#which makes it feel similar to other mvs by other artists

[smokends]

ა ⠀ ♱ 　.⠀THE RUTHLESS ROCKSTARS — The discography of South Korean idol band Moth Signals consists of four studio albums, eight extended plays, and twenty-six singles. Over the course of the career, the band has sold over 10 million records worldwide, making them one of the best selling music artists in South Korea and internationally. Since their 2016 debut, the members of Moth Signals have written and produced every single song they have released, thought it would not be until 2021 they were completely "self-produce".

ა ⠀ ♱ 　.⠀TRIGGER / CONTENT WARNINGS. Death of a parent, descriptive mention of eating disorders + treatment ( 2021 section ). If this piece is too triggering, please DM and I can give you a summary of what happens!

ა ⠀ ♱ 　.⠀THE YEAR IS 2016 — Moth Signals debuts with the physical single album SCARED to test the waters. Despite the popularity Loop 2002 gained, the same audience was not willing to tune into Salem's attempt at a cash grab. Scared would sell less than 20 copies in total and went out of print in 2017 because of how poorly it was selling. In 2024, getting an original copy of the album is near impossible and fakes often sell for $500 easily. This would be the first and only year to feature the line-up of SALEM, JUDE, DOHUN, and OLIVER. It would later be revealed that in order to make their appearances at The Lure and other live bar performances, Superbloom Media forged documents that stated Oliver was born in 1999, instead of the true 2001. Due to their inability to sell enough records, Moth Signals would be placed on an indefinite hiatus as Superbloom Media "restructured the group" to ensure the next generation would bring more success for the company as a whole. Yang Irang aka Jude would move to Mystic Story and debut as a soloist under her birth name and continue with an indie sound. On the other hand, there have been no public spottings of Jeong Dohun since 2017 with a police report filed by his parents not long after his contract was terminated with Superbloom Media. As of 2024, this era of Moth Signals is considered "lost media" as very primary sources of year survives.

ა ⠀ ♱ 　.⠀SCARED was written by park jueun and produced by kim yuchan and park jueun in spring 2016, performed by park jueun. in her mainstream debut, salem explores themes of fear and insecurity with the lyrics suggesting a hesitance to approach someone and freely express themselves. many fans interpret this song to be about salem's original band, LOOP 2002, which she left in favor of moth signals the year before. the phrase " why are you scared ? " repeats throughout the song and highlights a sense of frustration with the fear and reluctance in this relationship, despite many attempts to change. the narrator yearns for reassurance and validation, seeking comfort in the hope that their uncertainties will fade away having this person beside them. ა ⠀ ♱ 　.⠀THE LONG SILENCE was written by park jueun and produced by kim yuchan and park jueun, performed by park jueun. this song is often compared to their later released b-side brand new city from their 2023 album ohio impromptu and shows how similar salem and serin are. both songs discuss the sense of dread from being in one's prime and what comes later. the long silence is described as what happened after the narrator of brand new city moves and realizes that they need to find a way to survive. simply moving away from their problems was not enough to change their feelings and create a new sense of happiness. the narrator vows to " find love / and find a way to survive here ", giving them a new sense of purpose and hope to move on.

ა ⠀ ♱ 　.⠀ACHIVEMENTS

MV VIEWS: 6.7 million.

MUSIC SHOW NOMINATIONS. 0.

MUSIC SHOW WINS. 0

ა ⠀ ♱ 　.⠀THE YEAR IS 2017 — The band would return on what is now celebrated as their debut anniversary, SEPTEMBER 17TH, and include three new members: JUNYEONG, MINJAE, and SERIN. Instead of following the traditional band path, the members were picked from Superbloom's most promising trainees. They were desperate to get these three out into the world so that they did not lose their talents, mostly seen with Junyeong. The band would be promoted on various idol television programs including AFTER SCHOOL CLUB and KNOWING BROS, to get their names out there. They would also promote their only title track for the year, GREAT CAESAR, on the different idol performance shows, including INKIGAYO and MUSIC BANK. Despite their attempts, Moth Signals would continue to sell poorly due to their status as a co-ed group and lack of interest in bands. Despite their busy idol schedules, the band would be given a permanent residency at The Lure in Gangnam, Seoul and lasted until their second hiatus in 2021. They would perform every Friday and Saturday night just before the bar closed as the most exciting act and would slowly gain more fans as they performed more.

ა ⠀ ♱ 　.⠀GREAT CAESAR was written by park jueun and produced by kim yuchan and park jueun, performed by park jueun and lee jiyeon. this song explores themes of identity, longing for recognition, and the desire for power and validation. the narrator knows that they are lacking in confidence when they are not wearing a suit, which symbolizes a facade or role the speaker feels they must play to be respected. the references to the city of leningrad is a metaphor for feeling lost and helpless, like leaves lost to the wind, alluding siege of leningrad during world war ii and the bleakness of the city. they want to be recognized as someone great, even if it's just for a moment. the speaker reflects on their childhood and feeling in control, though they would quickly lose that confidence, and now long for stability or connection to feel grounded.

