#i mean i think most people understand on some level that commercial success and artistic merit are very different things

[tchaikovskaya]

Also it feels a little bit uhhh. Obvious to me that the mainstream audience’s Reaction to the perceived “snub” of Margot and Greta is because for literally several millions of people Barbie is the only new movie that they have seen in their theatrical runs this year*, and they are making more of a definitive judgment of Margot/Greta’s merits in those categories as they stand alone rather than any kind of relative judgment of their performances compared to the category nominees. (The people shitting on the five nominees in either category as if Margot or Greta were more deserving than any one of them are being insane tho)

[thoughtspresso]

Aqua plans to die.

And his death will be necessary to take Kamiki down.

While the full details of Aqua’s revenge plan isn’t entirely clear to all of us yet, his intention to place himself in danger as he tries to take Kamiki down is a very clear, and very crucial part of the plot that he anticipates.

Before we can dive into how Aqua is going to achieve his revenge, we need to back up a little bit and understand who he is as a person, how he makes decisions, and what he personally wants.

What is Aqua’s Goal?

From a top-level view, Aqua has a singular emotional goal:

Aqua wishes to take responsibility for the deaths of his mothers.

Aqua/Gorou absolutely believes that after two lives of the same thing, that he was the common denominator. He was the fault his mothers both died, because he was useless and helpless. Had he never been conceived, and more crucially, if his mothers did not have to lie about his existence, they would have both stayed alive. If Gorou’s mom didn’t have to conceal the pregnancy from her parents, or did not have one at all, she would have lived a long life. He believes that perhaps his second chance at life was to save Ai, but he was paralyzed and helpless during her murder. He blames himself for Ai’s death too.

This is a driving force in Aqua’s character, and informs all of his decision making, even to the detriment of his own plans most times. It leads us to his supplementary goal:

Aqua wants to keep the people he loves safe.

Whether it was shielding Ruby from entertainment or making sure she’s in a safe agency with good group members, or Akane not going too far in enacting his revenge plot for him, or Kana from steering clear of a career-ending love scandal, Aqua’s key traumas has led him to feel compelled to take action and do whatever it takes to save people if he had the power to do so.

Here is a breakdown of Aqua’s plans, and some key questions we have to ask about each one.

1. Why make a movie called The 15-Year Lie? And what is “Ai’s true wish”?

I have reason to believe that Ai’s DVD for Aqua would have either been a message about wishing to be loved truly and be hated with full honesty for the person she really was, that she wanted her actual self to be revealed to people. In line with that, I think Aqua’s DVD included Gotanda’s original documentary for the B-Komachi dome event. Which is why Gotanda tried to defend Aqua's decision to reveal her secret in chapter 112, and why in chapter 108 Gotanda says about the script that “this is finally my time to fulfill that promise.”

2. What does he mean by “using Arima Kana”?

There were theories circulating that the person who texted Frill Shiranui could have been Aqua, trying to get her to encourage Ruby to play the role of Ai in the film. However, that couldn’t be any farther from the truth. As we know, Aqua was saying that Gotanda should “grow up” and understand that the most important thing for a movie is to succeed commercially first before we talk about artistic value. 

If Aqua had full control over the situation, he would have just straight up casted Akane. After all, that was what he initially proposed, and even contacted her for it despite saying he’ll never have anything to do with her again. What he needed, more than anything, was for the film to succeed commercially. And with the headlining actress no longer (a) the most famous celebrity of their generation, or (b) the heralded genius of their generation, Aqua has no other options.

Except: Arima Kana.

I think the aspect of him using her or manipulating her is mainly to encourage her publicity activities. He’ll be encouraging her to do well in her work to garner more star power for the movie to really be a success, and for her to help his sister be the perfect lead for the show. He’s also going to bank on the idea that Kana will do things for him because she has a crush on him, which he only realized in Chapter 102 after Mem-cho points it out, that he can pursuade Kana to get out of the way of his revenge plot if necessary to keep her safe or place her in the spotlight to attract people’s attention for the movie.

While unlikely, he might even encourage her to stay on a little longer until Ruby gets to the Dome performance.

Or, and maybe this is my shipping delulu talking, but it can also be that he’ll try to just be around her frequently to garner media attention about their relationship. In this way, keeping her close without actually dating her could serve a dual purpose: get people talking about them and the movie, but also make sure that Kana stays safe and nobody makes a rumor of pairing her up with anybody else.

Lastly, also not super likely but another option could be to convince her to headline the show, and play Ai in Ruby’s stead.

3. Why does Kaburagi say that the film is bordering on illegal?

This is a truly crucial piece to unveiling Aqua’s plot. We know Kaburagi likes producing shows that include good-looking young people, and that seems to be his main strategy for raking in young audiences and cashing out.

So why would he have hesitated, even for a second, on a plan to cast the top talent of this young generation, on the biggest news Japan has been talking about, handed to him by a first-hand source--the son of Ai himself?

On all accounts, this would have been the perfect formula for a smash success. So why would Kaburagi say things like, “do you have enough evidence”, when everybody already knew about the University student stalker that murdered her? What was so controversial?

Unless, when they said Aqua will play the culprit, they didn’t mean the Ryosuke.

They meant he was playing Hikaru Kamiki.

Here’s what we know about the film, and what I think Aqua is trying to do:

1. Portray Kamiki in the worst possible way and destroy his reputation.

The 15-Year Lie will be a biopic about Ai’s life from when she was starting out as an idol.  Ai will be portrayed as a poor girl abandoned by her parents, searching for the true meaning of love. We know that this framing will be part of Ai’s characterization because of the scenes where Ruby struggled the most:

In the search for love, they will show her falling for a young man and talented actor at Theatre Lalalai--that being Hikaru Kamiki. Once he gets Ai pregnant, he abandons her, and she runs off to the countryside to hide from the press. When Ai asked him to come visit her, Kamiki, in wanting to protect his career, attempted to send out a stalker. A few years later, seeing his kids wotagei on social media, he manages to find them again and kill Ai.

It is a complete and utter character assasination of Hikaru Kamiki, and while revealing Ai as a flawed person, draws for the sympathy of the viewers to love Ai for who she truly is. Which is exactly why Gotanda keeps insisting for Ruby to play the role, even when Aqua and Kaburagi have sensible recommendations for Akane and Frill.

At that moment, when Ai dies, Aqua will reveal his face, and openly declare that it was his father who orchestrated it all. Then he might even portray his father murdering Ryosuke himself, instead of the suicide that was reported in the media.

2. Aqua will use himself to bait his father out, and force Kamiki’s hand to kill Aqua.

The main reason why Aqua finds it necessary for the film to be a commercial success is because he needs the general public to be one hundred percent in agreement that Hikaru Kamiki is an evil man that deserves to be jailed. (Whether or not he reveals his name in the film, which he could but doesn’t need to.) This public lynching is his first control.

But here’s the thing: Kamiki didn’t directly murder Himekawa Airi and Hoshino Ai himself. At this point in time, Aqua is not aware of Katayose Yura’s murder either. And there is no evidence that connects Uehara Seijirou and Ryosuke’s suicides as murders by Kamiki’s hands.

And on top of all that, when these things happened, Kamiki was fully a minor.

Akane’s fears and interpretation was that Aqua would murder his own father because it’s the only form of revenge he could enact himself. 

But she’s wrong, there’s one more thing Aqua could do: make Kamiki commit murder again. If he kills Aqua, there will now be a murder that the public agrees without a doubt was done by Kamiki himself.

He can go to jail once and for all, or he can also get stabbed by an angry fan--Aqua doesn’t care. All he cares about is that it’s a sure win, and it’s over forever. He launches his sister’s career into the spotlight, he keeps everybody safe, and he atones for the death of his mothers with his own life.

In summary: Aqua plans to get killed by his father, so that an actual murder has occurred for which he could be jailed or publicly ostracized or even killed.

And here’s why I think Aqua will fail:

Aqua’s assumptions about his father are incorrect.

He believes that Kamiki’s reason for killing Ai was because her pregnancy would ruin his reputation and career as a rising actor. That’s why Aqua tries to hit him there. And he believes defaming him might provoke him to get killed.

But I don’t think Kamiki cared about his reputation at all anymore. He left his career as an actor behind after Kindaichi kicked him out of Lalalai, and went on to graduate from Faculty of Science. He never went back in front of the spotlight, instead opening a talent agency around the exact time he believed his kids might be joining the industry.

I have reason to believe that Kamiki thinks murdering Airi and Ai was to protect his children or some other great act of justice against his rapist(s). And that even killing Katayose Yura was done because he didn’t want a liar like her to take the spotlight that was supposedly for his daughter Ruby.

I don’t think Kamiki will harm Aqua.

But I do think he will come forward and expose himself and his twisted justification, and he might even openly give interviews to the media.

Instead, I do believe Kamiki might pay attention to Kana’s honest acting--something he’s never seen before in a person, and try to get close to her somehow. And if Kamiki’s name is not revealed, and if the theories are true that Frill works for Kamiki’s agency, he might recruit Kana to join him.

All this is to say, get Kana out of this manga. Somebody, please save her.

[struggle-but-its-all-ocean-floor]

Regarding your last post, I thought the same while watching the behind the scenes of the MV. This is not a shade because I myself am not fluent in English and still need to improve a lot but to me it seems quite obvious Jungkook’s English isn’t as good as some Army like to pretend (I’m going to get call names…). I would say he’s around a low intermediate level, which is perfectly fine, he has a busy life so it doesn’t let him a lot of time to study. I guess his understanding is better than his speaking skills, which is usually the case for most of language learners, but orally I don’t think he fully grasps all the meanings and nuances and the slang etc. I just want to say again this is not me trying to belittle his abilities, it’s only my opinion, but to me it doesn’t look like he fully understands what he sings… his face expressions in that video, it looks like sometimes he was a bit clueless. I’m not saying he has no idea of what he is singing, obviously he got a full translation before accepting the project but he doesn’t look like he truly "feels" the lyrics and immerge himself in it. Idk, for me it lacks something and that video made me a bit uncomfortable. I know I’m being a bit dramatic but I can’t shake the feeling that the industry is using him for cash and immediate success without paying much attention to who he his, his personality, his artistry. And another collab is on the way with Kid Laroi apparently… I’m losing interest. I want to hear Jungkook on his own, with a song made only for him and that reflects who he is as a person and an artist. I miss that feeling, seeing him perform so honestly, when you can see on his face and hear in his voice how much he feels the song, how deep he goes to find the emotions and bring them to the surface. I truly hope there will be songs on his album that makes me feel connected to him again because at the moment it feels like I am totally unable to enjoy what he’s doing.

I don't even know if he bothered translating Jack Harlow's parts tbh. I remember one Run BTS episode where they had to sing their songs without using English, so they had to translate some lyrics to Korean, and, apart from RM, the members didn't even know what the English lyrics meant. I remember J-Hope being shocked, like, "So this is what this part means?", which was a bit wild for me since it was his song. Tbh, I don't bother reading the translation to most kpop songs. I only know what the tts mean because most MVs have subtitles now. If not, then too bad... Most songs have boring lyrics so it's often best if I don't know them. It's different for the artist, but I still can't be certain that Jungkook bothered finding out the translation to Jack's parts although he's the type to. Maybe he was so busy he didn't bother? Maybe he recorded his parts and only gave his blessing to the final version which included Jack's verses, without approving the lyrics beforehand. He doesn't seem the type to control what other people write in their own verses. Maybe he was too busy to translate the lyrics and only did it later? All seem to be possible options. The fact that Jungkook had to be coached to do the right facial expressions and gestures for his TikTok with Jack made it seem like he wasn't sure at all what the lyrics meant - at least then. It also makes me confident that he doesn't know what "rain, rain, rain" or "champagne, confetti" really mean. I think Jungkook cares more about melody and the vibe than lyrics.

Anyway, I don't think the industry is using him. He's not a victim anymore than anyone else. He's making his own choices, as much as someone in the industry can. Of course Big Hit loves the choices he's making because he's doing so well commercially, but I think he's made it clear that he loves what he's been doing. And if he's letting other people make choices for him, the blame is on him too, because he's in a position where he can say no.

I also want to hear Jungkook on his own, but, unless he's truly being pressured into only doing collabs for whatever reason, these are the choices he's making.

Thanks for the ask!

[brujahinaskirt]

I've never seen anyone mention this, so I will: Kingdom Come is balls-to-the-wall obsessed with symbolism. This is fitting for a medieval game (the medieval world was obsessed with symbolism), and it's loaded with symbols in both its art and storytelling elements. What I find worth remarking on is that KCD takes a far more subtle, literary, and artful approach to its symbolism than most games within its genre; its symbolism thrives in the margins, as with literature. It doesn't flounce in the spotlight with a megaphone as with most games.

[Cut for rambly analysis.]

One of the things I deeply appreciate about the script is that it doesn't talk down to the player. If you don't actively think about the storytelling while you play -- if you don't watch for foils, parallels, symbols, motifs, read character expressions and pay attention to the content of the conversations as well as the emotional delivery -- you'll miss half the meat and meaning and message of the writing. That's a rarity these days; even "writing-based" games tend to spoon-feed players embarrassingly facile stories, childish depictions of trauma, and insultingly thinly-developed character arcs (ahem, rhymes with Why-o-Bear).

And sure, you can shut your brain off or come in with bad faith blinders on and steamroller through KCD's main quest, walking away having had a coherent if mediocre medieval video game experience. But you'll miss Theresa's apples scattering on the ground at the moment the daily life she ambivalently but carefully tended to is torn asunder. You'll miss how Henry's speech tics mirror his mother's word-for-word in delivery and in text. You'll miss that Hans presents himself as a swaggering hunter but is consistently visually associated with a hounded, hunted stag. You'll miss how Henry and Hans's relationship so doggedly parallels what we know of Martin and Radzig's, and to a lesser extent Istvan and Erik's. You'll miss that certain characters' clothing matches or contrasts in color schemes (another enormous medieval obsession). You'll miss how the sacking of Skalitz is what enables village bullies Matthew and Fritz to descend into real villainy, and how Henry gradually gains the sense of self to step outside Matthew's sphere of toxic influence. You'll miss that Radzig speaks honestly to Henry through metaphors and riddles and wordplay since he's far too awkward to speak to him openly. You'll miss that after forming a friendship with a peasant, responsibility-avoider Hans develops a new concern for how his actions affect everyday people, meanwhile layabout loafer Henry develops a sense of accountability to society at large. You'll miss that Theresa is almost always pictured nearby water (rain or rivers or puddles) just as Hans is associated with the forest and Henry is so often cinematically staged facing hills (and usually among flowers). You'll miss the journal entries, some of which are genuinely heartbreaking in the simplicity and earnestness of their longing, and in their hopes for better things ahead.

Some portions of the narrative are so well-crafted in this regard that the weaker portions/writers really stand out. That's the downside of writing in teams, but oh man, with an arty storytelling approach like KCD's, you can fucking tell when someone's writing skill wasn't up to snuff (ahem, Lady Tone-Deafany)... or when the team just wasn't in love with a character or a subplot enough to flesh out the symbolism.

But I'm getting away from my point now and starting to ramble, so I'll rein myself back in.

I edit books, so my storytelling field is a bit different. But by my metrics, the most successful novels—the ones that manage to both perform commercially and offer something of genuine artistic, emotional merit to audiences—do it like KCD does it. The basic narrative must be simple enough for casual readers to understand at a foundational level. But for readers who relish the experience of deep reading—who come equipped with thoughtfulness, a real desire to appreciate storytelling (at context and subtext levels), and the ability to critically & emotionally engage with multiple character arcs at once—there's so much more than the surface.

Many gamers praise game developers for designing game mechanics that don't baby them. Likewise, I praise writers who don't baby me.

[thoughts-on-bangtan]

Hi! I hope you’ll answer this question bc it bothers me quite a lot.. https://www.quora.com/What-does-it-mean-now-that-BTS-are-partial-owners-of-Big-Hit-Entertainment do you think it is true what the second person (Christine Herman) said? After reading this, i started to wonder…what if BTS does really have only profit in mind while doing new projects these days? Maybe they don’t really care anymore about creative and meaningful lyrics and sound? With Butter and PTD…all this generic music sung in English. Of course they say “we wanted to make fans feel good”, “butter and ptd represent who we are” and all these things fans want to hear but.. do you really think it’s true? moreover, don’t get me wrong, i don’t find product placement in their reality shows as something terrible, i believe this is a normal thing, however, nowadays the members really film ads and do marketing a lot. so yeah, for some reason i began to question their integrity dhsjjss i hope you will understand from where my concerns come from and won’t find this ask stupid sjdjjdjd

After reading that persons answer I can immediately tell you that I basically don't agree with an overwhelming majority of what she said (even more so since a lot of it just makes her sound like a manti that hates the company and basically would want them to make music for free or something). Generally I don’t agree with most of the opinions this person holds, and also Quora really isn’t a good source for info or good opinions, most of it is written by mantis, haters, and toxic shippers with an agenda so most ARMY will tell you to stay as far away from that website as possible.

Anyway, her focus in that answer was on money, since BTS are shareholders (and how that’s a conflict of interest despite other artists doing the exact thing but no one really cares or ever thinks about it), but what she failed to consider and note was that Big Hit Music, so BTS' label, isn't part of HYBE in the sense that shareholding has no baring on it since BHM is private. So while BTS profit off of HYBE doing well, and have a small percentage of a voice as shareholders, that has nothing to do with BHM in the classical sense, even if BHM's earnings reflect well on HYBE numbers and the shareholder money. 

BHM was made private to ensure their artistry would remain untouched, that was the whole point of that.

Even if they weren't HYBE shareholders, take Namjoon as example. He has more than 170 KOMCA credits, is among the top 3 Korean artists with the most credits and is also the youngest of them all. It is said that his earnings from that alone can sustain his family for 3 generations over. Look at Hobi and Chicken Noodle Soup, that song was a hit and he paid the original creator of that song 2 million dollars upfront and earned a lot back due to how successful it was. Same goes for Hope World which, again, was and is still immensely successful. Look at Yoongi and his work both as prod. SUGA, featuring artist SUGA, and as Agust D, as well as the credits he holds for his work on BTS songs (giving him as well a total of over 100 KOMCA credits, just like Hobi). Bangtan have worked and continue to work extremely hard for their music, put their heart and souls into it, and it shows even if their style changed as they grew older and more mature.

Yes, money is a major motivator, but looking at the above paragraph, do you really peg the members as these corrupt money hungry sellouts with no music related integrity? Who would need to sign major deals and would throw away their passion to just release empty shells of music for the sole reason of money? Am I naive enough to believe that they don't care about money? Of course not, we live in a capitalist society and even if BTS wouldn't care about money anymore at this point, HYBE very much does, and yet still I can't find it in me to agree with any of what was said in that answer that person wrote.

