οι παππούδες της από τον πατέρα της είναι ο Κωνσταντίνος Β' της Ελλάδας και η Άννα Μαρία της Δανίας, που ήταν ο τελευταίος βασιλιάς και βασίλισσα των Ελλήνων, ενώ ο παππούς της από τη μητέρα της είναι ο επιχειρηματίας Ρόμπερτ Γουόρεν Μίλερ.

Η πριγκίπισσα Μαρία-Ολυμπία της Ελλάδας και της Δανίας γεννήθηκε στις 25 Ιουλίου 1996 στο Ιατρικό Κέντρο Weill Cornell στη Νέα Υόρκη από τον Παύλο, διάδοχο της Ελλάδας, και τη σύζυγό του, Μαρί-Σαντάλ. Βαπτίστηκε στην Ελληνική Ορθόδοξη Εκκλησία από τον Πατριάρχη Κωνσταντινουπόλεως Βαρθολομαίο Α' στην Εκκλησία του Αγίου Γεωργίου στην Κωνσταντινούπολη, Τουρκία, στις 22 Δεκεμβρίου 1996. Νονοί της είναι η θεία της από τον πατέρα της Πριγκίπισσα Αλεξία της Ελλάδας και της Δανίας, η θεία της από την πλευρά της μητέρας της Pia Getty, ο δεύτερος ξάδερφος του παππου της Πρίγκιπας Μιχάηλ της Ελλάδας και Δανίας .

Η οικογένειά της μετακόμισε στο Λονδίνο, όπου πέρασε το μεγαλύτερο μέρος της παιδικής της ηλικίας. Είναι η μεγαλύτερη αδερφή του πρίγκιπα Κωνσταντίνου-Αλεξίου, του πρίγκιπα Αχιλλέα-Ανδρέα, του πρίγκιπα Οδυσσέα Κίμωνα και του πρίγκιπα Αριστείδη-Σταύρου.

Η ίδια η πριγκίπισσα χρησιμοποιεί το όνομα Ολυμπία στην καθημερινή ζωή.

Η Ολυμπία της Ελλάδος παρακολούθησε το πρώτο της σόου ραπτικής γύρω στα 11 της στη Ρώμη μαζί με τους γονείς της.

Σπούδασε ιστορία τέχνης, θέατρο, φωτογραφία και γραφιστική ενώ φοιτούσε σε οικοτροφείο στην Ελβετία με τις ελπίδες να ακολουθήσει μια καριέρα στην τέχνη ή τη μόδα. Έκανε πρακτική στο τμήμα ραπτικής του Dior, σε ηλικία 17 ετών.

Το 2016, η Μαρία-Ολυμπία σπούδασε φωτογραφία στο Parsons School of Design στη Νέα Υόρκη. Αναφέρθηκε ότι είχε ρομαντική σχέση με τον γιο του νονού της και τον τρίτο ξάδερφό της τον πρίγκιπα Χάρι, αλλά ένας ανώτερος επίσημος εκπρόσωπος της βρετανικής βασιλικής οικογένειας διέψευσε τις φήμες. Τον Απρίλιο του 2016, η Μαρία-Ολυμπία πόζαρε μαζί με δύο από τα πρώτα της ξαδέρφια, την Isabel Getty και την πριγκίπισσα Talita von Fürstenberg σε μια ταινία Vanity Fair. Από το 2021 είναι σε σχέση με τον Peregrine Pearson, τον γιο και κληρονόμο του Michael Pearson, 4ου Viscount Cowdray.

Αποκάλυψε ότι έχει δυσλεξία σε συνέντευξή της στο Tatler.

Η Μαρία-Ολυμπία εγγράφηκε στο κολέγιο της Νέας Υόρκης το φθινόπωρο του 2015. Το 2019 ολοκλήρωσε τις σπουδές της με πτυχίο από το Gallatin School of Individualized Study in Fashion Business and Marketing του Πανεπιστημίου της Νέας Υόρκης.

Έχει κάνει μοντέλο για τις Teen Vogue, Town & Country, Tatler, Hello!, ¡Hola!, και W Τον Ιούνιο του 2017, η Maria-Olympia περπάτησε στην πασαρέλα των Dolce & Gabbana. Έχει επίσης κάνει μοντέλο για τον Michael Kors. Έγινε το πρόσωπο για τη συλλογή Άνοιξη/Καλοκαίρι 2019 των Pretty Ballerinas.