ა ⠀ ♱ 　.⠀ACHIVEMENTS

MV VIEWS: 7.1 million.

MUSIC SHOW NOMINATIONS. 0.

MUSIC SHOW WINS. 0

ა ⠀ ♱ 　.⠀THE YEAR IS 2018 — Unlike the previous two years, nothing about Moth Signals would change as they came into 2018. Their music was still in the hands of Jueun and Kim Yuchan, the most successful artist under Superbloom at the time, and the rest would be delegated to lowly b-sides. It was beginning to feel like Salem did not care about the creative input of the other members, especially when it was not getting her any results. This year would cement Moth Signals promotional style taking place during the SPRING and FALL, with the fall album almost always dealing with darker themes and concepts than the one released in spring. This release continued their momentum forward and there was nothing out of the ordinary during this era. They were slowly being included in more variety shows, as seen by their joint appearance with Day6 on Weekly Idol and their first invitations to a major award show with the Golden Disc Awards and Seoul Music Awards. They were not nominated or even performed, but their photos from the red carpet got people talking about the unknown group.

ა ⠀ ♱ 　.⠀EAT THIS NIGHT was written by park jueun, produced by kim yuchan and park jueun, performed by park jueun. eat the night returns to their original sound with themes of liberation and desire to break from societal constraints. the song opens with lyrics expressing uncertainty about what to sing about, as if overwhelmed by the abundance of refrain in the world, and emphasizes their lack of understanding of the path chosen. the narrator proclaims that they have finally found their own way and the metaphor of cutting the moon and devouring the night suggests that rebellious mindset, chosing to defy expectations and live freely. eat the night encourages fans to let go of their norm and find their own path, breaking from exceptions to create their own meaning of happiness. ა ⠀ ♱ 　.⠀BIRTHDAYS was written by park jueun and produced by kim yuchan and park jueun, performed by park jueun. birthdays revolves around the themes of heartbreak, disappointment, and the realization that a once-special relationship has come to an end. the lyrics depict the emotions of someone who believed their relationship was unique and meaningful, only to discover that their partner does not feel the same. This is famously thought to be about one of her former bandmates from LOOP 2002. Throughout high school and much of their career together, they dated and broke up around the same time Salem left to join Superbloom Media. Through this song, she is coming to terms with the relationship being over after asking “why don’t you adore me?” over and over again. She uses the concept of sleep and going to be bed to bury the past and move on from the relationship, showing that she would be ready to move on once she wakes up.

ა ⠀ ♱ 　.⠀ACHIVEMENTS

MV VIEWS: 11.4 million.

MUSIC SHOW NOMINATIONS. 0.

MUSIC SHOW WINS. 0

ა ⠀ ♱ 　.⠀THE YEAR IS 2019 — Moth Signals would release HYPOCREEP in March 2019, right before OLIVER was set to appear on the new survival talent competition show SUPERBAND, produced by JTBC. Despite the sound change, Hypocreep was met with positive reaction from fans and is their first mini-album to sell over 1,000 copies in the first month. It is often seen as a turning point for the band as their releases following would follow a similar sound and is the first song to credit another band member besides SALEM, that being OLIVER. This would be the first of a long partnership between the two that would eventually fizzle out during their 2022 hiatus. Hypocreep is also one of the most popular songs for other idols and bands to cover given the technical requirements of each instrument. While Hypocreep opened the door for the other members, MY ANGEL would be the first title track sung by another member. Oliver's My Angel would go onto break and double every single Moth Signals record as he rode the Superband high. MY ANGEL still remains a fan favorite song and would give the band their first award show nomination on Show! Music Core, much to the band’s surprise. Most of the members recall this era as the first time they actually felt loved by the audience and could see people singing along.

ა ⠀ ♱ 　.⠀HYPOCREEP was written by park jueun, produced by park jueun, and performed by park jueun. the song expresses frustration towards people who are hypocritical and fake, particularly those who are thirsty for drama and attention on the internet. the narrator identifies as a “hypocreep,” which is a term they use to describe themselves as a different breed of person who is hyper and freaky. they acknowledge that they may be seen as strange or abnormal to others, but they do not care because those same people secretly wish they could be like them. hypocreep, since it's release, has always been a fan favorite and is almost always the opener on their tours because it never fails to get the audience hyped up. it's a favorite to perform for almost all of the members as well. ა ⠀ ♱ 　.⠀MY ANGEL was written by oliver song and park jueun, produced by park jueun, kim yuchan, and dallas linwood, and performed by oliver song. my angel is a song about a tumultuous romantic relationship with someone that is both heavenly and devilish at the same time. this would be the first song that connected bandmates salem and oliver together romantically and their relationship would be confirmed later in 2020 by superbloom media and dispatch. he enjoys the sensation of having her in his teeth, representing his inability to let go of her and his knuckles being battered and bruised suggests that he is desperate to win her over, even if it takes everything from him. the relationship is described as a forbidden one and the two are constantly meeting in secret despite the risks. she may seen like an angel, but the narrator knows that she has that "devilish" side as well.