More below the cut:

And that point about how Hyundai cars were sold out because of BTS, isn't that the point why literally any company ever hires celebrities to advertise and endorse their product? And sure, again, I'm certain they earned a lot on these deals, they aren't the first or last or only ones in the history of ever to do so. Besides, look at JK and what he's done for small companies, or Tae who wore a brooch made my a small creator at the airport which catapulted that creator into the eyes of millions of ARMYs enough so that they could move to a proper studio and earn money with their work. Or the modern hanboks JK wore which led to the brand being able to move into actual stores in malls because of their sudden new popularity and demand. Or him wearing a bracelet that helps whales with a percentage of the money from the sales of said bracelet. And for all of that JK and Tae didn't earn any money at all. JK himself said that he's more conscious of the brand he wears now because he wants to help smaller businesses in these trying times, not because they pay him to do so (especially since they would never be able to afford that), but because he's aware of the influence he has and how he can use it to help others. Sound very much like a capitalistic villain, right?

As for the product placement bit, have you been on YouTube recently? Have you noticed that many, if not most, YouTube videos by “bigger” creators (and by that I mean even people who are around the 100k subscriber mark) begin with them thanking whoever sponsored that particular video and give you a scripted minute to two minute long ad before getting into the actual topic of the video? And In The SOOP featuring Chilsung Cider, FILA clothes and the random mention of how good Samsung phones are isn’t much different from it, though really, if you’re not someone interested in fashion much, would you really notice or care that they wore FILA? It’s just...clothes? If it weren’t a BTS related show, would you even notice it much? And it’s not even like they mentioned those brands every five minutes or anything, just a few times, which sure sounded a bit out of place at times, but personally I thought it was easy to look past. That’s just how things work nowadays and it’s odd for people to behave like somehow BTS are the first and only ones to use product placements despite literally every movie and show doing it in subtle and less so manners.

The answer by that person you sent also mentioned the Hyundai song for their car IONIQ and, unsurprisingly, that person wrote it off as just some commercial jingle but I’d actually disagree with that. Not to sound like a Hyundai and Samsung stan, which I am neither of, but I actually think those two knew best how to utilize the artist they have spent millions on signing a deal with. Hyundai didn’t just write them off as pretty faces with a millions strong fan army behind them and that’s it, they remembered that they are musicians so they gave them a song and made a whole music video for it as well. And say what you will, it is a good song. Then, just a few days ago, Samsung stepped up their game and we were given Over The Horizon Prod by SUGA of BTS. For those who aren’t Samsung users, Over The Horizon is their signature ringtone and basically their company sound, and over the years different artists were asked to make their own version of it. And this time they reached out to Yoongi and asked if he’d like to do it as well. It’s kind of a big deal. Sure, Butter is used in one of their commercials much the way Dynamite was last year, but that’s beside the point. Would that person make the same claim about Imagine Dragons whose song Believer is also part of the ads for the new Samsung phones? I have my doubts.

Furthermore, and I don't want this to come across as mean toward you but, I think it is uncalled for to question their artistic integrity based on a total of 3 (three) English songs when last year alone we received 50+ songs, most of which were in Korean, among them the entirety of BE which was, according to the members, the album they were most involved in ever when it comes to both music and everything around it.

You can dislike their English songs, that’s more than fine, they have a very extensive discography you can listen to instead, but questioning their integrity based on them doing something that most, if not every, artist on their level does (as in sign ad deals with brands etc) is a bit much if you ask me. Does that mean indie artists whose songs get picked up for commercials (or for Netflix shows or movies) and thus it catapults them into the mainstream are also just money hungry people with no integrity and ones who don’t care about their music? Or is that, again, just a standard Bangtan is held to (as in that their integrity is questioned based on everything, even the most trivial/normal things) that only applies to them and no one else?

In the recent Weverse Magazine article about how Permission to Dance came to be there is a lot of talk about not only that song but also Butter and Dynamite, among the things being discussed and talked about they mentioned how the original lyrics for Butter were much more materialistic but that the members didn't like that so they asked for that to be changed. Likewise the original lyrics for Permission to Dance, as you'd expect from the penmanship of Ed Sheeran, were much more romantic, almost proposal like, which wasn't what the members wanted either so it was, again, adjusted in a way that would fit what they, as well as the A&R team, wanted. While you may not like these songs, they still had a say in them to a certain degree, could say yes or no and ask for adjustments. Why else would PTD take eight months?

While they might outsource their English songs, their main focus, so their Korean (as well as Japanese) discography is still centered around them, their lyrics, their songs, their sound. Of course you’ll also find outside producers and some lyricists on those as well, because that’s how music works these days, as in collaboratively, that doesn’t change anything at large. Their integrity is still very much there, their hearts are still in it, what other reason would any of them have to say that they want to continue for a long time, for Yoongi to say they want to figure out how to make their career last as long as possible, for JK to say that he wants to sing forever?

Admin 2 also wanted me to add that in their opinion, to a certain degree (though not fully of course), their English songs are like a way to laugh at and expose how shallow the English-centric music industry is. As in, while they made music in Korean with deep and meaningful lyrics, the US industry didn’t care but once they switched to easy to listen to sound with easy to understand English lyrics, they suddenly paid attention, are played on the radio, and even received a Grammy nomination which they wouldn’t have gotten for a Korean song ( A1: regardless how much Black Swan or Spring Day really would’ve deserved it...). 

[alltheselights]

Hey so I am a solo louie, I follow you despite you being a larrie because I think you are super level headed and quite frankly I love that you separate how you feel about their relationship and their career your damn good writer too. I became a fan last year and I am well aware that for the most part larries don’t believe that child is his. Apart of me thinks that is just crazy but another knows that the entertainment industry is also batshit crazy so anything can happen. What I don’t understand is the point of it , nobody really cares and there is no way he would come out of this without without ruining his life and like I just don’t see how the whole thing makes any sense. None of it makes any logical sense like how do they plan all of this to end and why ?

VERY long response under the read more!

I think the key thing you’re forgetting is that when this started, people DID care. This didn’t start in 2017 or 2020 - Louis’ heavy closeting with Eleanor started all the way back in 2011 (a much different time then now) and babygate started in 2015. Louis was in the biggest band in the world and there were continual widespread rumors about him and his bandmate being together - his bandmate who was set up as the heartthrob frontman from the beginning of the band and I think starting in 2014 (or whenever Jeff first entered the picture) was looking toward an eventual future solo career, which is exactly what Sony wanted.

I think part of it was just to shut down the rumors with Harry, who again, I think Sony has always viewed as their money machine, and also just because just as many boybands before them, One Direction was marketed to girls as objects of their lust - boys the fans could fantasize about dating. I don’t believe any of the boys who may have identified as LGBTQ+ would have been permitted to come out while in the band because of this marketing strategy, but especially not Louis, who many stereotyped as gay from day one of the band and who many shipped specifically with the most popular of the heartthrob members.

I think the other big part of it is just punishment for Louis and always has been. Not only did he threaten their bottom line by not fitting into the cookie cutter One Direction straight boy mold that Sony clearly wanted and expected from all the boys, but he also fought for One Direction to become more than Sony/Syco wanted them to be. They expected the band to make them a lot of money with bubble gum pop songs for a few years and then burn out quickly when they’d overworked them too much and when all the girls turned toward a new shiny boyband or artist on the horizon, but what they didn’t account for was the fact that rather than falling in line, Louis and the others would fight to write more on the albums and Louis specifically would fight for them to mature their sound. And Louis was very successful in that because even though One Direction was not at their peak popularity with some of their later, more mature, and more well-written albums, they developed a fanbase with that music that would’ve stuck around long-term, not just for their personalities and pretty faces but for the actual music, which I suspect would never have happened if they’d just continued on their generic path that Sony set them on.

Most solo Louies recognize the sabotage of his career with his lack of promo, the fact that he is never protected or defended in the media by his team, and how they push his personal life as a focal point for most promo rather than his talent and music. If you can recognize that, it’s probably not that hard to imagine that they could saddle him with a beard and a fake child to double down on his heterosexuality and then continue it out of spite, fully recognizing that they have tied his hands in terms of his public image because it’s been so long of this, media trained him out of showing his true personality and mannerisms for years, and alienated him from large portions of his fanbase - because Larries are NOT the only group of his fans that suspect he is not straight - I know tons of solo Louies do as well.

The question of why it’s continuing today is a great one and I wish I had the answer and could see what’s happening behind the scenes. If Louis had finally gotten rid of Sony and Syco last year and immediately his solo career started improving, suggesting that his team was finally working for him and doing their jobs properly, and still the stunts continued, I think it would make sense to start to wonder whether Louis wanted that for himself. However, that’s not what happened at all. Louis still has the same management and PR, PR that has always been associated with Sony and Syco, by the way, and there have been no improvements to anything related to his career. I understand that there are limitations because he hasn’t toured or put out a new album yet, but I think you just have to see the lack of press, promo, and even basic respect and recognition around his massive record-breaking livestream in December and his upcoming festival to see that things haven’t changed. LTHQ on Twitter continues to be as useless as ever, Louis’ social media is rarely used to promote his career, and there has been no attempt to build hype for the future music that Louis is working on aside from a single set of pap pictures outside of the studio. These are some of the most basic things that a normal team would be working on, particularly considering how massive Louis’ platform is and how excited his fans have been even throughout the pandemic.

Louis watches what his fans say about everything on Twitter, and when he’s able to, he changes things with a snap of his fingers to ensure that his fans are happy. There’s no doubt in my mind that Louis has watched fans continue to complain about his team over the last year, yet nothing ever changes or improves, and he occasionally makes subtle nods to the fact that his support and successes are thanks to the fans only - never his team. It’ll be interesting to see what happens when he releases new music, but at least as of now, I think it’s evident that Louis is still not being positioned for success in his career with the team that he’s with, even after leaving Syco/Sony.

Without knowing what contracts Louis has signed over the years and how long they are binding, it’s impossible for fans to know how free he is officially, so all we can do is go off of what we see. And what I see right now is that nothing has changed with his career, and so while it seems absurd, it doesn’t actually shock me that much that other elements haven’t changed either. I also think it’s going to be very difficult for them to end babygate in particular at this point, which is probably something at the forefront of their minds.

So I can’t answer for why it hasn’t ended or when and how it will, but I can tell you that as long as his career is not prioritized by anyone around him, I find it very hard to believe that he is 100% free to make his own choices. Even if commercial success is not Louis’ number one priority, we’ve seen so many times how much it means to Louis when he does well on the charts. I do sometimes worry that Louis has given up and resigned himself to this fate because of how long he’s been sabotaged - I’ve worried about this particularly in the last year or so - but I still don’t believe this is all his choice. You can’t convince me that this person who was so clever with how to mature the band in One Direction, this person who has so much interest in the back end of the music industry, this person who has fought tooth and nail for a solo career that nobody thought he could pull off, this person who cares so deeply about what his fans think, is content with the team around him not bothering to do the basics of their job - to the constant widespread and loudly expressed frustration of his fanbase. And as a result, I suspect that babygate and Elounor are likely still around for the same reasons the rest hasn’t improved.

[bananaofswifts]

For Women's History Month 2021, GRAMMY.com is celebrating some of the women artists nominated at the 2021 GRAMMY Awards show. Today, we honor Taylor Swift, who's currently nominated for six GRAMMYs.

When we met Taylor Swift in 2006, it was immediately apparent that her songwriting approach was like ripping a page out of her diary.

"Just a boy in a Chevy truck/ That had a tendency of gettin' stuck/ On backroads at night/ And I was right there beside him all summer long/ And then the time we woke up to find that summer gone," she lamented in the first verse of her debut single, "Tim McGraw(opens in a new tab)." The way the then-16-year-old Swift could turn personal anecdotes into instantly memorable hooks mirrored the prowess of an industry veteran, appealing to more than just the teenage girls that could relate to a short-lived high school romance.

Now, nearly 15 years later, Swift has introduced another layer of intrigue with a foray into indie folk, unveiling a pair of albums, folklore and evermore, last year. Recorded entirely in isolation after the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March 2020, folklore has been widely acclaimed(opens in a new tab) as Swift's best album, touted for its intimate songwriting and cinematic dynamics; evermore has received similarly glowing reviews(opens in a new tab).

folklore was 2020's best-selling album(opens in a new tab) and earned Swift five GRAMMY nominations at the 2021 GRAMMY Awards show, including her fourth Album Of The Year nod. (evermore will be eligible for the 64th GRAMMY Awards in 2022.) As her 10 previous GRAMMY wins suggest, though, this new chapter isn't an abrupt departure for the star—it's a masterful continuation of her evolution as a singer/songwriter.

If there's one thing that Swift has proven throughout her career, it's that she refuses to be put in a box. Her ever-evolving sound took her from country darling to pop phenom to folk's newest raconteur—a transition that, on paper, seems arduous. But for Swift, it was seamless and resulted in perhaps her most defining work yet. And folklore’s radiance relies on three of Swift’s songwriting tools: heartfelt balladeering, autobiographical writing, and character-driven storytelling.

While there was always a crossover element to Swift's pop-leaning country tunes, her transition from country starlet to pop queen began with Red. The album’s lead single, the feisty breakup anthem "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together(opens in a new tab)," was Swift's first release to reach No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 (and, ironically, scoffed "indie records much cooler than mine"). She declared a full pop makeover with 2014's 1989, but the response proved that her bold move was the right one: Along with spawning three more No. 1 hits, the project won Swift her second GRAMMY for Album of the Year.

From there, 2017’s Reputation, a response to media scrutiny, and 2019’s Lover, an often bubbly exploration of all facets of affection, followed. Although they shared similarly grandiose production, Lover featured a handful of poetic ballads, including "The Archer(opens in a new tab)," a self-reflective love song that teased Swift's folk sensibilities through storybook lyrics and ambient textures.

Swift’s ballads are key in understanding the full essence of folklore. They’ve regularly marked standout moments on each of her albums, both thanks to her poignant vulnerability and rich tone. Fearless standout "White Horse" earned Swift two GRAMMYs in 2009; Red's painstaking "All Too Well" was an instant fan favorite; 1989's "This Love" and Reputation's "New Years Day" provided tenderness amid otherwise synth-heavy sounds.

The raw emotion she puts into her downtempo songs comes alive on folklore, introducing a new wave of neo-classical sonics that elevate her fanciful penmanship to an ethereal level. Whether or not Swifties saw a full indie-pop record coming—at least not yet—the shift isn't all that surprising. Folklore’s romanticized lyrics and relatively lo-fi production are arguably what many fans have been patiently waiting on.

Lyrically, the super-personal nature of Swift’s music has always captivated fans and naysayers alike; diehards and critics dissected each of her albums for its real-life subjects and hidden meanings. While she played into those conspiracies at the time—whether she was revealing names in titles like "Hey Stephen(opens in a new tab)" and "Dear John(opens in a new tab)" or scathing the other girl on "Better Than Revenge(opens in a new tab)"—even Swift herself admits that her teenage method had an expiration date.

"There was a point that I got to as a writer who only wrote very diaristic songs that [it] felt unsustainable for my future moving forward," she told Apple Music's(opens in a new tab) Zane Lowe in December of 2020. "It felt like too hot of a microscope ... On my bad days, I would feel like I was loading a cannon of clickbait when that's not what I want for my life."

That realization is what helped make folklore so memorable: Swift stripped away the drama to let her artful storytelling shine. Sure, there are occasional callbacks to personal happenings ("invisible string(opens in a new tab)" references sending her exes baby gifts and "mad woman(opens in a new tab)" alludes to her legal battle with Scott Borchetta and Scooter Braun). Still, she largely shies away from her autobiographical narratives to make way for her imagination.

"I found myself not only writing my own stories, but also writing about or from the perspective of people I've never met, people I've known, or those I wish I hadn't," Swift wrote in a letter to fans(opens in a new tab) on social media the day folklore arrived. "The lines between fantasy and reality blur and the boundaries between truth and fiction become almost indiscernible."

folklore might be her first full project dedicated to creating characters and projecting storylines, but Swift has shown a knack for fantasy from the start. Tracks like "Mary's Song (Oh My My)(opens in a new tab)" on her self-titled debut and "Starlight(opens in a new tab)" on Red saw Swift craft stories for real-life muses ("Mary's Song" was inspired by an old couple who lived next door to Swift in her childhood; "Starlight" was sparked from seeing a picture of Ethel and Bobby Kennedy as teens). Even when songs did pertain to her real life, Swift often had a way of flipping memories into whimsical metaphors, like the clever clap-back to a critic on Speak Now's "Mean(opens in a new tab)" or the rebound relationship in Reputation's "Getaway Car(opens in a new tab)."

To think that we wouldn't have folklore without a pandemic is almost surreal; it's already become such a fundamental piece of Swift’s artistic puzzle. There was no telling what may have come after the glittering "love letter to love itself” that was Lover, but it seems isolation made the singer rethink any plans she may have had.

"I just thought there are no rules anymore because I used to put all these parameters on myself, like, 'How will this song sound in a stadium? How will this song sound on radio?' If you take away all the parameters, what do you make?" she told Paul McCartney in a November (opens in a new tab)Rolling Stone(opens in a new tab) interview(opens in a new tab). "And I guess the answer is folklore."

Even if she hasn’t been making indie music herself, Swift has shown an affinity for the genre over the years through curated digital playlists(opens in a new tab). Those included four songs by The National including "Dark Side of the Gym," which she references on folklore single "betty(opens in a new tab)," and "8 (Circle)" by Bon Iver, Swift's collaborator on folklore's gut-wrenching "exile(opens in a new tab)" as well as evermore’s title track. (“Exile” is one of folklore’s GRAMMY-nominated cuts, up for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance.)

The National’s guitarist Aaron Dessner co-wrote nine and produced 11 of folklore's 16 tracks, soundtracking Swift's imaginative tales with sweeping orchestration and delicate piano. Their partnership started with "cardigan(opens in a new tab)," a melancholy take on teenage love(opens in a new tab) that's up for Best Pop Solo Performance and the coveted Song of the Year. The team-up was a dream come true for Swift, a self-proclaimed National superfan and a career highlight for Dessner, who shared in an Instagram post(opens in a new tab) about folklore that he's "rarely been so inspired by someone." He sees the album as a pivotal moment for both Swift's career and pop music.

"Taylor has opened the door for artists to not feel pressure to have 'the bop,'" Dessner shared with (opens in a new tab)Billboard(opens in a new tab) in September. "To make the record that she made, while running against what is programmed in radio at the highest levels of pop music—she has kind of made an anti-pop record. And to have it be one of the most, if not the most, successful commercial releases of the year that throws the playbook out.

"I hope it gives other artists, especially lesser-known or more independent artists, a chance at the mainstream," he continued. "Maybe radio will realize that music doesn't have to sound as pushed as it has. Nobody was trying to design anything to be a hit. Obviously, Taylor has the privilege of already having a very large and dedicated audience, but I do feel like it's having a resonance beyond that."