Χρησιμοποιώντας το όνομά της Olympia, η επίδειξη Saks Potts S/S 2019 κατά τη διάρκεια της Εβδομάδας Μόδας της Κοπεγχάγης τον Αύγουστο του 2018 ονομάστηκε OLYMPIA από αυτήν και άνοιξε από την ίδια την πριγκίπισσα ως το πρώτο μοντέλο στη σκηνή

#kingconstantine #danishroyalfamily #crownprincepavlos #queenannemarie #greek royal family #house of romanov #greekroyals #crownprincessmariechantal #danishroyals #princeconstantinealexios

[notoriousbeb]

SIBWF according to Genius: Very little is known about the song. However, it is believed to have been made around the time of Made In The A.M.’s release. The song has been registered on ASCAP on December 30th, 2015

so, 2015-ish?🤔 but by then she was with CH *smh* always with the wrong timing

and the song was leaked on march 27th 👀

So instead of it being the catalyst for HYGTG it was a call back. Makes sense.

#ask #unreleased songs #haylor

[dojae-huh]

SM system works, the issue isnt the earnings or why one unit is being pushed or the other isn't. Wayv was getting to a level and Lucas issue came out of the woodwork.now sm is pushing wayv in a different market.

Wayv has been pushed on South East Asia and they have a lot of fans there so I can see more English based songs and Chinese+English songs for the huge Chinese population in sea.

Dreamies are being pushed coz SM wants to see their worth, they want to see if the company should offer the contract to all or the ones that are worth the effort. They're also young so it would be a testing period for the boys to prove their worth in the label. SM is a business not a charity.

127 is their warning cow, they're not touching it co they know that the group has most number of group fans and not solo Stan's. I got in for 2dong and now I'm even invested in taeil who I thought was hardest to get into.

Shinee had this attitude in 2015, even though they came out with the biggest hits of that year. The company was sure they will have the band wanting to renew and I feel that the main boys all are sure abt staying back .

I think SM wants to also push out the NCT 2022/2023 so they're trying to fit everything in these few last weeks

Sm also doesn't want to invest in an incomplete band, FX sank coz most went doing their own stuff once Victoria went to China.

I want to see if we will even have dream in a few years

---------------

Well, technically, 127 still has 12-25 December for a comeback. "Universe (Let's play ball)" was released December 10th and promoted till NY.

NCT2023. The new unit and NCT warming up period has started. Shotaro and Yuta's and Shotaro and Sungchan's shows in Japan. The NCT Universe show that has started a couple of days ago, which is going to show the new rookies. SM registered WayV's photobook album version, so their comeback is near as well.

NCT system is a new system, there are ought to be mistakes and failures along the way, it is inevitable. However, this system allows to adapt to three new factors: solo-stan culture, newfound longevity of groups and international presence.

Solo stans like me won't care with which unit the bias performs, at the same time different units allow for different genres and different voice combinations. There wouldn't be Boss Doyoung without U, 127 has Taeil as the vocal who is given all the pivotal notes. WayV doesn't have strong vocalists, but Xiaojun can sing a ballad with Taeil (and Renjun). TaeMarkYY combo in "New Axis"? Lit. Cute Mark? Only in Dream now. Johnny, a lead in everything, getting the real central spot in "Working"?

Cross-pollination works wonders. WayV has its own lightstick, but fans come with neobongs to watch them in SEA. Many SuperM fans became NCTzens. I don't follow Dream content daily, I'm not invested in any of dreamies, but I buy their albums if I like the songs in them. It was Doyoung who highlighted Xiaojun for me (Dejun's crush on him, heh) and MAW and Resonance that really showed me his talents (I had the least interest in Xiaojun soon after the debut of WayV).

Neos belonging to a brand not only allows for the name to stay trending while a unit is on hiatus, it's a safenet against scandals and the absence during enlistment. WayV survived Lucas' scandal. But if it didn't, the neos could have been moved easily to new units or continued to be promoted as solo and with U. Sungchan and Shotaro got instant international following and big enough brand deals. Because of Shotaro's interaction with other neos even kfans accepted him quickly despite not liking Japanese idols and the antis creating a whole eviction campaign before his debut.

Units can divide the markets and advertise at different parts of the world. 127 can't stay in Indonesia for long, but WayV can spend a few days. 127 can't fly to Chili on a k-con, but Dream can.

Ten promotes in Thailand on TV, gets new fans, they discover TaeTen's single, get interested in Tae, watch Boss/Kick It and Jopping, and start to follow (or at least listen to) 3 groups.

It wasn't easy for 127 neos in comparison to SungTaro who got their first wins quickly. But it was even worse for Suju who didn't even have proper dorms or enough food or TVXQ with their long slave contracts. Every artist gets his own share of obstacles and troubles. BlackPink is a group on its own, no units, no nothing, and they release an album every two years with little group promotion inbetween, lol. The group debuted same year as 127 and has 5 albums to its name. While 127 has 16(+1 concert album)?

By the way, if you are not aware of its existance, I really recommend

Up Next Session: NCT 127 album.

#ask me away #food all around chips all around #wayvme #dreamies #chain reaction

[paul-walker9]

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