ა ⠀ ♱ 　.⠀ACHIVEMENTS

MV VIEWS: 10.2 million.

MUSIC SHOW NOMINATIONS. 1.

MUSIC SHOW WINS. 0

ა ⠀ ♱ 　.⠀THE YEAR IS 2020 — Fans of Moth Signals fall into two camps for their 2020 releases: either loving it or hating everything it stands for. Tragically, due to the popularity of Lion's Den, Pinktop is often forgotten by all fans of Moth Signals. Despite this, it remains one of Jiyeon's favorites and will always have a place on their set-lists because of this. Due to it’s “inappropriate lyrics” LION'S DEN was banned by all the major South Korean music shows and would be promoted in a series of live concerts instead. They would instead promote READY TO FLY as their title track for this era, saving the performances of Lion's Den for their smaller performances. Due to the show going semi-viral on TWITTER thanks to a tweet by a lumi asking “what business Plastic Flowers had releasing” the song, LOVESICKNESS sold over 10,000 copies by the end of the year. This would also be the final time they were promote prior to their 16 month hiatus, making it special to their fans. LION'S DEN would later become a sleeper hit by going viral once again and entering the top 10 on the Circle Chart after being used on an OST.

ა ⠀ ♱ 　.⠀PINKTOP was written by park jueun and lee jiyeon and produced by kim yuchan and park jueun, performed by park jueun and lee jiyeon. pinktop was inspired by a regular at the bar that they perform at, the lure, and serves as a symbol of liberation and acceptance. salem describes the song as a love song to someone that cares so little about what the world thinks about them, something that both girls struggle with. someone that wears the pinktop is someone that stands out of the crowd and embraces their unique style and personality rather than hiding from the spotlight. the guy is a fan of moth signals and admires their music, showing their mutual appreciation for each other and this strong understanding. the lyrics convey the importance of staying true to oneself and walking their own path regardless of what other people think. ა ⠀ ♱ 　.⠀LION'S DEN was written by oliver song and produced by kim yuchan and oliver song, performed by oliver song. the major themes of lion's den relate to toxic and tumultuous relationships, with the lyrics depicting the ups and downs of being with someone that can be both loving and hurtful. written completely alone by OLIVER SONG, many fans have begun to debate the real meaning of the song as it relates to his relationship with salem. in lion's den, he realizes that the person they are in love with is full of contradictions as they compare their lover to a pair of teeth. the lover's heart is described as having teeth as well, meaning that while they may talk sweetly, they often hurt and bite him. the relationship is very complicated, in which both parties are hurting each other but can't let go of them. the narrator realizes that they are losing themself by the end of the song and hopefully, ends the relationship before it can get worse.

ა ⠀ ♱ 　.⠀ACHIVEMENTS

MV VIEWS: 229.6 million.

MUSIC SHOW NOMINATIONS. 3.

MUSIC SHOW WINS. 0

ა ⠀ ♱ 　.⠀THE YEAR IS 2021 — The GOODNIGHT era was spent dreading what would come next for Moth Signals. It was obvious that the members were losing steam as shown by their smaller performances and the constant cancellation of their performances at their bar, The lure The release of THE FOURTH FLOOR only made that worse as they went back to the melancholic sound and promotions outside of music shows were cut short. In fear of losing the band, Lumis made sure that it sold well, achieving a record-breaking 14,000 copies in the first month alone and securing them more music show nominations. However, it seemed that nothing they were doing was enough as Moth Signals slowly slipped away from the public eye. Despite GOODNIGHT selling well, Moth Signals were put on an unofficial hiatus two months after it’s initial release. Superbloom would be intentionally vague about the details behind the scenes to keep everything under wraps, however, sasaengs exposed the truth. Not only were they on hiatus to “fight burnout”, but Oliver had returned to his hometown of Boston after the death of his father and Jiyeon had been checked into an eating disorder treatment by their manager, Cheon Garam. During this time, Salem and Oliver would also BREAK UP, creating a new tension within the band. The band’s social media—both company owned and personal—would go completely dormant from March 2021 to April 2022, leaving many to believe that the group would never return and would be lost just before they achieved stardom. During this period, SALEM would debut as a solo artist with THE CURSE OF CAPULET and SERIN not long after with PRINCESS DIARIES. JUNYEONG'S debut was confirmed in late 2021, but nothing was ever released due to OLIVER'S return to South Korea.

ა ⠀ ♱ 　.⠀THE FOURTH FLOOR was written by park jueun and produced by kim yuchan and park jueun, performed by oliver song the fourth floor explores themes of obsession and dependency in a relationship. the lyrics depict a protagonist who is deeply infatuated with someone to the point of being obsessed, as represented by the repeated phrase “i can’t stop thinking about you.” the protagonist seeks answers and validation from a doctor, indicating a desperation for a solution to their intense emotions. they recognize their own exaggerated behavior, acknowledging that they may appear crazy or “psycho” to others. the chorus reinforces the protagonist’s obsession, stating that they cannot live a day without thinking about this person. the fourth floor conveys a sense of dependency and the idea that the protagonist’s life revolves entirely around the object of their affection.