Swift's other primary folklore collaborator was Jack Antonoff. He has been her right-hand man since they first paired up on 2013's promotional single "Sweeter Than Fiction(opens in a new tab)" (Swift referred to him as "musical family" in her folklore announcement(opens in a new tab)). Even after years of creating stadium-ready pop smashes, Antonoff said in his own folklore Instagram post(opens in a new tab), "I've never heard Taylor sing better in my life / write better."

As Swift recognizes herself, folklore ushered in a new way of thinking for the superstar that not only brings out her best, but sets a promising precedent for what's to come. "What I felt after we put out folklore was, 'Oh wow, people are into this too, this thing that feels really good for my life and my creativity,'" Swift added in her interview with Lowe. "I saw a lane for my future that was a real breakthrough moment of excitement and happiness."

Her enthusiasm is tangible on both folklore and evermore. Dubbed folklore’s sister record, evermore further expands Swift’s newfound mystical atmosphere. Much to the delight of many Swifties, the follow-up also calls back to her country beginnings on tracks like the HAIM-assisted “no body, no crime(opens in a new tab),” as well as her pop expertise on more uptempo cuts like “long story short(opens in a new tab).”

Together, the albums are a momentous reminder that Swift is a singer/songwriter first. Her wordcraft is some of the most alluring of her generation, and that’s never been lost on her music, regardless of the genre she’s exploring. But now that Swift also feels she's at her best, it’s evident folklore was just the beginning of Taylor Swift in her finest form.

[reflections-in-a-critical-eye]

Thank you for answering my question. I also have to ask, do we know for sure that BTS had no insight into Ed Sheeran's thought process with PTD? Is your point that there was no communication at all because they stated they never met in person? They are separated by a pandemic and a language barrier, yes, but that does not mean there was no exchange between them, even if it involved a third party transmitting information. I don't know the answer. Maybe none of us know? It seems a bit extreme to call the Weverse writer or any BTS members dishonest because of this. What they said isn't "laughable" from my prospective. It reflects the process of an international collaboration.

When it comes to criticism and would be critics, whether they consider PTD or any other song artistically bankrupt is a matter of individual opinion. There is no objective way of measuring artistic quality. What is artistic quality? In the words of RM on the AGUSTD track Strange:

'you think got taste? O babe, how do you know?'

Even music that has "stood the test of time" has been helped along by western cultural hegemony, institutionalized gatekeeping, sexism and racial bias. Criticism usually comes off as a judgement in value. This is why people like me get in our feelings about it sometimes. BTS are the first Asian band to achieve this level of global success so it does matter, to me, where the criticism is coming from. Over the past few weeks I have read a lot of criticism from western platforms that make judgements about authenticity, americanization and commercialism. I have never felt the need to make any kind of comment on social media up until PTD came out. It has highlighted how unable many western critical voices are to understand the outsider's perspective. I wonder, why aren't they digging so harshly into other pop acts?

Thanks for taking the time to listen.

There is no way to know for sure if BTS had an insight or not into Sheeran's thought process. What we do know is that he participated in writing a song that was then bought by Big Hit for BTS. Was he specifically asked to do it for the band? Were there other songwriters who did it and Big Hit chose the best one? That's an option. Or was the collaboration with Sheeran an exclusive job? Again, we don't know. If he actually gave a nod to what Yoongi said during 2018 Festa, I see this as a type of information that could easily be shared during the promotional interviews, but there's barely any mentions of Sheeran. BTS are following some talking points and they stick to it in interviews, which is why most of them sound the same, with a few exceptions.

For the second part of your ask, I'm going to get a bit more didactic and explain just for a bit what is the deal with criticism, judgement, and values.

I want to start by saying that criticism does not automatically have a negative connotation. Analyzing a piece of art, be it a song, novel, painting, film, that's all criticism, usually based on theory, but not always. When someone writes a review, they don't need to go really in depth, all they do is make a general assessment of what they write about and then we have the bigger, deeper side of analysis for a more nuanced piece, gathering references, what others have written, if there's something that's missing that they can provide with a new perspective. Criticism can lead to a negative judgment of value or a positive one. We should not be afraid of the word. It does not mean what people usually think it means and I believe a lot of confusion has its origins in that.

BTS are considered a global band at the moment (although I would use the word glocal), with fans all over the world, so of course there is discussion on Western platforms as well. The judgments from those platforms in regards to authenticity, Americanization and commercialism come from the fact that people were used to a certain type of music from BTS (which always had a Western influence due to the nature of K-Pop, but it was never just Western), but they saw a change in the trilogy which focused on delivering music, concept wise, closer to American imagery (PTD) and with a sound that is deemed as commercial because it sounds just like American Pop. Perhaps people can be quite harsh in how they express themselves and social media is not the place to expand on our thoughts and sometimes people post their first thought immediately, but I don't believe we should ignore it all the way. We should acknowledge it and try to understand how come there was such a reaction once we got to PTD. This is just my personal opinion, but I don't think it came out of nowhere, I think it was influenced by the fact that it was already the 3rd song in a similar fashion to what they released before (Dynamite and Butter), combined with the reasons behind it.

Now, we get to the motivation part. Of course it's important and incredible that a band such as BTS has achieved global success. I also understand that despite our feelings and opinions, the American market and the so called important awards are American. It's Western hegemony, just as you said. Do I personally agree with it? No, but it's the reality. That does not mean that we should stop and just accept it as if this is just the way things are. It's about changing the perspective. Seeing Parasite winning the Oscar for Best Picture is a moment for the film history books and an achievement, but after also winning several other awards, including the Palme d'Or at Cannes (which is a better example for promoting a more international, global cinema), then the Oscar does seem to look like a local, American award (I think this is how it was said by Bong Joon-Ho). Unfortunately, the Grammys are not the same, they are still considered the ultimate goal for musicians and for an Asian act to win, it would be huge.

American culture is not the center and the rest is a periphery. It was thought to be so, but there are so many attempts made, especially through criticism, to move away from it. I want to borrow a concept from Dudley Andrew which talks about an atlas of world cinema which could help us move away from hegemonic tendencies, to not look at a center that influences all others, but we should look at influences from different time periods or different places. Perhaps we could use this when we talk about music in global terms. Unfortunately we're not there yet.

I hope I explained a bit better my own perspective on why there is an aversion when people judge the songs because they sound too ''American''. Of course, not everyone has the same thoughts as me, but this is how I try to make sense of it.

There's a lot to talk about this, and your questions are relevant and worthy of further discussion, but for now, I leave it here.

When it comes to criticism in general, I will expand on it, as I said from the beginning, so it becomes a bit more clear what I mean by it when I use the word.

[hlupdate]

Variety’s Grammy-nominated Hitmaker of the Year goes deep on the music industry, the great pause and finding his own muses.

“We’ll dance again,” Harry Styles coos, the Los Angeles sunshine peeking through his pandemic-shaggy hair just so. The singer, songwriter and actor — beloved and critically acclaimed thanks to his life-affirming year-old album, “Fine Line” — is lamenting that his Variety Hitmaker of the Year cover conversation has to be conducted over Zoom rather than in person. Even via videoconference, the Brit is effortlessly charming, as anyone who’s come within earshot of him would attest, but it quickly becomes clear that beneath that genial smile is a well-honed media strategy.

To wit: In an interview that appears a few days later announcing his investment in a new arena in his native Manchester (more on that in a bit), he repeats the refrain — “There will be a time we dance again”— referencing a much-needed return to live music and the promise of some 4,000 jobs for residents.

None of which is to suggest that Styles, 26, phones it in for interviews. Quite the opposite: He does very few, conceivably to give more of himself and not cheapen what is out there and also to use the publicity opportunity to indulge his other interests, like fashion. (Last month Styles became the first male to grace the cover of Vogue solo.) Still, it stings a little that a waltz with the former One Direction member may not come to pass on this album cycle — curse you, coronavirus.

Styles’ isolation has coincided with his maturation as an artist, a thespian and a person. With “Fine Line,” he’s proved himself a skilled lyricist with a tremendous ear for harmony and melody. In preparing for his role in Olivia Wilde’s period thriller “Don’t Worry Darling,” which is shooting outside Palm Springs, he found an outlet for expression in interpreting words on a page. And for the first time, he’s using his megaphone to speak out about social justice — inspired by the outpouring of support for Black people around the world following the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police in May.

Styles has spent much of the past nine months at home in London, where life has slowed considerably. The time has allowed him to ponder such heady issues as his purpose on the earth. “It’s been a pause that I don’t know if I would have otherwise taken,” says Styles. “I think it’s been pretty good for me to have a kind of stop, to look and think about what it actually means to be an artist, what it means to do what we do and why we do it. I lean into moments like this — moments of uncertainty.”

In truth, while Styles has largely been keeping a low profile — his Love On Tour, due to kick off on April 15, was postponed in late March and is now scheduled to launch in February 2021 (whether it actually will remains to be seen) — his music has not. This is especially true in the U.S., where he’s notched two hit singles, “Adore You,” the second-most-played song at radio in 2020, and “Watermelon Sugar” (No. 22 on Variety’s year-end Hitmakers chart), with a third, “Golden,” already cresting the top 20 on the pop format. The massive cross-platform success of these songs means Styles has finally and decisively broken into the American market, maneuvering its web of gatekeepers to accumulate 6.2 million consumption units and rising.

Why do these particular songs resonate in 2020? Styles doesn’t have the faintest idea. While he acknowledges a “nursery rhyme” feel to “Watermelon Sugar” with its earwormy loop of a chorus, that’s about as much insight as he can offer. His longtime collaborator and friend Tom Hull, also known as the producer Kid Harpoon, offers this take: “There’s a lot of amazing things about that song, but what really stands out is the lyric. It’s not trying to hide or be clever. The simplicity of watermelon … there’s such a joy in it, [which] is a massive part of that song’s success.” Also, his kids love it. “I’ve never had a song connect with children in this way,” says Hull, whose credits include tunes by Shawn Mendes, Florence and the Machine and Calvin Harris. “I get sent videos all the time from friends of their kids singing. I have a 3-year-old and an 8-year-old, and they listen to it.”

Styles is quick to note that he doesn’t chase pop appeal when crafting songs. In fact, the times when he pondered or approved a purposeful tweak, like on his self-titled 2017 debut, still gnaw at him. “I love that album so much because it represents such a time in my life, but when I listen to it — sonically and lyrically, especially — I can hear places where I was playing it safe,” he says. “I was scared to get it wrong.”

Contemporary effects and on-trend beats hardly factor into Styles’ decision-making. He likes to focus on feelings — his own and his followers’ — and see himself on the other side of the velvet rope, an important distinction in his view. “People within [the industry] feel like they operate on a higher level of listening, and I like to make music from the point of being a fan of music,” Styles says. “Fans are the best A&R.”

This from someone who’s had free rein to pursue every musical whim, and hand in the album of his dreams in the form of “Fine Line.” Chart success makes it all the sweeter, but Styles insists that writing “for the right reasons” supersedes any commercial considerations. “There’s no part that feels, eh, icky — like it was made in the lab,” he says.

Styles has experience in this realm. As a graduate of the U.K. competition series “The X Factor,” where he and four other auditionees — Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne and Louis Tomlinson — were singled out by show creator and star judge Simon Cowell to conjoin as One Direction, he’s seen how the prefab pop machine works up close. The One Direction oeuvre, which counts some 42 million albums sold worldwide, includes songs written with such established hitmakers as Ryan Tedder, Savan Kotecha and Teddy Geiger. Being a studious, insatiable observer, Styles took it all in.

“I learned so much,” he says of the experience. “When we were in the band, I used to try and write with as many different people as I could. I wanted to practice — and I wrote a lot of bad shit.”

His bandmates also benefited from the pop star boot camp. The proof is in the relatively seamless solo transitions of at least three of its members — Payne, Malik and Horan in addition to Styles — each of whom has landed hit singles on charts in the U.K., the U.S. and beyond.

This departs from the typical trajectories of boy bands including New Kids on the Block and ’N Sync, which have all pro ered a star frontman. The thinking for decades was that a record company would be lucky to have one breakout solo career among the bunch.

Styles has plainly thought about this.

“When you look at the history of people coming out of bands and starting solo careers, they feel this need to apologize for being in the band. ‘Don’t worry, everyone, that wasn’t me! Now I get to do what I really want to do.’ But we loved being in the band,” he says. “I think there’s a wont to pit people against each other. And I think it’s never been about that for us. It’s about a next step in evolution. The fact that we’ve all achieved different things outside of the band says a lot about how hard we worked in it.”

Indeed, during the five-ish years that One Direction existed, Styles’ schedule involved the sort of nonstop international jet-setting that few get to see in a lifetime, never mind their teenage years. Between 2011 and 2015, One Direction’s tours pulled in north of $631 million in gross ticket sales, according to concert trade Pollstar, and the band was selling out stadiums worldwide by the time it entered its extended hiatus. Styles, too, had built up to playing arenas as a solo artist, engaging audiences with his colorful stage wear and banter and left-of-center choices for opening acts (a pre-Grammy-haul Kacey Musgraves in 2018; indie darlings King Princess and Jenny Lewis for his rescheduled 2021 run).

Stages of all sizes feel like home to Styles. He grew up in a suburb of Manchester, ground zero for some of the biggest British acts of the 1980s and ’90s, including Joy Division, New Order, the Smiths and Oasis, the latter of which broke the same year Styles was born. His parents were also music lovers. Styles’ father fed him a balanced diet of the Beatles, Fleetwood Mac, the Rolling Stones and Queen, while Mum was a fan of Shania Twain, Norah Jones and Savage Garden. “They’re all great melody writers,” says Styles of the acts’ musical throughline.

Stevie Nicks, who in the past has described “Fine Line” as Styles’ “Rumours,” referencing the Fleetwood Mac 1977 classic, sees him as a kindred spirit. “Harry writes and sings his songs about real experiences that seemingly happened yesterday,” she tells Variety. “He taps into real life. He doesn’t make up stories. He tells the truth, and that is what I do. ‘Fine Line’ has been my favorite record since it came out. It is his ‘Rumours.’ I told him that in a note on December 13, 2019 before he went on stage to play the ‘Fine Line’ album at the Forum. We cried. He sang those songs like he had sung them a thousand times. That’s a great songwriter and a great performer.”

“Harry’s playing and writing is instinctual,” adds Jonathan Wilson, a friend and peer who’s advised Styles on backing and session musicians. “He understands history and where to take the torch. You can see the thread of great British performers — from Bolan to Bowie — in his music.”

Also shaping his musical DNA was Manchester itself, the site of a 23,500-seat arena, dubbed Co-op Live, for which Styles is an investor and adviser. Oak View Group, a company specializing in live entertainment and global sports that was founded by Tim Leiweke and Irving Azoff in 2015 (Jeffrey Azoff, Irving’s son, represents Styles at Full Stop Management), is leading the effort to construct the venue. The project gained planning approval in September and is set to open in 2023, with its arrival representing a £350 million ($455 million) investment in the city. (Worth noting: Manchester is already home to an arena — the site of a 2017 bombing outside an Ariana Grande concert — and a football stadium, where One Love Manchester, an all-star benefit show to raise money for victims of the terrorist attack, took place.)

“I went to my first shows in Manchester,” Styles says of concerts paid for with money earned delivering newspapers for a supermarket called the Co-op. “My friends and I would go in on weekends. There’s so many amazing small venues, and music is such a massive part of the city. I think Manchester deserves it. It feels like a full-circle, coming-home thing to be doing this and to be able to give any kind of input. I’m incredibly proud. Hopefully they’ll let me play there at some point.”

Though Styles has owned properties in Los Angeles, his base for the foreseeable future is London. “I feel like my relationship with L.A. has changed a lot,” he explains. “I’ve kind of accepted that I don’t have to live here anymore; for a while I felt like I was supposed to. Like it meant things were going well. This happened, then you move to L.A.! But I don’t really want to.”

Is it any wonder? Between COVID and the turmoil in the U.S. spurred by the presidential election, Styles, like some 79 million American voters, is recovering from sticker shock over the bill of goods sold to them by the concept of democracy. “In general, as people, there’s a lack of empathy,” he observes. “We found this place that’s so divisive. We just don’t listen to each other anymore. And that’s quite scary.”

That belief prompted Styles to speak out publicly in the wake of George Floyd’s death. As protests in support of Black Lives Matter took to streets all over the world, for Styles, it triggered a period of introspection, as marked by an Instagram message (liked by 2.7 million users and counting) in which he declared: “I do things every day without fear, because I am privileged, and I am privileged every day because I am white. … Being not racist is not enough, we must be anti racist. Social change is enacted when a society mobilizes. I stand in solidarity with all of those protesting. I’m donating to help post bail for arrested organizers. Look inwards, educate yourself and others. LISTEN, READ, SHARE, DONATE and VOTE. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. BLACK LIVES MATTER.”

“Talking about race can be really uncomfortable for everyone,” Styles elaborates. “I had a realization that my own comfort in the conversation has nothing to do with the problem — like that’s not enough of a reason to not have a conversation. Looking back, I don’t think I’ve been outspoken enough in the past. Using that feeling has pushed me forward to being open and ready to learn. … How can I ensure from my side that in 20 years, the right things are still being done and the right people are getting the right opportunities? That it’s not a passing thing?”

His own record company — and corporate parent Sony Music Group, whose chairman, Rob Stringer, signed Styles in 2016 — has been grappling with these same questions as the industry has faced its own reckoning with race. At issue: inequality among the upper ranks (an oft-cited statistic: popular music is 80% Black, but the music business is 80% white); contracts rooted in a decades-old system that many say is set up to take advantage of artists, Black artists more unfairly than white; and the call for a return of master rights, an ownership model that is at the core of the business.

Styles acknowledges the fundamental imbalance in how a major label deal is structured — the record company takes on the financial risk while the artist is made to recoup money spent on the project before the act is considered profitable and earning royalties (typically at a 15% to 18% rate for the artist, while the label keeps and disburses the rest). “Historically, I can’t think of any industry that’s benefited more off of Black culture than music,” he says. “There are discussions that need to happen about this long history of not being paid fairly. It’s a time for listening, and hopefully, people will come out humbled, educated and willing to learn and change.”

By all accounts, Styles is a voracious reader, a movie lover and an aesthete. He stays in shape by adhering to a strict daily exercise routine. “I tried to keep up but didn’t last more than two weeks,” says Hull, Styles’ producer, with a laugh. “The discipline is terrifying.”

Of course, with the fashion world beckoning — Styles recently appeared in a film series for Gucci’s new collection that was co-directed by the fashion house’s creative director, Alessandro Michele, and Oscar winner Gus Van Sant — and a movie that’s set in the 1950s, maintaining that physique is part of the job. And he’s no stranger to visual continuity after appearing in Christopher Nolan’s epic “Dunkirk” and having to return to set for reshoots; his hair, which needed to be cut back to its circa 1940 form, is a constant topic of conversation among fans. This time, it’s the ink that poses a challenge. By Styles’ tally, he’s up to 60 tattoos, which require an hour in the makeup chair to cover up. “It’s the only time I really regret getting tattooed,” he says.

He shows no regret, however, when it comes to stylistic choices overall, and takes pride in his gender-agnostic portfolio, which includes wearing a Gucci dress on that Vogue cover— an image that incited conservative pundit Candace Owens to plead publicly to “bring back manly men.” In Styles’ view: “To not wear [something] because it’s females’ clothing, you shut out a whole world of great clothes. And I think what’s exciting about right now is you can wear what you like. It doesn’t have to be X or Y. Those lines are becoming more and more blurred.”

But acclaim, if you can believe it, is not top of mind for Styles. As far as the Grammys are concerned, Styles shrugs, “It’s never why I do anything.” His team and longtime label, however, had their hearts set on a showing at the Jan. 31 ceremony. Their investment in Styles has been substantial — not just monetarily but in carefully crafting his career in the wake of such icons as David Bowie, who released his final albums with the label. Hope at the company and in many fans’ hearts that Styles would receive an album of the year nomination did not come to pass. However, he was recognized in three categories, including best pop vocal album.

“It’s always nice to know that people like what you’re doing, but ultimately — and especially working in a subjective field — I don’t put too much weight on that stuff,” Styles says. “I think it’s important when making any kind of art to remove the ego from it.” Citing the painter Matisse, he adds: “It’s about the work that you do when you’re not expecting any applause.”

[hldailyupdate]

This Charming Man: Why We’re Wild About Harry Styles

Variety’s Grammy-nominated Hitmaker of the Year goes deep on the music industry, the great pause and finding his own muses.

“We’ll dance again,” Harry Styles coos, the Los Angeles sunshine peeking through his pandemic-shaggy hair just so. The singer, songwriter and actor — beloved and critically acclaimed thanks to his life-affirming year-old album, “Fine Line” — is lamenting that his Variety Hitmaker of the Year cover conversation has to be conducted over Zoom rather than in person. Even via videoconference, the Brit is effortlessly charming, as anyone who’s come within earshot of him would attest, but it quickly becomes clear that beneath that genial smile is a well-honed media strategy.

To wit: In an interview that appears a few days later announcing his investment in a new arena in his native Manchester (more on that in a bit), he repeats the refrain — “There will be a time we dance again”— referencing a much-needed return to live music and the promise of some 4,000 jobs for residents.

None of which is to suggest that Styles, 26, phones it in for interviews. Quite the opposite: He does very few, conceivably to give more of himself and not cheapen what is out there and also to use the publicity opportunity to indulge his other interests, like fashion. (Last month Styles became the first male to grace the cover of Vogue solo.) Still, it stings a little that a waltz with the former One Direction member may not come to pass on this album cycle — curse you, coronavirus.

Styles’ isolation has coincided with his maturation as an artist, a thespian and a person. With “Fine Line,” he’s proved himself a skilled lyricist with a tremendous ear for harmony and melody. In preparing for his role in Olivia Wilde’s period thriller “Don’t Worry Darling,” which is shooting outside Palm Springs, he found an outlet for expression in interpreting words on a page. And for the first time, he’s using his megaphone to speak out about social justice — inspired by the outpouring of support for Black people around the world following the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police in May.

Styles has spent much of the past nine months at home in London, where life has slowed considerably. The time has allowed him to ponder such heady issues as his purpose on the earth. “It’s been a pause that I don’t know if I would have otherwise taken,” says Styles. “I think it’s been pretty good for me to have a kind of stop, to look and think about what it actually means to be an artist, what it means to do what we do and why we do it. I lean into moments like this — moments of uncertainty.”

In truth, while Styles has largely been keeping a low profile — his Love On Tour, due to kick off on April 15, was postponed in late March and is now scheduled to launch in February 2021 (whether it actually will remains to be seen) — his music has not. This is especially true in the U.S., where he’s notched two hit singles, “Adore You,” the second-most-played song at radio in 2020, and “Watermelon Sugar” (No. 22 on Variety’s year-end Hitmakers chart), with a third, “Golden,” already cresting the top 20 on the pop format. The massive cross-platform success of these songs means Styles has finally and decisively broken into the American market, maneuvering its web of gatekeepers to accumulate 6.2 million consumption units and rising.

Why do these particular songs resonate in 2020? Styles doesn’t have the faintest idea. While he acknowledges a “nursery rhyme” feel to “Watermelon Sugar” with its earwormy loop of a chorus, that’s about as much insight as he can offer. His longtime collaborator and friend Tom Hull, also known as the producer Kid Harpoon, offers this take: “There’s a lot of amazing things about that song, but what really stands out is the lyric. It’s not trying to hide or be clever. The simplicity of watermelon … there’s such a joy in it, [which] is a massive part of that song’s success.” Also, his kids love it. “I’ve never had a song connect with children in this way,” says Hull, whose credits include tunes by Shawn Mendes, Florence and the Machine and Calvin Harris. “I get sent videos all the time from friends of their kids singing. I have a 3-year-old and an 8-year-old, and they listen to it.”

Styles is quick to note that he doesn’t chase pop appeal when crafting songs. In fact, the times when he pondered or approved a purposeful tweak, like on his self-titled 2017 debut, still gnaw at him. “I love that album so much because it represents such a time in my life, but when I listen to it — sonically and lyrically, especially — I can hear places where I was playing it safe,” he says. “I was scared to get it wrong.”

Contemporary effects and on-trend beats hardly factor into Styles’ decision-making. He likes to focus on feelings — his own and his followers’ — and see himself on the other side of the velvet rope, an important distinction in his view. “People within [the industry] feel like they operate on a higher level of listening, and I like to make music from the point of being a fan of music,” Styles says. “Fans are the best A&R.”

This from someone who’s had free rein to pursue every musical whim, and hand in the album of his dreams in the form of “Fine Line.” Chart success makes it all the sweeter, but Styles insists that writing “for the right reasons” supersedes any commercial considerations. “There’s no part that feels, eh, icky — like it was made in the lab,” he says.

Styles has experience in this realm. As a graduate of the U.K. competition series “The X Factor,” where he and four other auditionees — Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne and Louis Tomlinson — were singled out by show creator and star judge Simon Cowell to conjoin as One Direction, he’s seen how the prefab pop machine works up close. The One Direction oeuvre, which counts some 42 million albums sold worldwide, includes songs written with such established hitmakers as Ryan Tedder, Savan Kotecha and Teddy Geiger. Being a studious, insatiable observer, Styles took it all in.

“I learned so much,” he says of the experience. “When we were in the band, I used to try and write with as many different people as I could. I wanted to practice — and I wrote a lot of bad shit.”

His bandmates also benefited from the pop star boot camp. The proof is in the relatively seamless solo transitions of at least three of its members — Payne, Malik and Horan in addition to Styles — each of whom has landed hit singles on charts in the U.K., the U.S. and beyond.

This departs from the typical trajectories of boy bands including New Kids on the Block and ’N Sync, which have all pro ered a star frontman. The thinking for decades was that a record company would be lucky to have one breakout solo career among the bunch.

Styles has plainly thought about this.

“When you look at the history of people coming out of bands and starting solo careers, they feel this need to apologize for being in the band. ‘Don’t worry, everyone, that wasn’t me! Now I get to do what I really want to do.’ But we loved being in the band,” he says. “I think there’s a wont to pit people against each other. And I think it’s never been about that for us. It’s about a next step in evolution. The fact that we’ve all achieved different things outside of the band says a lot about how hard we worked in it.”

Indeed, during the five-ish years that One Direction existed, Styles’ schedule involved the sort of nonstop international jet-setting that few get to see in a lifetime, never mind their teenage years. Between 2011 and 2015, One Direction’s tours pulled in north of $631 million in gross ticket sales, according to concert trade Pollstar, and the band was selling out stadiums worldwide by the time it entered its extended hiatus. Styles, too, had built up to playing arenas as a solo artist, engaging audiences with his colorful stage wear and banter and left-of-center choices for opening acts (a pre-Grammy-haul Kacey Musgraves in 2018; indie darlings King Princess and Jenny Lewis for his rescheduled 2021 run).

Stages of all sizes feel like home to Styles. He grew up in a suburb of Manchester, ground zero for some of the biggest British acts of the 1980s and ’90s, including Joy Division, New Order, the Smiths and Oasis, the latter of which broke the same year Styles was born. His parents were also music lovers. Styles’ father fed him a balanced diet of the Beatles, Fleetwood Mac, the Rolling Stones and Queen, while Mum was a fan of Shania Twain, Norah Jones and Savage Garden. “They’re all great melody writers,” says Styles of the acts’ musical throughline.

Stevie Nicks, who in the past has described “Fine Line” as Styles’ “Rumours,” referencing the Fleetwood Mac 1977 classic, sees him as a kindred spirit. “Harry writes and sings his songs about real experiences that seemingly happened yesterday,” she tells Variety. “He taps into real life. He doesn’t make up stories. He tells the truth, and that is what I do. ‘Fine Line’ has been my favorite record since it came out. It is his ‘Rumours.’ I told him that in a note on December 13, 2019 before he went on stage to play the ‘Fine Line’ album at the Forum. We cried. He sang those songs like he had sung them a thousand times. That’s a great songwriter and a great performer.”

“Harry’s playing and writing is instinctual,” adds Jonathan Wilson, a friend and peer who’s advised Styles on backing and session musicians. “He understands history and where to take the torch. You can see the thread of great British performers — from Bolan to Bowie — in his music.”

Also shaping his musical DNA was Manchester itself, the site of a 23,500-seat arena, dubbed Co-op Live, for which Styles is an investor and adviser. Oak View Group, a company specializing in live entertainment and global sports that was founded by Tim Leiweke and Irving Azoff in 2015 (Jeffrey Azoff, Irving’s son, represents Styles at Full Stop Management), is leading the effort to construct the venue. The project gained planning approval in September and is set to open in 2023, with its arrival representing a £350 million ($455 million) investment in the city. (Worth noting: Manchester is already home to an arena — the site of a 2017 bombing outside an Ariana Grande concert — and a football stadium, where One Love Manchester, an all-star benefit show to raise money for victims of the terrorist attack, took place.)

“I went to my first shows in Manchester,” Styles says of concerts paid for with money earned delivering newspapers for a supermarket called the Co-op. “My friends and I would go in on weekends. There’s so many amazing small venues, and music is such a massive part of the city. I think Manchester deserves it. It feels like a full-circle, coming-home thing to be doing this and to be able to give any kind of input. I’m incredibly proud. Hopefully they’ll let me play there at some point.”

Though Styles has owned properties in Los Angeles, his base for the foreseeable future is London. “I feel like my relationship with L.A. has changed a lot,” he explains. “I’ve kind of accepted that I don’t have to live here anymore; for a while I felt like I was supposed to. Like it meant things were going well. This happened, then you move to L.A.! But I don’t really want to.”

Is it any wonder? Between COVID and the turmoil in the U.S. spurred by the presidential election, Styles, like some 79 million American voters, is recovering from sticker shock over the bill of goods sold to them by the concept of democracy. “In general, as people, there’s a lack of empathy,” he observes. “We found this place that’s so divisive. We just don’t listen to each other anymore. And that’s quite scary.”

That belief prompted Styles to speak out publicly in the wake of George Floyd’s death. As protests in support of Black Lives Matter took to streets all over the world, for Styles, it triggered a period of introspection, as marked by an Instagram message (liked by 2.7 million users and counting) in which he declared: “I do things every day without fear, because I am privileged, and I am privileged every day because I am white. … Being not racist is not enough, we must be anti racist. Social change is enacted when a society mobilizes. I stand in solidarity with all of those protesting. I’m donating to help post bail for arrested organizers. Look inwards, educate yourself and others. LISTEN, READ, SHARE, DONATE and VOTE. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. BLACK LIVES MATTER.”

“Talking about race can be really uncomfortable for everyone,” Styles elaborates. “I had a realization that my own comfort in the conversation has nothing to do with the problem — like that’s not enough of a reason to not have a conversation. Looking back, I don’t think I’ve been outspoken enough in the past. Using that feeling has pushed me forward to being open and ready to learn. … How can I ensure from my side that in 20 years, the right things are still being done and the right people are getting the right opportunities? That it’s not a passing thing?”

His own record company — and corporate parent Sony Music Group, whose chairman, Rob Stringer, signed Styles in 2016 — has been grappling with these same questions as the industry has faced its own reckoning with race. At issue: inequality among the upper ranks (an oft-cited statistic: popular music is 80% Black, but the music business is 80% white); contracts rooted in a decades-old system that many say is set up to take advantage of artists, Black artists more unfairly than white; and the call for a return of master rights, an ownership model that is at the core of the business.

Styles acknowledges the fundamental imbalance in how a major label deal is structured — the record company takes on the financial risk while the artist is made to recoup money spent on the project before the act is considered profitable and earning royalties (typically at a 15% to 18% rate for the artist, while the label keeps and disburses the rest). “Historically, I can’t think of any industry that’s benefited more off of Black culture than music,” he says. “There are discussions that need to happen about this long history of not being paid fairly. It’s a time for listening, and hopefully, people will come out humbled, educated and willing to learn and change.”

By all accounts, Styles is a voracious reader, a movie lover and an aesthete. He stays in shape by adhering to a strict daily exercise routine. “I tried to keep up but didn’t last more than two weeks,” says Hull, Styles’ producer, with a laugh. “The discipline is terrifying.”

Of course, with the fashion world beckoning — Styles recently appeared in a film series for Gucci’s new collection that was co-directed by the fashion house’s creative director, Alessandro Michele, and Oscar winner Gus Van Sant — and a movie that’s set in the 1950s, maintaining that physique is part of the job. And he’s no stranger to visual continuity after appearing in Christopher Nolan’s epic “Dunkirk” and having to return to set for reshoots; his hair, which needed to be cut back to its circa 1940 form, is a constant topic of conversation among fans. This time, it’s the ink that poses a challenge. By Styles’ tally, he’s up to 60 tattoos, which require an hour in the makeup chair to cover up. “It’s the only time I really regret getting tattooed,” he says.

He shows no regret, however, when it comes to stylistic choices overall, and takes pride in his gender-agnostic portfolio, which includes wearing a Gucci dress on that Vogue cover— an image that incited conservative pundit Candace Owens to plead publicly to “bring back manly men.” In Styles’ view: “To not wear [something] because it’s females’ clothing, you shut out a whole world of great clothes. And I think what’s exciting about right now is you can wear what you like. It doesn’t have to be X or Y. Those lines are becoming more and more blurred.”

But acclaim, if you can believe it, is not top of mind for Styles. As far as the Grammys are concerned, Styles shrugs, “It’s never why I do anything.” His team and longtime label, however, had their hearts set on a showing at the Jan. 31 ceremony. Their investment in Styles has been substantial — not just monetarily but in carefully crafting his career in the wake of such icons as David Bowie, who released his final albums with the label. Hope at the company and in many fans’ hearts that Styles would receive an album of the year nomination did not come to pass. However, he was recognized in three categories, including best pop vocal album.

“It’s always nice to know that people like what you’re doing, but ultimately — and especially working in a subjective field — I don’t put too much weight on that stuff,” Styles says. “I think it’s important when making any kind of art to remove the ego from it.” Citing the painter Matisse, he adds: “It’s about the work that you do when you’re not expecting any applause.”

Harry for Variety. (2 December 2020)

[bewitching-elizabeth-olsen]

Press: How ‘WandaVision’s Elizabeth Olsen Brought Her MCU Role To The Small Screen: “It Was Like A Dream”

DEADLINE: When Elizabeth Olsen was first pitched the idea of taking her character Wanda Maximoff into the suburbs with her late android husband Vision, played by Paul Bettany, she wasn’t quite sure how to wrap her head around it, let alone understand the couple’s inexplicable reunion. The president of Marvel Studios, Kevin Feige, and creator Jac Schaeffer had told her their plans for WandaVision to kick off the MCU on the new Disney+ platform. They also explained the concept that each episode would be set against classic sitcom tropes from the ’50s to modern-day.

“I was really worried about launching a show like that,” admits Olsen. “The idea that Kevin had about trying to tell this story in a Twilight Zone-y way through sitcom is so twisted and bizarre to me that I could only be excited to see what they would come up with. Another issue was to bring these superhero characters that audiences are used to seeing on big screens onto a small television.”

“If you’re in a choir,” explains Olsen, “you’re adding a tone to the group. So, in the [Avengers] films, I always felt like I was adding a sincerity tone while everyone was being sarcastic. Wanda has a lot of heart and a lot of pain, but with this, all of that went out the window. The core of this woman is really her lack of having really understood her own grief and trauma, and she’s trying to move forward in the world. Then there’s this strong desire and need for creating a family nucleus allows for her to not be alone in the world. And then everything else, the sitcoms, even her knowledge of what’s happening is just circumstance.”

The big themes hidden within WandaVision’s deliberately forced sugary facade made it a hit among critics, too. Think pieces and fanatical breakdowns of each episode brought a level of kudos never before seen for a Marvel character. So much so, that when the Emmy nominations were announced, WandaVision scored 23 of them, including Lead Actor nods for Olsen and her onscreen partner Paul Bettany. It is the 3rd most-nominated show this year.

“Yeah, it’s odd,” muses Olsen. “After seven years of playing the same character, who would have predicted it? I got comfortable being in an ensemble, and I really liked trying to figure out what my point of view was to the story as a whole. But with this show, we just thought, ‘This is the weirdest thing we’re ever going to be able to participate in, so let’s just swing for the fences and either it will crash and burn or people will like it.’ We just had fun.”

Spearheading the fun was director Matt Shakman who brought his years of collaborating as the artistic director for the Geffen Playhouse onto the set; bringing a cohesive theater troupe feel to the cast.

“I’ve had some pretty great leaders on my films,” recalls Olsen, “but Matt is one of the greatest leaders I have ever had on a job. He had us come in for two weeks to do rehearsals and to all get the same visual vocabulary for every single episode. Everyone came out to Atlanta, even for a couple of nights, or even if they weren’t working until six months later. We literally felt like an acting troupe.”

“A lot of us, Teyonah (Parris), Katheryn (Hahn), Paul, were all trained from different acting conservatories,” says Olsen. “We are all students of acting. I mean it was so dorky, we would do vocal exercises in hair and makeup, trying to find this world together. I would look to everyone around me to figure out, ‘OK, are we really doing this cheese? Is this really what we’re doing?’ But we were all doing the same amount of cheese, and as an ensemble we were supporting and holding each other up. That’s why it felt like such a fun show to work on, because you really felt that camaraderie and necessity of all your scene partners, so it worked.”

Which made the different eras of comedy sitcoms, with its specific sets of rhythm, less of a challenge and more of a celebratory collaborative effort to work through.

“I mean it was like a dream,” smiles Olsen. “It already feels like such a gift as an actor to get to play a genre or tone or period piece or have a playful exploration of your voice. All those things are already just so much fun and then to constantly have to change and alter it, yet keep the same core of these characters. It was a joy.”