ა ⠀ ♱ 　.⠀ACHIVEMENTS

MV VIEWS: 122.9 million.

MUSIC SHOW NOMINATIONS. 3.

MUSIC SHOW WINS. 0

ა ⠀ ♱ 　.⠀THE YEAR IS 2022 — Just when most fans began to lose hope for Moth Signals to comeback, Superbloom did the unthinkable: dropping a new set of teasers for a full album called INTERNET BLUES. During this time, it was also revealed that MINJAE had left the band and was replaced by Timefighter contestant OH DEURIM, who had failed to make it into the debut line-up by one place. According to Minghui, he left on good terms with the members but could no longer handle the idol life anymore. Despite how protective poppies are, they surprisingly welcomed Deurim with open arms and wanted to see what she could bring to the table. INTERNET BLUES would be released on May 5, 2022 with the title track I’M ALIVE, which secured them their FIRST WIN and first NOMINATION at a major award show after selling 100,000 copies. Moth Signals would return to their original promotional schedule with the release of I DON'T CARE, the title track for their first studio album, CALL ME CRAZY that November. The studio album was celebrated by all fans as it finally meant that Plastic Flowers were confirming that they were here to stay despite their earlier issues. The members looked so much more alive this era and they even held their first FAN SIGN, which went as well as expected. The members had fun with their fans, but hated the constant requests for cuteness or prying into their personal relationships. They would hold their own formal CONCERT, with over three thousand people in attendance.

ა ⠀ ♱ 　.⠀I'M ALIVE was written, produced, and performed by oliver song. i'm alive is an uplifting song that talks about the feeling of overcoming challenges and persevering through tough times. they promise that even in the midst of uncertainty and darkness, the singer declares that they will keep themselves alive. the chorus serves as a mantra of sorts as the singer repeatedly affirms that they are alive and won’t give up. the idea of a “highlight” suggests that even in the bleakest moments of life, one can find something beautiful to hold onto. the bridge encourages listeners to keep searching, keep breathing, and keep alive. It’s a call to action to hold onto life and never give up. ა ⠀ ♱ 　.⠀I DON'T CARE was written by oliver song and oh deurim and produced by kim yuchan, performed by oliver song. this would be oliver's first attempt at a song that criticizes the world him and similar to his bandmates, he aims to show a sense of confidence that cannot be broken. i don't care is about not being afraid of showing who you are and not carinf about what other people think about you. it suggests that self-love is more important than trying to fit in and please other people, and that it's possible to find happiness in difficult situations. the song would be lauded as ironic because it was released just after oliver song went on hiatus for mental health issues and has never seemed to actually recover.

ა ⠀ ♱ 　.⠀ACHIVEMENTS

MV VIEWS: 392.9 million.

MUSIC SHOW NOMINATIONS. 8.

MUSIC SHOW WINS. 2.

ა ⠀ ♱ 　.⠀THE YEAR IS 2023 — Coming into 2023, Lumis were promised many exciting things from the band. In March, Oliver’s solo DISHONESTY with the lead single MY HONEST FACT would be released to overwhelming success, cementing his popularity with the general public and showing everyone that he was here to stay. Though fans were happy for him, the same could not be said for his bandmates as SALEM and JUNYEONG began a smear campaign that lasted throughout the entire promotional period. Oliver would ignore any questions about the situation and chose to move on from it instead, celebrating his own achievements rather than focusing on those around him. In June, the band would come back as five to release LOVE AND WAR with the lead single of the same name, which became their best selling record at that point at just under 1 million copies. Later that year, Moth Signals would return with I Disagree and a new title track from Salem. The era and album was very well received despite initial worries about the darker sound alienating their original fanbase. Salem already went through that once, she wasn't going to do it again.

ა ⠀ ♱ 　.⠀SOLD MY LOVE was written, produced, and performed by oliver song. this song captures the complexities of love, longing, and emotional confrontation. the lyrics express a sense of vulnerability intertwined with defiance as the narrator seems to grapple with past experiences and a feeling of being stuck in a cycle of love that feels both passionate and painful. the recurring idea of "going to your hour" symbolizes a readiness to confront the emotional turmoil head-on despite the ricks involved. there is a sense of raw and unfiltered emotions, hinting at a history of physical connections but also deeper disappointments. the narrator feels that they have wasted their affection on things that didn't matter, selling their love for lost youth and reckless romances. ა ⠀ ♱ 　.⠀I DISAGREE was written, produced and performed by park jueun. i disagree is an anthem of nonconformity and speaks to anyone that is challenging the status quo, rejecting societal pressures, and has their own opinions. it emphasizes the importance of standing up for what you believe in, suggesting that nothing but freedom and peace will come from it. the chorus features the phrase for i disagree in korean repeating in the background to ensure that their domestic fans get the hint despite all the lyrics being written in english.