“I’m really grateful for this show,” continues Olsen, “I got to have a lot of fun showcasing in a way of being a ham. I haven’t gotten to do that in a lot of my work. You learn in life to become quiet and reserved and polite, and it’s really fun to have that opportunity to access the skills that you’ve learned throughout the years. It awoke my body up to what I love about work and I’m feeling residual effects in a positive way preparing for my next job.”

After traveling through multiple fictional settings, Olsen’s next job took her to the U.K. to continue playing the Avengers’ Scarlet Witch in the upcoming film Dr. Strange and the Multiverse of Madness. Leaving behind her tight group of theater comrades and stepping back onto the big screen after two years of playing Wanda Maximoff, something felt different.

“It was great to stay in the same mindset,” says Olsen. “It was also frustrating because [WandaVision] hadn’t come out yet. I had just spent a year breaking down what family meant for Wanda. How our entire show is about family sitcoms, because it gave comfort though so many different time periods. And I knew that Dr. Strange was going to be different for this character, even though I was going into a film with a bunch of new people, to have this new huge group experience, I was completely alone again.”

Now back in the U.S., Olsen can finally give Wanda a break and take on characters outside the MCU, possibly even returning to the independent film scene where she got her break as an actress a decade ago.

“This has been a great gift from Marvel,” she says. “The longer you work for [them], the more included you are in every step of the process. And I really do appreciate that. I’m also grateful from a financial standpoint, because I’m now able to make decisions and take on opportunities not based on the potential of its commercial success.”

Now it seems that seven years later, playing Wanda has come to a perfect rewarding ending for Olsen. That is, unless the MCU needs her back for another round.

Press: How ‘WandaVision’s Elizabeth Olsen Brought Her MCU Role To The Small Screen: “It Was Like A Dream” was originally published on Elizabeth Olsen Source • Your source for everything Elizabeth Olsen

[starcrossedau]

Disclaimer: This is not for commercial use, all intellectual property belongs to @timetohajima. Copyright: here.

YOUNGJAE’S NATAL CHART

-Timetohajima

↳ trigger warning: abusive relationships, mental disorders

↳ word count: 9.3k

_

Our sunshine’s turn~ It’s the first chart that I’ll read in this blog that I have the birth time for, so there’s no speculation here: only the truth. That being said, although I am quite aware Astrology might seem like pure fun (and it indeed can be that way sometimes), when reading a natal chart with the birth time I can read everything that has happened / will happen to the person. I will not go into too personal topics or even his death or other severe stuff out of respect (and please do not ask) - but even then, if you’re a fan that is comfortable with just stanning his public persona without knowing much about his real ways that is absolutely fine. Kpop is entertainment, after all, and you should feel free to consume it the way you want to. But I’d advise you not to read this, then. Also, like I’ve said many times before on this blog, everything that I’m saying in this post is about Youngjae and Youngjae alone - DO NOT take one specific explanation of a placement I mention here as something you could relate to your own chart. Whatever I say here is taking everything that is in his chart into account, and there’s no way you have the same chart (that would mean we’d have more than one Youngjae and then the planet wouldn’t be able to handle such brightness).

This is not his entire chart but even then it turned out huge. Sorry? Anyway, here we go:

Ascendant, Sun and Mercury Retrograde in Virgo

The most important part of a zodiac chart is the Ascendant. It is so because it’s defining how the whole chart will work, it’s the point that determines how every house will play out since it’s placing each sign at each house. Not only that, but the 1st house is also the one that defines what are the most important things in one’s life, and the things that will strongly define the person and how their life will play out according to those subjects. As you can see, Youngjae’s is in Virgo and there’s two planets there. So not only is Youngjae’s whole life defined by the nature of this sign but also by these two planets and their subjects. Basically, Youngjae’s life will involve many situations regarding his strong personality in general and mercurial matters. So most of his life is gonna be directed by his intelligence since it’s a Mercury in a good sign for it, but also his communication problems in general since it’s Retrograde.

Virgo is an earth sign and it’s making Youngjae responsible but also very demanding. This will not only apply to what he thinks is right or not but also to how he expresses himself and how he approaches basically everything in his life - even if he’s not fully aware of it. I think that by now he knows that he can be annoying with how much he expects from others, but is too young to already feel strongly compelled to change (as in, he might be trying to but it won’t be effective for now - he eventually will, though, his Moon in Scorpio in a house that talks about travels changing him will make him). You see, Virgo is a sign that demands quality and perfection of what it likes or wants - and when it’s ruling one person’s entire life with Mercury combined it’s impossible for that person not to exaggerate their approach to it. In his case, Youngjae will have both good and bad things coming from this same trait - he’s such a perfeccionist that it’ll attract success but at the same time it’ll bring misunderstandings and inner turmoils. If you expect everyone and yourself to be perfect at all times, your standards are so high that they’ll cause you pain. It’s very hard for this boy to simply relax and enjoy things, he’s constantly alert and like I said, it can bring good results such as catching on things that are subtle (he can be very observant), but it also means that just chilling and simply enjoying what life entails is not comfortable for him. This level of exaggeration of worrying constantly not only brings some level of anxiety (he has three other things talking about this so it’s definitely his case, and definitely why he fidgets a lot) but also prevents him from fully enjoying even the happier times. He does know how to have fun, thanks to those Leo placements and that Jupiter in the 5th, but even then - it’s hard. It just doesn’t come easy as it does for others. I’ll talk more about it on the next topics but it’s just for you to get that although this guy has great joy within him and can bring happiness to everyone he interacts with because he’s a sweetheart, he has quite a hard time letting himself be truly happy. Overthinking is an understatement in his case. And since this is a trait that defines his whole life, every subject that his houses talk about will have something to do with this - every aspect of his life is gonna be influenced by him not knowing how to let go or how to relax. It’s bad but he can choose to grow from it and his Moon in Scorpio might indicate he will.

Although his Mercury is Retrograde, it’s still at one of the best houses for it and in a great sign for it - his learning skills are amazing and if anything I think he just might have trouble focusing when he’s not feeling determined. If he does focus, however, he’s very quick to understand anything that he wants to learn and it’s obviously related to how Youngjae was a trainee only for 7 months. He had already been studying singing before joining JYPE, but to be chosen to join GOT7 he had a limited time to learn dance and some martial arts - which he did. He’s an amazing dancer, and to this day the guys say he’s some kind of music genius. He literally is, they’re not exaggerating - he was already born with skills that led him to this path. Since he has many other placements talking about artistic skills and his mind is working nicely like this the level of talent that he has is very clear - and it’s high af. Youngjae was born to work with music, I don’t see him working with anything else. If anything, he might be a good teacher in the future - but probably a music one, and will always have to practice and work with his own music on the side or else he won’t be very happy (this is an understatement, not to be dramatic but Youngjae is the kind of guy that has no chance of surviving this world without practicing art in any way - can definitely lead to depression in his case).

The Ascendant also defines one’s appearance. The Sun defines the personality while Mercury defines the mind - so Youngjae literally carries his worries, logic and strong will on his face. If you’ve known him for a while it’s hard to think about this but pay attention to how serious he can look when he’s not talking, or how deeply focused. He might not even look approachable for those who don’t know him, and even seem like he’s arrogant (he does act like that sometimes but I’ll go more into it later - it’s just his Moon in the 3rd bringing him trouble). It definitely is not a coincidence that people say he’s so shiny and bright and love the way he laughs. The 1st house talks about one’s appearance and the way people see them, how they’ll be defined by society from a first glance or even from their usual habits, quirks. Because the 1st is our head, our face, defining our body as a whole - whatever it is that the Ascendant is defining there, it’s shown to everyone. Since Youngjae has his Sun in his first, this strong trait of his is shown to everyone - his personality is literally on his face. And since his Sun is being influenced by the 12th, a house in Leo, with a strong conjuction working there - all of that is shown in his face as well. Venus conjunct Mars implies in great inner energy and a deep need to show your talent (many artists have this conjunction), so that kind of determination also shows in his daily attitudes. Leo like this can also bring great joy and the will of showing it to the world with a characteristic laughter or humor. So although Virgo is there making him look responsible and everything, Leo can influence one’s apperance by making the person look innocent and with bright, shiny, even childish eyes. It’s literally making him show how gullible he can be even with Virgo trying to analyze everything - he’s deeply naive and that shows on his face specially when he’s having fun, because he lets his guard down when he allows himself to enjoy things.

His Ascendant is hard to define at first if you don’t know much about him, not only because Virgo is a reserved sign but because his personality is so intricate that by looking at him for the first time people won’t really know how to define him. And if they try, they’ll do it wrongly. That is all caused by the fact that Youngjae has so many different things defining his face. He’s a very intense person, but people won’t realize it at first. If they do stop to pay attention, though, they’ll be nicely surprised.

Originally posted by choiyoungjae

The biggest trouble here is that his Mercury is Retrograde and although in a good sign for it, his mind can be all over the place when trying to properly express himself. For an artist, this can be both a good and a bad thing: although in his personal life he might have trouble fully and properly expressing his feelings, the agony of not being able to do so is translated to his art. So it’s a benefic part of this Mercury, no doubt, it’s giving him great talent when talking about composing and writing down the right words. However, when actually talking he will have some trouble. I’ll go more into it when reading his 3rd.

The 2nd House

This house talks about the money one is going to achieve with their work, it talks about money and possessions in general. I don’t think this is a very interesting part of him for you guys so I’ll be brief. Libra defining it and being ruled by a Venus in Leo conjunct Mars in the 12th. Combined, it means: his money would come from his artistic skills (Libra), he can spend it with things he doesn’t really need (vain things, Libra), is likely to have luck in certain ways because of his personality (his way of talking to people and not only his skills bring him money - Venus in Leo), can be very bad at dealing with money (12th) or spending it wisely (can even spend too much money on people he loves that don’t really deserve it, because Venus). Although it’s all bringing him money but still loads of trouble since it’s being influenced by the house of mind prisons, Mars is also influencing it and the planet of determination like this means Youngjae might lose track of his spendings but is good at achieving financial results in general. So he will have money, but has to be careful with what (or who) he spends it with.

The 2nd is considered malefic because Astrology talks about life and what one has to do to evolve and be an awesome person in general, right? But it’s spiritually speaking. It talks about how one has to work their inner troubles and become a better being… And money doesn’t do that. That’s the main reason why this house is malefic and little did the old ancient greek people know how capitalism would affect us. lol So I’d say it can be considered even more malefic nowadays. For Youngjae it mostly means he can try to fix his love troubles with money (not that he’ll pay for people to love him, not at all - but people will fool him and get money from him) and that he’s likely to lose focus in life because of the way he spends it. Could even be one that bets or invests badly. However, boy still is going to be rich. :) Read more about this on his 8th.

Moon in Scorpio in the 3rd House

I’ve mentioned this many times but let me remind you guys how bad a Moon in Scorpio can be. The Moon stands for feelings, how one’s emotions will evolve or not and how the person will deal with them. Scorpio is a very intense sign and it tends to go to extremes when related to one’s feelings. Everything that is said about Scorpio’s bad sides show up when it’s placed in the Moon. So Youngjae has a lot of trouble dealing with grudges and balancing how he feels. He either goes big or goes home when talking about relationships and friendships, and this is certainly not a good thing. Since I can tell from his chart that he’s a good person (in the sense that he has a good heart, as lame as this sounds), I’m willing to bet that the worst things that will happen to him when talking about romantic relationships and friendships will be partly caused by his naivety and intense devotion to people that won’t deserve it. It’s sextile a Jupiter in the 5th, proving how bad this can get. And then he’ll hold a huge grudge and blame himself because Virgo is making him not forgive his own mistakes (remember how him being demanding affects his whole life?). It’s a cycle of judgement that he puts himself through, literally because he can be too soft. With time he’ll be harsher, and not in a bad way - he’ll learn how to protect himself. However, his romantic relationships will always tend to be problematic.

An interesting thing is that he can be petty af specially because this Moon is in the 3rd. It literally means that what he feels is what he says. Youngjae might try to control it, but he won’t properly be able to. He’s pretty straightforward most of the time. The way he doesn’t really know how to forgive is directly linked to the way he expresses himself as well. So he is totally the kind to not only be abrupt (Mercury Retrograde) but also to bring up things that were done ages ago. Since he has all that Leo charm making him childish and endearing for those that like him, people will rarely expose him about this - but I’m pretty sure it’s a frequent thing. Also, I cannot stress enough how jealous this guy can get. He has no sign of being easygoing in his chart related to this topic, Youngjae can be very possessive regarding those he loves. Not in the sense that he’ll be abusive, just very… Jealous. He’ll be overprotective without letting the person know (ego and childish attitudes caused by Leo), and will want that person to recognize him for it and also appreciate him in a way that he’ll feel like they’re truly close (they have to tell him everything) and equally appreciated. So he’ll be petty when provoking others about hanging out too much with other people instead of hanging out with him, will be dramatic af if not feeling properly spoiled, etc. And since his pride is huge (Venus conjunct Mars in Leo), don’t ever expect him to own up to this. lol Can be a cute thing, no doubt, but will not always be so. Because his Moon is all over the place, he’ll exaggerate this now and then and some people will be annoyed. If they already love and know him, though, it’s likely they’ll forgive him quite quickly since they know that he’s a sweet guy that just has trouble communicating and balancing his feelings. But if the people involved don’t know him or just aren’t the patient kind… This can bring problems in his career, even more so because his 10th (profession, work) is in Gemini - so clearly his communication directly defines his work and if this Moon combined with his Mercury Retrograde are not nicely dealt with… This certainly brings him trouble. A huge thing here is also that this Moon is being influenced by the 8th since it’s in Aries, and said house has the biggest malefic there - so combined with a badly ruled communication house like this he’ll have many troubles regarding signing contracts that might end up being abusive or unfair (we’re watching you, JYPE). This can also involve marriage, since it is a contract. Youngjae can get so intensely in love that he’ll be blinded by his feelings, so. Certainly this guy will have to learn how to deal with his feelings better or else there’ll be consequences.

Originally posted by jiminthebun

(he’s way more intense and passionate than he lets on tbh)

A nice thing here is that his humor is strongly defined by this house. And it’s being nicely backed up by his Leo in the 12th traits. Scorpio is petty and dramatic and loves shock value - it’s such an observant sign that has such great memory that when ruling the 3rd with the Moon like his, the person will love to randomly expose people just for fun. Can be very sarcastic without ever really owning up to it, which can be very funny if not directed at you. lol The Moon here is a huge part of why he can be so endearingly cute when he talks, because unkowingly he’s using his manipulation talents that this Moon in Scorpio gives him to express himself dramatically, combined with that Venus in the 12th that lets him play around with his sensitivity (as in he gets people so deeply that it’s directly related to how he chooses his words, his humor can adapt according to the person). Scorpio is naturally sarcastic and when in this house, oh boy. Things can get intense. haha And combined with his Mercury he can do some very funny, witty jokes. Which is ironic because he’s also very gentle and naive - but very quick witted when answering back. So there’ll be times where it’ll take him some time to fully get what’s going on and then others where he’ll be so quick to react that the people involved won’t even know what hit them. Although this Moon is acting badly, it’s still in the best house for it - so it’s bringing good things anyway. In his case, specifically, it’s bringing luck with transformating himself, evolving when he’s away, travelling. So he’ll not only be lucky regarding always having opportunities to travel if he wants to but also most of his travels will mainly involve good things for him. We have to note, though, that since this house is ruled by Scorpio it’s also being influenced by his Mars and that Saturn in the 8th - so most of the time the travels will be benefic, but often he’ll have to pay attention to his health or else he get sick while away.

Randomly I’d like to add that what makes him so brave about speaking english even if people make fun of his accent is certainly this Moon. He has fun with it because he lives for communication, so it doesn’t really matter what people think - as long as he’s enjoying it and putting himself to work with it. Youngjae also probably loves languages more than we might ever know, he’s deeply connected to them. This Moon also explains why in relationships he’ll truly appreciate the intellectual exchange and being able to discuss everything. Without communication nothing will work, this guy will hate lovers that don’t talk and solve stuff - but sadly will be attracted to them lol He doesn’t really know his own type. Learn more about this by reading his 12th.

The 4th House

The house of the beginning and the end of things. Since it’s in Sagittarius and ruled by the biggest benefic, Jupiter, it implies in a nice and comfortable upbringing and also that it’s likely that the family is big (Jupiter talks about exaggeration, so it’s likely that Youngjae has many, many relatives). Overall, it’s a nice sign to have here and if anything from what I can tell from the rest of the chart it just means he can be somewhat of a rebel regarding what his family wants of him. Could be a matter of religions or traditional ways, and since said Jupiter is taking family matters to the 5th house, the house of fun and romance, could even mean that although he might want to get married someday he doesn’t mind having some fun now and then and his family is not ok with it. Nothing major, I’d say, the kind of rebel Youngjae is against his family. But he still is, and the way he is so will bring bad things. Mostly because he’s too stubborn.

It’s important to note, though, that Jupiter is in Capricorn. So while it’s still working as a benefic in his life it’s also weaker than normal, and when combining Sagittarius and Capricorn like it’s being so in his life it means that while he does want to please his family and feels responsible about its values, deep down he also doesn’t wanna do it at all so it’s a constant conflict in his life. Since he has such a big family, it’s likely that Youngjae has had many people giving opinions on what he should or should not do in his life and that’s why he can be troubled about which path to follow sometimes. I found it kinda weird when he moved in with his brother and left the members behind but seeing his chart it makes quite some sense. Although it had to do with other things as well, I bet, it’s very logical to him that he has to be together with his family at all times and owes them explanations and all.  Looking from afar it might not seem serious but you’d be surprised of how much one’s family values can make one feel trapped.

Originally posted by yjarssunshine

Also, the ruler of the 4th represents the father in one’s life. Since it’s influencing his 5th, which is also the house of children, Youngjae wants to have children and to be a father like his was to him growing up. He’s strongly influenced by his dad and it shows, it’s likely that the people he sees on a daily basis are quite aware of how much his dad influences his ways and opinions. Specially because Capricorn is a demanding sign, that expects not only respect but also constant and good results - his father is nice, yes, but also expects a lot from him. And this implies in many things, how childish he can be sometimes because he was so spoiled (surrounded by people that while he did not really agree with were very loving to him, in an overprotective way) but also how confident he can be since his childhood had such an impressive and present father. He was very protected when he was younger and probably is to this day as well and that’s why he can be such a scaredy cat. lol It’s all related! Seems to me that his father is quite an intense guy but not very good at expressing feelings, and that’s why Youngjae ended up being more of a softie in constant emotional denial and intensity - the person he looks up to the most is a strong figure that doesn’t deal with feelings so he wasn’t properly taught to do so. Since his mother is represented by Mercury in his chart, it’s clear that her influence is similar - he respects and loves her a lot and she might be caring but above all she’s very logical and clever, so probably quite disconnected with properly dealing with feelings as well (even if unknowingly so). Also, her being represented by Mercury in the 1st implies in minds that work very similarly (hers and Youngjae’s, I mean) and that’s definitely connected with how they have the same laughter. lol So you see, Youngjae has very loving parents that truly did their best to offer him everything they could but emotionally they could be lacking at times - and obviously not because they wanted to, but it had consequences in Youngjae’s life anyway. They spoiled him a lot, though, and it shows not only in his ways (loves to joke around lightly and laughs freely, often a sign that someone was loved as a child and knows it - he can be sarcastic but overall his humor is more of a healthy, truly joyful nature) but also with the way he acts around his hyungs (he loves to be spoiled by them and Jaebum became a father figure of sorts for him for this reason - his real one was away so Youngjae needed a substitute). Overall, Youngjae’s parents gave him opportunities and the assurance that he was truly loved, which makes a huge difference in how someone grows up to be who they are - but at the same time they can be very demanding and kinda complicated when talking about feelings, so that’s on his way to this day and definitely plays a huge part of how that Moon in the 3rd is bringing him communication problems, as well as that Mercury Retrograde.

Although he has some other placements talking about health problems, Jupiter ruling the 4th normally indicates a good, longlasting life - but he has to be aware that with what he exaggerates with (since it’s Jupiter ruling it) it’s likely that if he does it too much it’ll shorten his life. If he learns to take care of himself, it should all be fine.

Jupiter in Capricorn in the 5th House

The house of fun, romances and friendships (the fun part, per say, while the 11th is deeper regarding this) when ruled by Capricorn is normally a very hard thing to deal with. With Jupiter here, while it’s a benefic that normally brings good things, in his case I believe he has more trouble caused by it. You see, the 5th talks about how one chooses to have fun and love and overall enjoy life - if Capricorn, a sign that does not know how to do those at all, is there… Youngjae has a real hard time just relaxing and letting things go with the flow. He’s constantly tense and looking for deeper meanings and everything, he’s literally too smart to have proper fun. He doesn’t know how to relax. When it’s related to relationships, since it talks about romance… He probably overthinks everything involved. I’ll go more into this when talking about his 12th, but this adds to the paranoia that is being talked about there. He’ll look for serious commitments in the beginning of the relationships, will be too eager to control everything so it all works perfectly in an exaggerated way, you get the gist.

Originally posted by yugyeomism

Jupiter is bringing his family matters into this house so again, although he had some privileges and a loving family it’s clear that the kind of demanding his father is is so strong in his mind that he cannot help but force himself to be worried at all times. It’s like: are we going to a party? But what for? For how long? Is it really worth going? Instead of just letting things happen naturally. Not only is this bad for him since he doesn’t really express himself or allows himself to enjoy the little things… With Jupiter, the planet of exaggeration, also influencing it all it’s obvious that when he does have fun and he does allow himself to feel it is way too intense for his own good (and it’s square a very malefic Saturn in his 8th, the house of death - the way he doesn’t balance things regarding fun literally attacks his body). He’s missing balance in this part of his life and it affects him more than he knows. First because if you never allow yourself to fully enjoy stuff you’re not actually living it and it brings a deep dissatisfaction and constant discomfort that of course implies in anxiety in the long run. Youngjae has other placements talking about anxiety so it’s definitely his case. And secondly, if you don’t allow yourself to fully feel and love all the time - when it happens it involves in loads of overthinking and paranoia and giving more than receiving and all kinds of messed up relationships - they get way too intense in a bad way. So this benefic is not being all… Benefic to him, I’d say. It does bring luck with other things, like with attracting great and loyal (Capricorn) friends much like a great sense of humor (the planet that talks about joy and love in a witty sign - great humor indeed). Also, the house of children with the planet of children there is likely to bring a good family… But the sign it’s in can be on its way. I won’t read much into it ‘cause it involves predictions, just for you to get that even if it’s just sounding bitchy this Jupiter is doing good as well.

However, since the house of fun literally talks about parties and addictions… With the planet of exaggeration there… You get what I mean. It’s likely that Youngjae exaggerates in something in his life, and there’s two other things talking about this in his chart so it’s definitely a thing. I’m not sure to what extent this will be in his way in the long run, but for now it’s at a manageable level. I won’t go much into it, though, since it’s very personal. Don’t ask me to talk about this.

The 6th House

The house of health ruled by Saturn like it’s in his chart means that Youngjae has some trouble with his immune system. Mostly out of his stubborn ways since said Saturn is in Aries, but also something he can’t control. This explain his allergy to cats, for example. This Saturn is opposite Mercury, so his mind literally doesn’t see the bad it’s doing to him (although it makes him independent as well, even if badly acting when making him feel inadequate). To put it simply, he was born with a body likely to have trouble healing itself properly but he also doesn’t take care of himself like he should, which makes him get sick even more frequently. If you pay attention to all of GOT7′s interviews and ~reality~ shows, you’ll see that he’s always sniffing or sneezing, etc. It won’t always show in a big and concerning way, but it’ll always be there - he’s prone to getting sick easily and quicker than others. Which must be very hard with the kind of life that he leads, with demanding schedules and all, but at the same time it brings him some structure to follow - his managers help him with this, even if he feels controlled. JYPE might be wrong in many things, but GOT7 does not starve themselves to death like other companies normally make their artists do. If anything, some of them get paranoid because of the media and knetizens’ opinions (mostly Jackson), but you know what I mean, right? Youngjae’s schedule is busy but in part this is being benefic to him since this responsibility of taking care of his diet and all is being put onto him - which is to show that although Saturn is a jerk it can also bring good things. This because Saturn is in the 8th, a house that talks about contracts and financial exchanges - so since these subjects are being taken to the 6th, his health is also being nicely influenced by his contract with the company. Weird, I know, but that’s literally what it says. Which is amazing, btw, since most idols actually have only bad things comming from their contracts and 8th houses. So yay, Youngjae! lol

Aquarius in the 6th like it’s in his chart also indicates a deep worry regarding society and wanting to fix it somehow. By itself it wouldn’t mean much, just something he thinks about now and then, but since he has others things talking about it it’s definitely something that is constantly in his mind. Read the 11th to understand this better.

The 7th House

The house of relationships and partnerships (mostly professional). When Pisces is here like it is in his chart the person loves the concept of being in love and loves who they are when they’re in love - which brings constant crushes but not necessarilly full on relationships. As in, it’s likely that Youngjae is always interested in someone but doesn’t really mean he always acts on it. But he does sometimes - and like I’ve already explained will overthink, be intense, etc. Although Pisces is bringing luck it can also mean exaggeration and since he also has that intense Moon in Scorpio and a Venus conjunct a malefic in the 12th - it’s totally his case. Youngjae is the kind that devotes himself entirely to whom he loves, will do absolutely everything for them and will have a hard time recognizing / respecting his boundaries. Will have a lot of trouble moving on too, and his memory is amazing at playing tricks with his mind and heart… So he’ll literally make himself suffer without having to. Youngjae is truly the kind of friend that comes to you asking for advice, will listen attentively and then proceed to do what he already wanted to. Mercury in Virgo is making him stubborn, his Moon in Scorpio doesn’t let go, his 5th house is defined by exaggeration… His posture towards relationships is certainly bringing him trouble, he has a lot of feelings and doesn’t know how to deal with them. And the worst part is that he’s so nice and naive and altruistic that… People will certainly take advantage of him. And he’ll have a hard time forgiving himself, since he can be very stern because of Jupiter being in Capricorn ruling this house. I’ll go more into this in his 12th.

Originally posted by poeticyoungjae

Randomly I’d like to add that this Pisces combined with his Venus in the 12th is bringing loads of aegyo in romantic relationships. lol Boy will love to go all cute and just overall adorable to his lover, will spoil them for sure but will absolutely LOVE to be spoiled back (and will act cute until the person does it lol but they will ‘cause he’s really good at it).

However, when talking about professional partnerships he’ll be lucky - he’ll attract people interested in investing in him (hi, JYP) or even literally creating with him. Youngjae could also have luck when opening up his own business, but only if related to his music… Other kinds are likely to fail in the long run. Oh well.

Saturn in Aries Retrograde in the 8th House

Saturn is the biggest malefic and wherever it is in a chart it will talk about suffering and hardships. It’s a teacher that inflicts pain until you learn, and if you don’t… The pain is constant. In Youngjae’s case, it’s even harder for him to deal with since said Saturn is Retrograde and in a bad sign for it - Aries makes Saturn be all over the place, messing not only with the houses it’s ruling but the whole chart - that’s how malefic and impeditive it can get. And it’s also in a malefic house, making it clear that this Saturn does inflict a lot of pain in Youngjae’s life.

I won’t go much into it because it also talks about deep, personal stuff. But overall this placement (combined with others in his chart) implies in such intense, uncontrolled anxiety that his body directly suffers because of it - which is related to what I said in his 6th. Since the 8th talks about money coming from others and relating to others and his Venus conjunct Mars in the 12th are pointing to this as well, it’s safe to bet that Youngjae in the future might find himself in situations of having to spend a lot because of his family, unfairly so. And this might be related to his own family but also to the person he marries. The person will either truly take advantage of him or he’ll just be paranoid about it. To be honest, I think it’s gonna be a little bit of both: he’s gonna be disappointed about one marriage where he’ll be naive while the other he’s gonna be very paranoid with. Yes, might go through a divorce caused by this kind of trouble. Money.

If his emotional placements were healthy I’d say he’ll only have  money related troubles regarding documents (mortgages, bank loans, etc) - but since his 12th and Moon in Scorpio are definitely on his way this guy is likely to have much trouble regarding serious relationships. Even if his 7th is being ruled by a benefic, it’s not working strongly enough to prevent difficult situations. If anything, that Jupiter in the 5th and ruling the 7th is actually proof that he’ll be exaggerated about how he shows love and support - definitely involving money issues in relationships because he’ll feel like it’s a good way to demonstrate his love… But that’s not true at all. This is stronger than him, though. Even if he ever gets to read this, it’s very likely that he’ll have a hard time controlling himself regarding this. Too much passion caused by his Moon in Scorpio and Venus conjunct Mars in Leo in the 12th for this kind of trouble not to happen. Also, remember Saturn is the king of giving life lessons because it wants you to learn: he can’t escape these situations, he just has to learn how to deal with them wisely. The fact that said Saturn is in Aries, though, indicates that he’ll be very stubborn and prideful about it so. Well.

Randomly, this house also talks about nightmares and in Youngjae’s case it gives him restless sleep. Jaebum has mentioned more than once how Youngjae could sing while he was sleeping, and even talk to him sometimes - this is all caused by this Saturn in the 8th (and backed up by the Moon in the 3rd [intense, constant feelings] and Venus conjunct Mars in the 12th [inner turmoil]). Also has to do with how he has trouble waking up early, and since it’s being caused by a malefic there’s not much he can do about this - and this is likely to never change in his life. Another thing is that since Sagittarius is being influenced by the ruler of Capricorn, since Jupiter is working with it, the house where Sagittarius is is also being influenced by Saturn - so the 4th will be influenced, like I said in that topic. However, in this case I’m mentioning it to explain that since said sign talks about one’s  back it’s gonna be a constant thing in his life to worry about - remember how he has to be careful with exaggerating and that the 4th talks about the beginning and end of things? So Youngjae definitely has to learn to respect the limits of his body soon or else he’ll get permanently injured.

Medium Coeli in Taurus in the 9th House

I thought of not properly explaining this one at first since it can get pretty deep but I’ve warned you in the beginning. So it’s up to you, and has nothing to do with me! lol

Medium Coeli defines one’s goals in life, what they should look to achieve - their mission in life. When it’s in Taurus it’ll talk a lot about family, financial stability and looking for the good things in life (depending on what the person likes, of course). So in Youngjae’s case, what he loves he loves a lot and will do his best to keep on feeding that love. He also feels strongly the need of being responsible and hardworking at all times, even when he doesn’t feel like it - Youngjae probably forces himself a lot. This is caused by what I’m about to explain next. Be warned it’s serious, dark shit. This is the last time I’m warning you. You’re free to go read his 10th and ignore this.

[i told you]

This Medium Coeli is conjunct the biggest and most malefic star in the sky. Although it also implies in financial success and being recognized by big crowds (randomly let me add that many famous people have it, even Donald Trump does lol), it’ll mostly talk about suffering one cannot run away from. In Youngjae’s life (combined with absolutely everything in his chart, so let me remind you that I’m talking about him and only him) this is bringing great paranoia and the constant feeling of not being enough, and also attracting people that will make him suffer a lot. Specifically when talking about romantic relationships. It’s likely that he’ll suffer because of abusive relationships and will take a very long time to realize it. Youngjae has a deep, deep feeling of inadequacy and it prevents him from being as happy as he should - he’s constantly feeling the effects of this star, making him want to cry because of a kind of inner turmoil that he cannot control or properly understand. I’m afraid South Korea is very bad at recognizing one’s need to see a psychologist because they see it as a weakness (and Youngjae does too because of his huge pride and the need of never showing to others things he’s not good at), which is a huge mistake but sadly I can’t do anything about it. But Youngjae is definitely the kind of guy that should see one. These things that he deeply feels… He has to talk about it. I hope he does. I won’t do predictions about this or elaborate on it, but it’s something that I have to mention or else we’d be ignoring a huge part of what makes him be the way he is. This star also talks about injustice depending on the person, and it’s his case - if Youngjae is ever involved in a scandal, I’ll tell you right now: it’s a 99% chance of it being a misunderstanding or a plan of trying to ruin him. He might lose a lot because of it. Another thing is that it brings injustice in his case because he has such a huge heart and deep need of helping others that while he does it Youngjae will attract the attention of bad people. If you do good and change people for the better, the people that have other interests will definitely be against it since they’ll be losing because of it. So Youngjae has to be careful with people he doesn’t know now but will eventually turn into enemies, betraying him. This might only happen in the far, far future though - if it ever truly does. The only thing that I can say for sure will happen since I’m not doing any proper prediction technique is that he’ll have real trouble with romantic relationships caused by this star.

[/i told you]

It’s likely that he will follow one career only but also that he may teach in the future, since the 9th also talks about teaching. Or, even, that he might move and live somewhere else - another country or a city different from the one he was born at (so it’s safe to say that he could move to Seoul for good even when his career as an idol is done).

The 10th House

The house of career and what people will recognize him for, dignity, how he’ll deal with authority. Since it’s being ruled by a very strong but kinda troubling Mercury and Gemini talks about communication, Youngjae might be good at talking to elders but at the same time is prone to causing misunderstandings. It’s not easily defined in his case, in some situations he’ll be lucky and in others people won’t forgive him about the way he talks at all. This can bring trouble with authority figures not only in his professional life but like with police officers or even the government itself. So this guy better be careful when handling getting fined and stuff like that - depending on how he deals with it he’ll have to pay even more.

However, this is also bringing him luck in the sense that his intelligence is ruling his career and that’s a good thing since he’s very clever. He’ll know what to do to achieve what he wants and is determined enough to actually do it instead of just planning on it. Gemini here also will mean that Youngjae has to use his communication a lot to get results in general - he has to convince people to give him a chance of recording a certain song, for example, or even talking for so long and so much that people will just give him what he wants. lol He’s very convincing because of this, and it’ll certainly help him when talking about getting rich. His mom is defining this house as well so it’s safe to say that her posture towards life taught him a lot of how to be a good professional, so he knows his ways around people because of how he grew up seeing his mom do the same. Yet another point talking about how his family is good for him. :)

Pars Fortunae in Cancer in the 11th House

The 11th house talks about altruism, caring about society and friendships. Having it in Cancer literally means that Youngjae is emotionally affected by how society works - if it’s not up to his standards, to what he thinks is right it gives him great sorrow. Specially if he sees any of these in person, like seeing someone begging for money or even suffering any kind of injustice. He’ll feel their pain as if it’s his own, and since said house is ruled by the Moon in the 3rd - he’ll talk about it a lot, he’ll feel the need of sharing and protesting these things. He’ll stand up for those he think are in need and will fight for causes involving helping those in need in general. He’ll also show this to others, he’ll do his best to influence people to do good as well. It’s something he takes very seriously, Youngjae cannot stand to live his life without helping others. And sometimes he’ll be aware that he can’t do anything about certain things out of his control and it will crush him. :( He’s a really, really kind guy that worries deeply about humanity. It’s not just talk, it’s not marketing. It’s truly how he feels.

Having Pars Fortunae here clearly states that most of his luck and blessings in this life are gonna come from his good heart - he’ll be good to others in such frequent and honest ways that the people he helps will give him things back or life will just indirectly give him good things back. Like a positive-karma-kind-of-thing. lol Since Cancer talks about family, in his case this will also mean that a lot of the good things in his life will be caused or involve his family in many ways. I told you his joy is caused by him growing up a loved and spoiled child, right? It’s one example, but his family brings other amazing things to him.

Since Pars Fortunae talks about one’s career, what’s gonna bring the person money - in Youngjae’s case he has other elements pointing to having artistic skills and since his Pars Fortunae is in a sign that talks about it it’s obviously his case. I guess it’s easy to say it now since it’s already happening but trust me when I say it’d be possible to guess it even before he debuted. lol He was destined to have many gains because of his artistic skills and feelings (since this house is ruled by the Moon). Another thing is that this placement is also giving him great inner strength and energy (also positive vibes), combined with his Leo placements it’s the cause of why he’s such a cute ball of sunshine.

Originally posted by choiyoungjae

(this cute little shit i swear my hearto)

Venus and Mars in Leo in the 12th House

This house will have a lot of things that I’ve already mentioned since I took it in consideration to explain the others, but bear with me.

The 12th house is malefic and in his life talks about self destruction, hidden enemies, feeling trapped. Youngjae has part of his feelings (Venus) and his determination (Mars) in a house that talks about things we do to ourselves that we don’t realize at first but brings us great suffering - it literally is telling us that Youngjae can be very bad to himself and quite often. He’s very determined and goal oriented and can fight hard for what he wants - which can be good, of course, but it also means that Youngjae doesn’t respect his limits and often puts himself in situations that are just too much, and torturing even. It makes you wanna slap him, doesn’t it? Because he’s constantly worried about others and wants to help them - but never stops to fully take care of himself.

This is enhanced by the fact that said Mars is in Leo, a sign that stands for fighting for others and protecting the ones one loves. So combining everything, Youngjae can put himself in front of others to protect them without thinking - and people just won’t do the same for him. So this brings two kinds of pain: the pain of suffering because of others and the pain of being left behind and uncared for. And let’s consider, also, that this guy has his Venus conjunct said Mars. His feelings are involved as well, which makes this even more intense - he won’t stop to think about it, he’ll just act. And this is where lies the hidden enemy thing - Youngjae is literally his own enemy regarding his emotional health. He gives too much, expects too much (because Leo is known for wanting specific things in a relationship).