ა ⠀ ♱ 　.⠀ACHIVEMENTS

MV VIEWS: 748.3 million.

MUSIC SHOW NOMINATIONS. 10.

MUSIC SHOW WINS. 7.

ა ⠀ ♱ 　.⠀THE YEAR IS 2024 — Despite being on track to become one of the biggest bands in the world, Moth Signals would NOT continue their contract with Superbloom Media. While Oliver remained under the main label and Deurim went to Rove Records, the rest of the members would go their separate ways with the company and begin their HITAUS ERA. Tower of Babel is considered to be one of their final releases and because fans were unsure when Moth Signals would return, they made sure the album sold better than expecting. There were so many group orders and fans asking each other to match their albums bought. It was a good era for all the members and it seemed to be the first time they were truly happy making music together in a long time.

ა ⠀ ♱ 　.⠀ARE U COMING? written and produced by oliver song and finn lee, performed by oliver song. an oliver song classic through and through, he pulls out all of his favorite themes of yearning, escapism, and longing over a romantic connection. the lyrics paint the picture of a place where hopelessness is nonexistent and creating their dreamlike reality, reflecting that of one of his favorite night clubs. the speaker is eager for their partner’s presence, symbolizing a deep emotional yearning for connection and intimacy. rather than their traditional music videos, the production for are u coming? was just a performance at the lure in seoul, confirming that the place discussed in the song is a bar or some sort of party. it was also tested at the bar prior to release to see what fans thought and they were able to vote for their favorite to become the title track of tower of babel.

ა ⠀ ♱ 　.⠀ACHIVEMENTS.

MV VIEWS: 1.2 billion

MUSIC SHOW NOMINATIONS. 20.

MUSIC SHOW WINS. 9.

[gayloringinplainsight]

"Rights are being stripped from basically everyone who isn't a straight white cisgender male," she tells Vogue, when asked about why she chose to, all of a sudden, stand up for LGBTQ+ rights. "I didn't realize until recently that I could advocate for a community that I'm not a part of."

Source: https://www.out.com/news/2019/8/08/taylor-swift-says-shes-straight-despite-all-bisexual-rumors#toggle-gdpr

I was waiting for this to come through my inbox lol. (There was more then one ask about this but I'm only responding to the first.)

There's lots to unpack here but the first and foremost thing is: She doesn't actually say here, "I'm straight." It was a perfect opportunity. It was the ideal conversation. She punted. Why?

Why did she instead give this vague, circuitous, carefully couched answer?

She calls out communities encompassing sexuality, race, and gender, followed by saying, "a community that I'm not a part of." There are lots of communities that she could have been referring to, but she crafted the sentence in such a way that makes it unclear which one. She could have been talking about the trans community. She could have been talking about the poc community. She could have been talking about the ace community. She could have been talking about the gay male community. There are lots of possibilities. In this carefully worded sentence, she deliberately avoided naming the specific community she's talking about.

Another thing to consider is that many, many closeted people don't consider themselves part of the queer community. They don't feel like they belong because they're not out and proud. And even once people come out, it often still takes time before they feel like they're part of the queer community. That was certainly my personal experience. Cara Delevingne said something similar in her Hulu show when discussing her own coming out.

Let's move on. The link anon provided isn't the source. It's an article quoting the source. The actual source is the 2019 Vogue cover article. And the full article is important because there are lots of interesting things that give context to this quote.

First, there's a great deal of conversation about gay stuff and lgbtq+ rights. And the writer makes a point of saying about this subject matter that Taylor seems to enjoy that part of the conversation "as much as she’d enjoy a root canal." Wouldn't a straight ally be eager to discuss this? They would. And a closeted queer person would be uncomfortable and panicking at the thought of having to talk so blatantly about this subject. The writer also makes a point of saying that once the conversation changes to music, Taylor lights up and her demeanor and speech patterns relax dramatically.

The other important context that the Vogue article discusses is Taylor's very long history of supporting lgbtq+ rights. Everything from the Mean mv of a gay boy being bullied to the "boys and boys and girls and girls" line in WTNY to donations to lgbtq+ organizations to giving out queer awards to queer people to dedicating Dress to Loie Fuller, an openly gay artist. There are plenty of other examples of Taylor advocating for the queer community that aren't mentioned. All the way back in 2008 she participated in the LOGO queer anti-bullying PSA. In 2009 she was in Seventeen magazine taking a stand against the slaying of a teenager for being gay.

Why is this important? Because it proves that Taylor is lying in the quote in question. "I didn't realize until recently that I could advocate…" girl yes you did. You've been advocating for years and years at this point. She's lying. She's lying. She's covering herself up. She's hiding in the closet and hoping desperately that no one notices.

And this isn't the first time she's done this either. During the 1989 press tour she gave an interview where she was asked about the "And you can want who you want / Boys and boys and girls and girls" line. As the interviewer is starting to speak about this, a look of pure panic immediately takes over Taylor's face:

And then she starts stumbling around trying to give a coherent answer. At one point she stutters out, "And also I wrote this song, um, I wrote this song, kind of, kind of following, the, uh, when gay marriage became legal in New York." This interview was in October 2014. Gay marriage had been legal in New York since June 2011. Sooo three years later is "kind of following." Right. Sure, Taylor. Nice closeting. You really nailed it.