This Venus is also talking about wanting to take care of people that are just as troubled or even more so than he is. He’ll want to take care of them, protect (Leo) them - and this can be so tiring… But Youngjae won’t give up on them because when he loves, it’s all or nothing. So he’ll never stop loving the person even if they hurt him. Obviously a bad thing. Since the 12th house talks about mind prisons as well, this is definitely something that might make him feel trapped in the future. This Venus is square his Moon, which brings constant feelings of discontent - so he does love intensely but will look for specific people to love. He has a defined type of what he wants and won’t accept less. Which is not a good thing in his case since said Venus is in the 12th and like I said he’ll look for people that can be some kind of burden for him… Youngjae is the kind of guy that is very aware of what he wants and will do his best to achieve it but when achieving it (as in, the person lol) he’ll be blinded by love and won’t understand how bad said situation is being for him. And let’s not forget the huge pride Leo brings, specially in his case with Venus conjunct Mars, Mercury in the 1st, etc. He’ll spend a really long time in situations that should’ve ended as soon as they began. He’s stubborn about everything, to be honest, but regarding relationships… It’s even worse. Leo in the 12th often makes one scared of things without any reason, and Saturn in the 8th is backing it up in Youngjae’s case - so it explains a lot of how easy it is to scare him and how afraid of the silliest things he can get.

The good thing is that this Leo is bringing great energy and inner strength, and also explains his youthful vibe and contagious laugh. What makes him suffer also makes him greatly adorable, as dramatic as this sounds. Oh, this is yet another Leo characteristic - drama. Loads of it. Since it’s in a malefic house like this, Youngjae’s Leo traits are gonna make him so, so dramatic it can get unnerving to others and bring him trouble. Will also make him believe that some problems are bigger than they actually are, and Youngjae will feel trapped regarding them. This will be about many things but it’s good to mention what I’ve said all the way up in the beginning - that he’s so demanding with himself that it’ll cause him trouble in different ways. So it also attacks his emotional health represented by this house, bringing great paranoia and the feeling of not being enough when he definitely is. However, this kind of drama when being shown to people will be more endearing than anything else. So what deep inside brings him trouble, outside will just make him look… Adorably exaggerated? Cute. lol

Although this house is definitely bringing him many hardships, Youngjae has learned through his pain and extreme sensitivy and, like I said, this guy is very worried about other people’s well-being. So what he says about wanting to live abroad after his military service to be able to heal people with his music is not just talk. If he’s ever going to be able to, though, I don’t know since no prediction techniques are being used. But this is directly related to his Pars Fortunae in his 11th, so trust me when I say Youngjae just has a huge fucking heart.

Originally posted by shan-baby-xo

_

THIS TOOK ME SO LONG. I’d really appreciate some feedback. I know it’s long, so it’s ok to pretend you read it all too. lol Just say “oh Miya I loved it all” as if you had read everything. I’ll believe you. I’ll be honest, though: in a group like GOT7 it’s hard to find a bias specially since everyone can be so loud and everyone has such charming traits - so I had already liked him, for sure, but reading his chart made me love him so, so much. He’s genuinely a nice guy, so adorable and smart and kind at the same time! Definitely worth the trouble of dealing with how stubborn he can get. lol I learned a lot about him reading his chart and I hope you guys did too. :)

15.08.17

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41 NOTES

REBLOG

#choi youngjae  

#youngjae  

#got7 scenarios  

#kpop astrology  

#thekpopnetwork  

#natal chart  

#virgo  

#leo  

#traditional astrology  

#i might go over it later  

#typos or something i'm missing idk  

#for now  

#i don't wanna see this for a few days lmao  

#took me so long geez  

#sorry i'm being dramatic here  

#i hope you guys like it!!  

[walterhxw]

Part4 Automatic Growth Mode

1.     Role growth system

 There are always a plenty of growth systems in RPG depending on many factors. And there is a type of game has become an important existence named mobile card games in recent years in the Chinese mobile game market. It is also called RPG, because the main gameplay is to collect different roles, train your roles and match your roles into different groups to participate in all kinds of battles.

2.     Resource cycle

 Almost every game has its own game cycle or resource cycle. And it is necessary for mobile games to have an integrated game cycle. I will explain this cycle of RPG.

 Players will get resources and then he can utilize these recourses to strengthen himself and these roles whom he collects and love. After a series of growth, players need a battle to prove that they have grown up. After this method, like battles, players will get a feedback and this feeling will push them to play more. Suitable challenge or difficult is needed, but it shouldn’t break the flow feedback.

 It’s time to talk about the resources. There are many sophisticated growth systems in many mobile RPG games in the Chinese market. As a result, there will be the corresponding ways to obtain all kinds of resources.

 But it is strange in this game. The main growth system named Fighting Spirit which provides the roles about 35% attributions which is a large rate in such games. It can make sense that players need to do a lot to get the special resource to advance the Fighting Spirit. The method for obtaining this special resource surprises me a lot, because this special resource can be automatically accumulated by time going.

 In a word, one of the most important resources can be automatically accumulated by time going. This is one of the micro-innovations.

 From this picture, you can find there is a number in the right which is 16308. It means that the resource will be increasing 16308 every hour. When you beat more and more levels in this special map, you will get bigger productivity of this resource. The combination with RPG and automatic growth mode is simple, suitable and easy to understand and experience.

3.     Automatic Growth Mode

 In section 3, I want to talk about this type of game which is automatic growth game. I mean there is no uniform term to describe such games. There is a game might be well known named AFK Arena produced and operated by the LilithGames. The battle doesn’t stop when players log off. Level-up even while players are AFK and reap the rewards when they next log on. The goal of this game is to appeal people jump right back into the adventure at any time. The goal is the same as that player can stop playing the game at any time when they have no time playing game.

4.     New fashion Mode

 The essence of such game is automatic growth mode, and this mode has been becoming more and more popular in recent years in the Chinese mobile game market.

 There are many factors relating to this phenomenon. The most important factor is that there have been several dominant mobile games in every game category since the mobile games emerged.

 Dominant game company has occupied the majority of the game market. The numbers of new games are still increasing a lot in recent years. Spare time has been more and more strict to every game player when they choose and play mobile games.

 Given to such cruel competitive environment, more and more small or medium game companies began to try to absorb the automatic growth mode into different types of games.

5.     Games with automatic growth mode

 I want to show some games which absorb such mode which is interesting and illuminating to some game designers.

5.1 Game 1

 The first game is a mobile game named BuXuZhiLv. This is a Diablo-like mobile game. The majority of resources can be automatically accumulated with time going. The capacity of the roles influences the productivity of the accumulated efficiency.

5.2   Game 2

 The second game is an otaku games, named HeiChaoZhiShang, produced and operated by NetEase Games, which absorbed the mode of automatic growth. Actually, the main game frame is same as the previous one. The majority of the resources can be automatically accumulated with time going and the capacity of the roles influences the productivity of the accumulated efficiency.

 It is interesting to notice that NetEase Games was regarded that it had the most top artistic skills and performance in mobile games before Genshin Impact was published by miHoYo Company.

 In addition to Genshin Impact, HeiChaoZhiShang possesses a professional artistic performance and technical skills comparing to other games in the same term.

 NetEase Games is regard as the second top game company in China. This game which is HeiChaoZhiShang published to the market had released a signal that automatic growth mode has been adopted seriously by the dominant game company. With professional aesthetic style, it definitely gained a lot of loyal users, especially in the type of otaku games.

5.3   Game 3

 After 2 months, Tencent published a game which belongs to this type of game. The IP is that Fairy Tail, which is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hiro Mashima. The game was produced by Babeltime Company and operated by Tencent. Babeltime is a strong mobile game company but it hasn’t created some successful mobile game comparing the previous mobile games which was a series of FangKaiNaSanGuo I, FangKaiNaSanGuo II and FangKaiNaSanGuo III. The English name of this series is OMG Kingdoms.

This mobile game, named Fairy Tail, is a cooperating product by Babeltime and Tencent. The aim of Tencent is more likely to perfect its game product matrix. From the old IP created by Babeltime which used 3 times, it is obvious that Babeltime Company hasn’t kept up with the times, because it won’t crate the second successful games comparing the previous ones. So does this new game which has a low quality. A gruff absorption of automatic growth mode with the traditional RPG mobile games without clear and suitable micro-innovation.

6.     IP And Automatic growth mode

 I spend a long page to describe game 3 which is the worse in these 3 games. My point is to expand a new question. Is it suitable for a new game using well-known IP to try to absorb the emerging mode?

 In my opinion, this type game of Automatic growth is suitable to build its own IP, not buying IP. Firstly, this type game always relies on a long-term game period and a long-term commercial plan. The majority of resources can be regarded as time. In other words, players actually buy the time every time. The cost of IP will push game company to adopt a radical commercial plan which focus on a short-term income. As a result, this plan will destroy the essence of the automatic growth mode. There will be a contradiction which is difficult to fix and adjust.

 This is why I talk about IP and the automatic growth mode. In addition to the game 3, the others all build their own IP which release a signal, important for this mode, that the game company will operate a long-term game.

7.     Summary

 In this part, I want to show you a simple background of the Chinese mobile market in recent years. Especially I want to talk about the emerging game type which is automatic growth mode.

 In a word, I think JieBaDuiJue has a suitable and comfortable absorption of this emerging trend into the main gameplay and game flow. And I also give 3 examples to compare with the game. How to absorb this emerging trend within the main gameplay. In the later part, I will try to focus on the resource with other system to figure out deeper connections within the game.

[louistomlinsoncouk]

After tragedy, One Direction’s Louis Tomlinson is finally in a ‘good place in life’ — and ready to rock

While most boy bands only spawn one major solo superstar — think Justin Timberlake from *NSYNC, or Ricky Martin from Menudo — the men of One Direction have bucked those odds. Zayn Malik, Harry Styles, Niall Horan, and Liam Payne have all found success, in genres ranging from R&B and EDM to folk-pop and retro rock, since 1D went on indefinite hiatus in 2016. But one member, Louis Tomlinson, has kept a relatively lower profile. “I've tried to!” he laughs softly, speaking to Yahoo Entertainment about his much-anticipated new solo music.

“I had a couple of things in my personal life which made momentum a little bit more difficult, naturally,” says Tomlinson, now age 27. He is referring to the loss of his mother, Johannah Deakin (who died from leukemia at age 43, the same year of 1D’s split), followed by the fatal overdose of his 18-year-old sister, Félicité, earlier this year. Only one week before Félicité’s death, Tomlinson had released the single “Two of Us,” a heartbreaking ballad dedicated to his mother. He once described this “darkest s***” period in his life as his “rock bottom” during an interview with The Guardian. But as he readies his debut solo album, out in January 31 next year with a world tour to follow, Tomlinson says he’s no longer writing from a place of mourning. While the album, WALLS, will contain “light and shade,” fans can mostly expect anthemic rockers with “plenty of guitars,” like the ‘90s-style Britpop banger “Kill My Mind” and the just-released buoyant terrace-chant “We Made It.”

“I touched on [grief] with ‘Two of Us,’ but I definitely kind of told that story with that,” Tomlinson explains. “I felt like I needed to get that off my chest creatively in my songwriting because around that time, it was hard for anything to feel more important, obviously, than that. ‘Two of Us’ is an important song for me, but I understand how heavy it is — emotionally, for me to sing, and for some people to listen to. … I don't think for a while I'll be going near anything else too heavy emotionally; I'm not really that way inclined. I want to make songs that make people feel good, you know what I mean? I'm conscious of trying to make happier songs, definitely. What I've learned about the writing process is you can't write a happy song if you don't feel happy. And I feel like I'm in a good place in my life, and naturally with that comes happier songs. So I think it all depends on what headspace you're in, really, at the time.”

Tomlinson is clearly in a rock ‘n’ roll headspace at the moment. To tease the release of “Kill My Mind” last month, the proud Northerner made a Spotify playlist of his influences that included Oasis (“probably forever my favorite band”), the La’s, James, the Verve, Arctic Monkeys, the Smiths, “Tomorrow Never Knows” by the Beatles, and newer artists like Sam Fender, the Courteneers, and Catfish & the Bottlemen — and “Kill My Mind” and “We Made It” wouldn’t sound at all out of place on a playlist alongside those Britrock luminaries.

Tomlinson is well aware that going in a rock direction is a risk, though he believes “music definitely works in cycles” and rock ‘n’ roll will “definitely be back.” In terms of speculating why the type of music he heard on mainstream radio as a kid — like Oasis and Amy Winehouse — has fallen out of favor commercially, he speculates, “Well, we're in a in a very, very PC era, and some of those bands were a little bit reckless, a little bit crazy.” Regardless, it’s possible that Tomlinson could educate the “super-f***ing-dedicated” One Direction fans about ‘90s/early-2000s indie the same way Styles’s debut album was a gateway to ‘70s glam and classic rock, or Horan’s was an introduction to more mature singer-songwriter sounds.

“That's why it's important for me to make those playlists, because I do often get messages from my fans saying they hadn't heard of this band or this artist before,” he says. “And I think that's really important. That's really cool. That helps them get to know me even better. … Harry, I think in terms of the music he's making, I think that's incredible and I'm sure the fans have then gone to look at other bands that have influenced him on his album. And I actually saw it firsthand when I went to watch Niall live — it must have been like maybe over a year ago now. There were some really great musical moments in that show, and I was thinking about the contrast of that show with a One Direction show. I was watching the girls at the front just absorbing this musical moment, and I thought that was really cool, really interesting. I think that is important, for all of us.”

Tomlinson knows “there is definitely a bit of music snobbery” when it comes to a former boy band star doing rock ‘n’ roll — he once joked to the BBC that Alex Turner of Arctic Monkeys would be mortified would be mortified to be cited as one of Tomlinson’s core influences — but he says, “I think you've just got to kind of earn your stripes as an artist, and be honest and be real — and whoever likes you, great. Whoever doesn't, well, it is what it is, I suppose.”

Tomlinson has been pleased by the initial response to his new sound. “I was feeling really, really f***ing proud about ‘Kill My Mind’ and the reaction on that. It makes me feel really good to do something that is true to my influences and get a good reaction. Some people were a little bit shocked, but that's exciting, you know what I mean? That's the way it should be with music.” Still, he doesn’t seem too concerned if his music doesn’t reach the commercial level of One Direction in their post-X Factor heyday.

“In terms of kind of chasing radio, I feel like I've done a lot of that. To be honest, out of all the songs I've got on the [forthcoming solo] album, ‘We Made It’ probably is the best equipped melodically for radio, so we'll see how that goes. But I'm not as precious as I used to be about all that,” he says. “To be fair, I fell out of love with music a little bit, and I actually kind of come back ‘round to finding bands that I used to love, and finding new bands. And I had a bit of an epiphany with music and with my music. I thought, instead of making music for other people, I should start making music for myself and what I really love. So it feels really refreshing to be able to do that.”

Tomlinson’s album will feature production from both longtime 1D collaborator Julian Bunetta and Ben’s Brother frontman Jamie Hartman, who has worked with Lewis Capaldi, Rag ‘n’ Bone Man, Rachel Yamagata, James Bay, Andy Grammer, Joss Stone, and Parachute). “Jamie is just an amazing producer, and I think he really understood me musically,” Tomlinson gushes. As for what to expect from the record, he says, “I'm always trying to be as honest and as relatable as possible, and sonically, I always want it to feel as live and as authentic as possible. It's been a long time in the making now, but I'm really happy with it as a body of work.

“I'd been used to releasing an album a year with [One Direction], and I didn't realize until I got into it just how much of a perfectionist I was going to be about my first album, and what it says about me and what it represents. I've been maybe at times too much of a perfectionist, and it's taken a little bit longer than it should have. But I'm kind of all right with that, because I'm really, really proud of where it is now. I never want the feeling of releasing an album and feeling like there's two or three fillers on there. I'm really happy with every track on the album now. So I think it was hopefully worth the wait.”

[vavarekings]

2020 Beginner’s Guide to VAV:

Hyung Line: St. Van, Baron, Ace (top picture, left to right) Maknae Line: Ayno, Jacob, Lou, Ziu (bottom picture, left to right)

VAV

VAV stands for Very Awesome V-Rangers because they are Very Awesome Voices, Very Awesome Visuals, Very Awesome Vegetables

fun fact: Jacob came up with the VAV hand gesture because he’s a Very Awesome Virgo

shows: VCAM (vlogs of their daily lives, updated weekly) | VAV’s Apartment (1) (2) (3) | PromiSINGER (1) (2) 

SNS: FanCafe | YouTube | Instagram | Twitter (staff) Twitter (members) | Facebook | Tumblr | V Live

fan chants: Venus | ABC | She’s Mine | Spotlight | Señorita | Thrilla Killa | Give Me More | Poison

VAV also have their own free app for android and ios where they do weekly live chats with live eng subs! you can also buy merch there

all of VAV are Big Boys, most members are over 6ft. Lou is the tallest at approximately 6′3″ and Ace is the shortest at approximately 5′10″

Title Tracks

2015: Under the Moonlight

2016: Brotherhood | No Doubt | Here I Am

2017: Venus | Flower | ABC | She’s Mine

2018: Spotlight | Gorgeous | Señorita | So In Love

2019: Thrilla Killa | I’m Sorry | Give Me More | Poison

Members

(Everything mentioned is 100% true but I didn’t link my sources because most aren’t in English.)