Okay let's review. She doesn't actually say she's straight even though this was a perfect opportunity to do so. She doesn't name the actual community she's talking about, giving herself cover if she ever comes out. She's closeted and probably doesn't think she's part of the queer community anyways. She full-on lies about not knowing she can advocate for others. And the writer states Taylor seems deeply uncomfortable talking about lgbtq+ things even though the context of the article was that blondie wanted to make it clear how much of an ally she is.

None of this remotely adds up to hetero. And none of this comes even close to Taylor saying that she's straight.

[daisyswift3]

Jumping in the Deep End 🐇🕳️💛

So there’s sth else I noticed related to the Gracie rabbit hole I’ve fallen down that I haven’t mentioned yet bc I feel crazy saying it but I’ve already said a lot of insane stuff lately so fuck it. But before u read this post I do recommend reading this other analysis I wrote as well as this post first bc it’ll make everything make more sense. Ok continuing….

Not long after The Secret of Us was released on June 21, I watched this interview that was uploaded the day the album was released where Gracie texts her fans. One of the first things I noticed was how Gracie suspiciously looks straight at the camera as she makes a typo which I mentioned in the analysis I just linked, but another thing that caught my attention was that one of the fans is named Aimee (3:06 mark in the vid). I thought this was a little strange bc Aimee isn’t really the typical spelling of that name, it’s usually spelled like this instead, Amy. But even more strange was that the day after this interview was uploaded, June 22, Taylor just so happened to play thanK you aIMee as one of the surprise songs in London. What an interesting coincidence!

June 22 was a big deal bc it was Midsummer Day which celebrates daylight. This is likely why Gracie made yellow 💛 the main color of the album and chose to release it on June 21, Midsummer Eve—bc this album is abt a coming out journey (see these posts for more on that: x, x, x, x, x, x, x). And if you look at the text “Aimee” sends, it sounds like sth an artist would ask another artist rather than a typical fan question. Aimee specifically asks abt her creative process which is a very artist thing to do. So basically all that to say I wouldn’t be surprised if Aimee was actually Taylor and this text was also an easter egg for us to find just like the intentional glitches and typos.

If this text was in fact from Taylor, I believe the purpose of it may have been to lead us down the Gracie rabbit hole where we could find endless cross references between Gracie’s music and Taylor’s music. If you watch the music videos for those 3 songs Aimee mentions and listen to the lyrics, they could easily be interpreted as being abt Taylor’s secret relationship w this korner of the internet that is almost like the Hanging Gardens of Babylon bc there’s no tangible proof it ever existed but there is a lot of folklore surrounding it and the story has been passed down and become a myth. “Wonder if you regret the secret of us.” I believe these 3 songs could be from Taylor’s perspective. And to go even further w it (fair warning, this is where we really go off the deep end), I think it’s very possible that not just these songs are abt this secret relationship, but most of Gracie’s songs bc all of them reference each other and have lyrical and visual parallels to each other much like Taylor’s songs (see this post).

Now I want to make it very clear: Gracie is her own person w her own talents outside of Taylor. I don’t want anyone to get the wrong idea or think I’m trying to undermine Gracie’s artistry or give all the credit to Taylor. And I also don’t think this secret relationship was the only inspiration for these songs since it’s very clear Gracie uses her own personal experiences and feelings, and I believe she could be writing abt more than one muse or from more than one person’s perspective in each song, similar to how in hoax Taylor sings abt 3 different relationships simultaneously. I am simply trying to point out the insane amount of parallels between Gracie and Taylor’s music that I think are too abundant to simply chalk up to coincidence. And I’m not saying that my interpretations are for sure the right ones, I could definitely be wrong. It wouldn’t be the first time. This is just a fun clown theory that I think is worth considering.

So going back to those 3 songs in the text—Mess It Up, I know it won’t work, The Bottom—I wanted to do an analysis on them and the mvs bc I think the reason why “Aimee” might’ve been pointing us to those specific songs and mvs is bc they are an important part of this coming out story. Plus the specific symbolism and imagery used in the songs can be cross referenced w pretty much every other song in Gracie’s discography (and w many Taylor songs) making them all connected.

For instance, the main themes in Mess It Up are:

Not growing up -> minor, tehe, Wishful Thinking, Older, Better, Augusta, Alright, Difficult // Peter, The Archer, cardigan, betty, peace

Groundhog Day (This is related to the next theme) -> Under/Over, Risk mv, I Love You, I’m Sorry, us // The Prophecy

Making the same mistake over and over/Bad habits -> Long Sleeves, Rockland, The Bottom, Best, Will you cry?, Difficult, This is what the drugs are for, Fault line, Block me out, Blowing Smoke, I Love You, I’m Sorry, us, Let It Happen // Anti-Hero, coney island, Florida!!!, Fresh Out The Slammer, The Black Dog

Not being able to sleep at night -> Rockland, Hard to Sleep, Camden, Painkillers, Difficult, This is what the drugs are for, The blue, 405, Risk, Blowing Smoke, Let It Happen, Tough Love // Midnights the stories of 13 sleepless nights, hoax

The birthday cakes -> 21, Stay mv, Mean It mv, Risk mv // All Too Well short film, coney island

“Let it happen” -> The song Let It Happen on TSOU, Better

Lying -> For Real This Time, Best, Full machine, Where do we go now?, Block me out, Blowing Smoke, Let It Happen // Getaway Car, illicit affairs, the lavender haze/bearding/red herrings

Phone calls -> 21, Rockland, Full machine, I should hate you, This is what the drugs are for, The blue, Block me out, us, Let It Happen // cowboy like me, Anti-Hero mv, Fortnight mv

Going onto a porch in order to apologize to someone -> Risk mv (technically not to apologize but it’s still related to coming out and making things right) // betty, cardigan, this is me trying, long story short, Fresh Out the Slammer

The main themes in I know it won’t work are:

Closets -> Peter, seven, cowboy like me, I Know Places

Drawing the line in the sand and putting up boundaries or crossing boundaries -> Mess It Up, Long Sleeves, For Real This Time, Best, Felt Good About You, Let It Happen, Gave You I Gave You I

Cutting ties w someone -> Friend, Blowing Smoke, Free Now

Being someone’s ghost/haunting someone -> I miss you, I’m sorry, us, Block me out // Basically all of TTPD and much of folkmore and Midnights (Anti-Hero mv)

The main themes in The Bottom are:

“I told you I was down bad, you hate to see me like that” -> Down Bad

Making the same mistake over and over/Bad habits -> Long Sleeves, Rockland, The Bottom, Best, Will you cry?, Difficult, This is what the drugs are for, Fault line, Block me out, Blowing Smoke, I Love You, I’m Sorry, us, Let It Happen // Anti-Hero, coney island, Florida!!!, Fresh Out The Slammer, The Black Dog

Opening up the door and letting someone into your house, closing the door, or going into someone’s house uninvited -> Mess It Up mv, Under/Over, tehe, I should hate you, us, Let It Happen, I Love You, I’m Sorry, Gave You I Gave You I // cardigan, hoax, Anti-Hero mv

Dragging someone down/Hitting rock bottom/Coming down after a high or being high (drug metaphor; becoming more famous=“getting higher”) -> Long Sleeves, Rockland, Wishful Thinking, Painkillers, Alright, This is what the drugs are for, Fault line, Right now, Block me out, Blowing Smoke, I Knew It, I Know You, Gave You I Gave You I, Free Now // Many songs on TTPD use the drug metaphor, gold rush, long story short, Anti-Hero mv (pushed from balcony), seven, this is me trying, illicit affairs

Being the problem -> 21, minor, Rockland, Wishful Thinking, Older, Painkillers, Best, Difficult, Block me out, Unsteady, I Love You, I’m Sorry mv // Anti-Hero

Mess It Up

So as I stated before this song is all abt making the same mistakes over and over and reliving the same day like it’s Groundhog Day. Gracie, the narrator, keeps trying to make things right and apologize to the person she’s hurt, but every time she tries she messes it up which is represented by her dropping the cake repeatedly. But finally at the end of the mv, she is able to get it right and properly apologize. She knocks on someone’s door and they open it which symbolizes this person opening their heart to Gracie and forgiving her. If you go to the 2:12 mark in the mv when the letters and numbers on the fridge fall, you’ll see that they spell out a secret message “Hi (13, 31) Peter Pan - T” (the “I” doubles as a 1, the “3” doubles as an E, and the “L” doubles as an R/r if flipped on its side). Taylor was 31 yrs old when the Mess It Up mv was released on May 6, 2021. Peter Pan is the boy who never grew up. This means that it’s likely the narrator’s inability to grow up that is causing issues in the relationship. This is why the song starts w “Opened two double doors, typical, pretty sure I could grow up.”

“Did I fall out of like when I called you” -> Did I cross a boundary and make things worse when I called you? Boundaries are one of the main themes in I know it won’t work. I believe that Gracie and Taylor could be using “phone calls/texts/letters” as a metaphor for the anon messages and riddles we’ve received over the years. As a result of trying to solve these messages and riddles, kaylors have gotten a ton of hate and many have had to leave the fandom bc the environment is so toxic. This song could be Taylor acknowledging these issues and apologizing for how we’ve been treated.

“'Cause every time I get too close, I just go mess it up” -> It’s possible Taylor has tried many times over the years to properly apologize to us by giving us more cryptic messages containing these apologies, but the problem is that these anon messages and riddles are the main reason why we get bullied so this only makes the issue worse in the end.