St. Van: leader, vocal

real name: 이금혁, 金赫, Lee Geumhyuk. “Geumhyuk” was given by his father and it means “shines like gold”

born December 22, 1991. currently 28 years old (international age)

originally from Daegu, South Korea but spent about half of his life in China

immediate family: father, mother, younger brother

fluent in Korean & Mandarin

predebut life: he originally planned on being a chef and studied culinary for a year. his parents influenced him to pursue music as a career. he trained for 4-5 years and debuted with VAV in 2015

future dreams/goals: first win on a music program. wants people to feel happy and refreshed when they think of VAV’s music

composed and wrote almost all of the Korean lyrics in VAV’s I’m Sorry

ideal type: someone small who can fit in his arms. someone he can comfortably talk with. prefers long hair instead of short hair. prefers someone sweet instead of someone charismatic. prefers skirts instead of dresses

Baron: dancer, vocal, visual

real name: 최충협, Choi Chunghyeop

born April 19, 1992. currently 27 years old (international age).

originally from Osan, South Korea

immediate family: father, late mother, older sister

family life: he was very close with his mother, her nickname for him was “Little Prince.” as a child, his mother often had to buy him new pants because he would rip the knee areas from playing so much [lol little Roni was so cute]. his father’s birthday is on Christmas and his family used to celebrate both occasions by going to church on Christmas day and giving him a cake. as a child, he used to wish for large packs of colored pencils for Christmas

fluent in Korean. likes learning languages and speaks beginner-intermediate level English & Japanese, he’s self-taught

predebut life: he chose to become an idol because his mother inspired him by always playing music for him as a child. Yoo Seungjun was one of his biggest inspirations. he studied singing and dancing for two years then in January of 2012, Baron was a barista who wanted to become a trainee so he submitted an online application then went on an audition program in May of 2012, he passed because of his dancing skills. he later joined One Million Dance Studio and originally trained to be a choreographer. in 2014, he became a temporary backup dancer for girl group Minx. he debuted with VAV in 2015

future dreams/goals: domestic success by getting a first win on a music program in South Korea. international success by ranking on the Billboard music chart

Baron’s audition tape, solo projects, and favorite music are listed here

in December of 2018 he revealed his entire skincare routine, it’s listed here

he’s a really sweet, generous person. a small compilation of some of his best moments can be found here

he’s also very playful and likes to push people’s buttons. a few examples of his sense of humor can be found here

some basic facts about him can be found here

a profile card he filled out can be found here

baron is ambidextrous, he favors his left hand for cooking/chopping/cleaning/writing but can use his right hand for everything as well. he plays right-handed guitar

ideal type: someone with big, pretty eyes. “because I am human too, I will also look at their body” [asldkfjslkjf bARON OMG] someone honest. someone punctual with strong self-discipline. prefers dresses instead of skirts. he once picked Selena Gomez as his ideal type amongst celebrities

Ace: prince, vocal

real name: 장우영, Jang Wooyoung. it means “give and help. live a prosperous life”

born August 28, 1992. currently 27 years old (international age)

originally from Anyang, South Korea. went to high school in Seoul

immediate family: father, mother, older sister

family life: it was once revealed that Ace talks to his parents everyday

fluent in Korean. beginner-level English

predebut life: as a student, his hobby was dancing so he decided to become an idol. he trained for 5-6 years and debuted with VAV in 2015

future dreams/goals: first win on a music program. in 2018, he said he’d like to be married within 10 years time

he started learning to play guitar for Señorita and has kept going with it ever since

he gave himself the nickname “Prince” and said the national flower of Prince Ace-land is a red rose

he wrote/composed VAV’s Sweet Heart by himself and published it after working on it for over 8 months. he made it to express how he feels about vampz. baron said he paid close attention to ace as he worked on this song and was very impressed with Ace’s hard work, he’s proud to be a member in the same group as Ace.

ideal type: someone cute with a bright personality, likes tall girls. someone he can exercise with. prefers someone younger instead of someone older. pays more attention to someone’s body instead of their face. prefers dresses over skirts. he once picked love over friendship. he once joked that, because he often goes to the hospital, it’d be good to marry a doctor so he saves on medical expenses [lol what a virgo].

Ayno: rapper, vocal, dancer, visual

real name: 노윤호, Noh Yoonho

born May 1, 1996. currently 23 years old (international age)

originally from Ansan, South Korea

immediate family: father, mother, older brother, younger sister

family life: when he was a child, his future goal was to be a good husband because he viewed his father as a good role model. as a child, he used to wish for a dog for Christmas

fluent in Korean

predebut life: Ayno was a child actor (he’s been in multiple commercials and had a minor role in Boys Over Flowers) who decided to pursue music. was a trainee for about a decade. participated in No.Mercy but was eliminated in the 9th episode. he debuted with VAV in 2017

future dreams/goals: first win on a music program. in 2018, he said that he would like to be a father with a family of his own in 10 years time

apart from his instagram, he also has his own SoundCloud

his solo projects and favorite music are listed here

Ayno composed/wrote most of the lyrics in Touch You, here’s a full English translation of the lyrics

Ayno partially composed Runway and wrote the lyrics for it. he wrote some of the lyrics in VAV’s ABC, Flower, Give It To Me, Señorita, I’m Sorry, Touch You, Give Me More, Un Poco Más (Remix), 119

Ayno’s very witty and playful. VAV once said that Ayno’s pranks are 19+. a small compilation of his sense of humor can be found here

ideal type: someone hard to get. prefers skirts over dresses. prefers someone older instead of someone younger. once picked work over love

Jacob: vocal, rapper

real name: 张朋, Zhang Peng. he favors this spelling of his name, he even has a bracelet with “Zhang Peng” engraved on it!

born September 7, 1996. currently 23 years old (international age)

originally from Hubei, China

immediate family: father, mother

family life: when asked what he would like to pass onto his children he said “my love. so much love. I will love you most.” [he’s so sweet >.<]

fluent in Mandarin. advanced-level Korean. basic English

predebut life: his trainee period lasted about a year, he said it went smoothly and encountered no major problems. he debuted with VAV in 2015

future dreams/goals: wants to meet more fans and wishes for VAV to last a long time and do well on music charts

apart from his instagram, he has his own tiktok and weibo

solo projects: Jacob debuted as a solo artist with his song Love Night and was featured in Xiao’s Trouble. in 2017 he starred in the movie “The Dreamer on the Catwalk”

Jacob has a cold, stoic appearance at first glance but once he starts talking he’s very cute and is often seen giggling and clapping for his members. He also has a very blunt and witty sense of humor, shown here

Jacob has said that, because he’s a Virgo, he’s very detail-oriented and helps the other members during their practices. Ziu said that whenever they do something wrong Jacob corrects them by speaking perfect, fluent Korean yet when they correct Jacob he suddenly doesn’t understand Korean. [i love him hahahah]

ideal type: someone cute with a pretty heart. prefers skirts over dresses

Lou: rapper, vocal

real name: 김호성, Kim Hosung. it means “shining star”

born December 21, 1996. currently 23 years old (international age)

originally from Seoul, South Korea. spent some time in Atlanta, Georgia, USA as a child and four years in the Philippines as a teenager.

immediate family: father, mother

family life: he’s very close with his mother and often goes out to eat with her

fluent in Korean. advanced-level English

predebut life: he originally planned to go to university but was scouted by an entertainment company and trained for 3-4 years. he debuted with VAV in 2017

future dreams/goals: first win on a music program. he’s interested in acting and has already been in a web-drama. wants VAV to be remembered as a group that always puts out good music

solo projects: was in the web-drama Lemon Car Video and released the single Good Night

he wrote a few of the lyrics in ABC, Gorgeous, Give It To Me, Señorita, Thrilla Killa, I’m Sorry, Touch You, Give Me More, Un Poco Más (Remix)

ideal type: someone with a caring, mother-like personality. someone who can cook well. someone pretty. prefers skirts instead of dresses

Ziu: vocal, human maknae

real name: 박희준, Park Heejun. it means “happy and shining”

born June 16, 1997. currently 22 years old (international age)

originally from Seoul, South Korea.

immediate family: father, mother, older twin sisters

family life: he’s close with his mother. once when he was asked to pick someone as the most handsome member of the group he picked himself because “my mom says I’m the most handsome” [lol what a cutie]. has said his father works with the USA army [I’m assuming he means that his father works with an American military base in Korea] and that’s why he understands some English.

fluent in Korean, beginner-level English

predebut life: he was inspired to become a singer when he was in middle school and watched a performance by Rain with his mother. he trained for 5 years and debuted with VAV in 2017

future dreams/goals: first win on a music program. visit Area 51. try out other music genres such as ballad pop

solo projects: was featured in Ayno’s Don’t Sleep

ideal type: someone with prominent facial features (eyes, nose, jaw) like him. prefers skirts instead of dresses. prefers sexiness instead of innocence [...ziu O.O ]

*bonus profile under the cut

Cash: puppy maknae, beloved little sister

real name: 캐시, Cash

born December 22, 2018. currently 9 years old (dog years)

originally from China

breed: Shar Pei

immediate family: 7 older brothers (St. Van, Baron, Ace, Ayno, Jacob, Lou, Ziu)

family life: Cash is very loved amongst VAV, she has been spotted watching their music show performances and observing them practice. St. Van likes to gently pet Cash to help her sleep well

fluent in Korean, Mandarin, & English (Cash runs a Twitter and Instagram where she interacts with vampz in multiple languages [uwu she’s the world’s cutest and sweetest puppy uwu])

life before VAV: cute puppy living in China

future dreams/goals: live happily with VAV, see VAV’s first win

Cash doesn’t like broccoli

Cash is sometimes bullied by Spirit but Cash is kindhearted and still loves Spirit

[somethingusefulfromflorida]

Pixar Films

I dislike Disney as an entity; it is an evil corporate conglomerate that makes focus-grouped schlock to appeal to as wide an audience as possible at the detriment of story.  That said, Pixar was once the greatest animation studio on the planet.

Keep in mind, these are movies for kids, so anything negative I say will almost certainly be rebutted with “you’re just old and you don’t like Disney because it’s popular and you’re a hipster and you’re not even the target audience anyway so shut up.”  I’m just giving my two cents, whatever that’s worth.

I’m not gonna rate them on a number scale, I’ll just tell you how much I would or would not recommend watching them.  Some are must-see-cinema, others are bland and skippable affairs that you should not feel obligated to watch just because it has the Pixar brand on it.

Let’s start from the very beginning (a very good place to start)

Toy Story (1995) Groundbreaking, the first feature length 3D animated movie, spectacular cast, great story, though a little wonky by today’s standards both in the visuals (though that’s just a product of the times) and in the characterization (Woody is kinda of a jerk in this one; he was worse during pre-production, so this is the tame version).  Pixar started off on the right foot.  Would Recommend

A Bug’s Life (1998) This has some flaws, but is still a really fun movie.  Not as good as Toy Story, but infinitely better than Dreamworks’ knockoff Antz.  Great ensemble, memorable characters and set pieces, really funny.  Would Probably Recommend

Toy Story 2 (1999) An excellent sequel, they knocked it out of the park with this one.  It’s surprisingly deep, exploring concepts like the inevitability of change; nothing lasts forever, you can’t keep kicking the can down the road forever.  The journey is finite, but that doesn’t make it worthless.  Would Definitely Recommend.

Monsters, Inc. (2001) To date, their best original movie, maybe even better than Toy Story 2.  Everything about it is perfect; John Goodman and Billy Crystal have great chemistry, Steve Buscemi plays the perfect sleaze, Boo is just adorable, it’s an excellent movie.  Would Definitely Recommend.

Finding Nemo (2003) This is a beautiful movie; they had to invent new animation techniques to make it look this good, new ways for light to bounce and diffuse through the fishy medium.  Amazing story, absolutely heart wrenching at points, hilarious at others, without feeling tonally dissonant.  Would Definitely Recommend.

The Incredibles (2004) Another home run, they’re just showing off at this point.  This is a much deeper and arguably darker story than any of their previous films.  It doesn’t pull any punches and explores adult concepts like mid-life crises, extramarital affairs, death (oh, so much death; red shirt mooks and civilians alike).  This may be my favorite (definitely top 3; I’ll expand the list below).  Would Definitely Recommend.

Cars (2006) A competent movie, though by Pixar standards it’s not quite up to snuff.  Not bad, by any means, but this one is the most blatant cash grab of them all, just a commercial for hot wheels and die-cast toys.  I have a soft spot for it because this is the one I’ve seen the most; my mom would turn on this DVD to keep my baby sisters occupied, so it was literally always playing in our house.  That said, I’m not nostalgia blind; it has good parts, but it’s not great.  Would Probably Not Recommend.

Ratatouille (2007) C’est Magnifique!  Patton Oswalt does a fantastic job, I identify with Linguini on a spiritual level, the human characters are all perfectly demented and the rats are equally so.  I love this moral; anyone can be successful, it’s about who you are not where you come from.  Funny and relatable, an all around feel-good movie.  Would Definitely Recommend.

WALL-E (2008) Top 3, hands down, this is a true work of art, a modern masterpiece.  A film mostly devoid of dialogue, it expresses so much emotion from how the characters carry themselves and react physically to their surroundings.  The body language, the color choices, the camera work (especially in the space dance sequence), just how RAW everything is, how grounded it feels, how fleshed out these little robots are..  I Cannot Recommend This Enough, Watch it Right Now. Now. Why Are You Still Reading This?  Now! Go Watch it Then Come Back.  Even if You’ve Already Seen it, Go Watch it Again.

Up (2009) Another near perfect installment under Pixar’s belt.  They’ve really nailed the art of opening scenes; Carl and Ellie’s love story moves me to tears, it is so beautifully portrayed.  Some of the characters can be a tad annoying and overly cutesy to sell merchandise, but the story never suffers from it.  The villain actually feels like a threat, there are stakes, and the image of a house sitting by a waterfall and the story connotations thereof are indescribably bittersweet.  Would Definitely Recommend

Toy Story 3 (2010) This is is sort of hit or miss.  It’s a very well made movie, and an excellent CONCLUSION to the Toy Story franchise (Conclusion: noun, the end or finish of an event or process).  I liked it, felt it really wrapped things up in a satisfactory way, but it’s not better than Toy Story 2 in my mind.  I feel like this was a turning point for Pixar; after this, they were never quite the same, never really bounced back.  May or May Not Recommend, I’m on the Fence

Cars 2 (2011) You don’t give the comedy relief their own movie.  That’s storytelling 101; the comic relief bit-character can rarely stand on their own and meaningfully carry a story, though corporations are laughing all the way to the bank as I say this because these types of movies keep making boatloads of money even if they suck.  Minions made bookoo bucks, the Pirates of the Caribbean series is still ongoing despite the loss of Bloom and Knightly (and bringing them back for the last one doesn’t really count because Depp is still the main character), Cars 2 is a corporate cash grab, and devoid of artistic merit; this is my first hard no.  Would NOT Recommend.

Brave (2012) This is not a Pixar film, it is a Disney film that they decided to make under Pixar’s name instead because they knew Pixar had enough good will and positive connotations to get people into seats regardless of story.  It’s not terrible, but it’s not great.  That’s the story of modern Disney; not terrible, not great, just okay because that’s all it needs to be.  People will watch it no matter what, so they put in the bare minimum amount of effort so nobody can say they suck at making movies again (because for the longest time in the early 2000s, they did suck; Dinosaurs, Home on the Range, Chicken Little).  Would Not Recommend.

Monsters University (2013)  Why did you do this, Pixar?  Why did you take one of your best movies and do this specifically to it? Nobody asked for this, nobody wanted this.  I can only applaud them for having integrity enough to NOT give people what they wanted; people wanted a sequel, and that would have bee terrible.  You can’t follow up on Monsters, Inc, it had a perfect ending, it was hopeful and heart warming and definitive.  A prequel is the only thing they could have made without messing up the ending of the original, so I’ll give them some credit for that.  It’s not good.  Would Not Recommend.

Inside Out (2015) Their best one since Toy Story 3.  Not terrible, I actually liked a lot of things about this one.  I like it when Pixar takes on more serious subject matter, and I thought they did a good job exploring how a kid would react to such a drastic lifestyle change.  The cast was good, the animation was fun (inside Riley’s head; outside was generic and samey).  Not bad Pixar, not bad at all.  Would Probably Recommend.

The Good Dinosaur (2015) It doesn’t matter what i think because this movie still made hundreds of millions of dollars.  Disney is losing no sleep over this.  Would NOT Recommend.

Finding Dory (2016) Again with the continuations!  This was better than Monsters University, but the original was still such a hard act to follow.  It had potential, and I liked how it respectably handled mental illness in a way that was easy for kids to understand without dumbing it down and underplaying its significance in the lives of those who it effects.  I think Marlin kinda regressed, having to relearn what he already learned in the first one. The hardest I laughed was during the climax, the truck chase scene, “It’s a Wonderful World,” just amazing.  Would Probably Not Recommend

Cars 3 (2017) I hope Disney was happy with this end product.  I hope the producers really enjoyed cashing their toy checks for this one.  I thought it was worse than Cars 2, but I can see why some people might like it more.  Either way, it’s worse than Cars 1, which wasn’t particularly great anyway.  Would NOT Recommend.

Coco (2017) I’m on the fence with this one.  It was beautifully made, and the songs made me cry, but it’s hard for me to look at this movie without judging it as a product made by a focus group of mostly white people.  By itself it’s a good movie, but when you know how the Disney sausage is made it feels disingenuous and calculated.  Might Recommend, But it Had Some Baggage

The Incredibles 2 (2018)  I am Boo Boo the Fool, Pixar suckered me and I fell for it.  I was legitimately enthusiastic for this one because the original is one of their best, and unlike Monsters, Inc it actually left room for a sequel.  It had so much potential, and big shoes to fill, and it did so in the most generic Disney way it could.  Like Brave it wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t great either.  Middle of the road, some things were fun, others made little sense, it was “appealing” in that it literally appealed to as wide an audience as it could without alienating anyone by doing anything particularly risky.  I liked Voyd, I liked how Helen became the main character, I liked the villain twist; I did not like how easy it was to make superheroes legal again.  It felt like it was tacked on at the end, like he just says “and there we have it, they’re legal again, congratulations,” like he was announcing the winner of the Price is Right.  Would Probably Not Recommend

Toy Story 4 (2019) I want to be clear that I made a point not to pay money to see many of the previous films on this list.  If I thought they were going to suck, I waited until a friend bought it and saw it with them for free.  This one, though, I was forced to pay for because my mom insisted on seeing it in theaters as a family.  It wasn’t terrible.  Wasn’t great.  Wash, rinse, repeat.  It was the same villain again; Stinky Pete, Lotso, Gabby-Gabby... I can’t wait for the fifth one where the villain is an old toy who is mad because they weren’t played with.  Buzz was made much dumber for this one, and I felt they didn’t do enough with Forky.  I was excited to see how they handled the existential aspects of the series; what makes a toy? How are toys sentient? Why are toys sentient? In the first movie Woody implied that there were rules that toys were honor bound to follow, so what is stopping Forky from blowing their cover on accident?  None of these questions were answered.  I liked Keanu Reeves, I didn’t like Key and Peele.  Would Probably Not Recommend.

The mighty have fallen.  It’s just sad. 

”Onward” looks kinda dumb, like a kiddy version of the flop Will Smith movie “Bright.”  I have no faith in this production company anymore, but I’m sure it will make hundreds of millions of dollars; the cast are fan favorites, including Disney’s favorite topical pet celebrities (because let’s be honest, Disney basically owns Tom Holland at this point.  Whether they own Spider-Man or not, they own Tom Holland, he is theirs, his soul contractually belongs to them).

Speaking of souls, ”Soul” will probably go over well with critics, though I can’t help but notice that their main character of color is transformed into a non-human for most of the movie.  Again.  I’m also not a fan of this one-word naming convention Disney has fallen into in the last decade.  “Brave” was originally titled “the Bear and the Bow,” but one-word titles seem to test well with kids.  Hopefully this will pass, but I’m not holding my breath.

I’m swearing off Disney movies, firsthand.  I might catch them second hand, through friends or other means, but I refuse to give this corporate conglomerate one more penny.  They basically own Hollywood, so my money will eventually make my way into their pockets, I just want to put as much distance between them and myself as possible.  No more Pixar, no more Star Wars, no more Marvel, no more Disney.  I am one drop in the bucket, I will not be missed, and they will not be affected in the slightest by my absence, but I need to prove to myself that I have integrity enough not to keep funneling my hard earned cash into a trillion dollar snack company.

Disney movies are snacks, not meals.  And I’m going on a diet.

Anyway, here’s my top three:

Monsters, Inc

The Incredibles

WALL-E