“Funny that (Funny that) didn't work (Didn't work), I could be anywhere, I'm on your block” -> I believe this could be related to I Love You, I’m Sorry. “The way life goes, Joyriding down our road, Lay on the horn to prove that it haunts me, (I'm wrong again, wrong again) I love you, I'm sorry.” This song also has the lyrics “I wanna speak in code” which makes me think of the anon messages and queer flagging.

“I keep thinking, maybe if you let me back in, we can make it better, breaking every habit” -> Taylor talks abt breaking bad habits in The Black Dog which I believe represents putting an end to the bearding/lavender haze/red herrings/smokescreen/blowing smoke/not growing up.

It’s very interesting that Gracie uses a birthday cake to apologize. Birthday cakes are a common symbol that shows up in Gracie’s music. They also appear in 21, another apology song, and the Risk mv which is likely abt the mass coming out (see this post). In the All Too Well mv, Sadie’s character receives a birthday cake at the same time that Taylor sings, “But then he watched me watch the front door all night, willin' you to come, And he said, ‘It's supposed to be fun turning 21.’” In both 21 and ATW 10 min version, the older person in the relationship misses their significant other’s 21st birthday which greatly hurts them. These songs could be 2 sides of the same coin from opposite perspectives like dorothea and TTDS. With how many connections there are between Gracie and Taylor’s music, I’m inclined to believe this isn’t a coincidence.

(From the Mean It mv. When the 21 candles are thrown in the box they almost look like a backward "t" and "s")

“If it doesn't go away by the time I turn 30, I made a mistake and I'll tell you I'm sorry, ‘Sorry.’” The narrator is saying once she turns 30 she’ll apologize to the 21 yr old if her feelings haven’t changed by then. This is immediately followed by a “sorry” meaning the narrator has actually already turned 30 yrs old which is another indicator that Gracie is in fact speaking from someone else’s perspective bc Gracie was only 20 at the time of this song’s release in 2020. Plus just a few tracks later in the same album, the narrator says "I miss you, I'm sorry" which she said she wouldn’t say until after she turned 30. Taylor was 30 yrs old when the album minor was released in July 2020 and when 21 was released as a single on Feb 20, 2020. If this song is from Taylor’s perspective at 30 yrs old, then the significant other/ex being 21 indicates it (along w all the other cross-referenceable songs) is likely not abt a literal romantic relationship; rather, the song is an allegory or metaphor. The 21 (acoustic) mv has "I miss you" on the piano and "I'm sorry" in the notebook which indicates that 21 is directly related to I miss you, I'm sorry. The emphasis on birthdays and age in 21 fits well w the Peter Pan metaphor that shows up in many of Gracie’s songs. Even though the narrator is getting physically older, she is not getting metaphorically older. To add even more credibility to this theory, the song minor has the line “Hit me 3-1-0” which could represent both Taylor turning 31 in 2020 and a backwards 13. 13s show up several times in Gracie’s mvs and songs. The Secret of Us is a 13-track album that was released on June 21. Additionally, the first 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 message was sent July 21 and the second to last message, which I’m now pretty certain is abt Gracie’s album TSOU, was sent May 21 (x).

Look at the numbers on the houses ⬇️ Going column-wise there’s 226(1), 226(3) which is a 13 and there’s also ✌️✌️ which Taylor has used a ton for TTPD (Taylor said in Nov 2021 she wanted to try to plan sth 3 yrs in advance); 2267 -> 6+7=13. Adding up 2+2+6+3 also gives u 13 while 2+2+6+1=11=K. And 6+6 from the 2261, 2263 (again going column-wise) is 12 which is 21 backwards. The 13 showing up in the Risk mv just confirms these choices in the Mess It Up mv were completely intentional.

Gracie and Taylor performed I miss you, I’m sorry together at eras which was Taylor’s suggestion since Gracie’s set was canceled that day (x)(x). I just think it’s very interesting that Taylor wore a yellow dress when they sang this song and then a yr later she just so happened to be featured on the title track of Gracie’s very yellow album 💛 which they (allegedly) didn’t start writing until Nov 13 a few months later (x). This indicates that this performance was likely planned ahead of time and not a last minute decision like they said. I think much of the timeline we’ve been given for Gracie and Taylor’s friendship might be a red herring to prevent ppl from figuring out what these songs are really abt. Gracie and Taylor (allegedly) wrote us together on Nov 13, 2023 spontaneously; but Taylor wearing yellow during IMYIS along w the pap walk w the Cassandra handbag, almost burning down the house 🕯️🧯, and and the fact that all this happened on Nov 13, the day Karlie and Taylor met, indicates that us was actually written much earlier and that the Nov 13 story was just a red herring.

I know it won’t work

This song is all abt boundaries. There are different types of boundaries that show up in the mv: A shoreline, a line in the sand, a fence. It’s clear the narrator doesn’t want to end this relationship and put up walls but she believes she has no other choice bc of her circumstances (not being able to grow up -> Peter, closets).

“I left you here, Heard you keep the extra closet empty, In case this year I come back and stay throughout my twenties” -> The narrator knows there’s no guarantee she’ll actually “grow up” and come out of the closet so her ex keeps the closet empty just in case she wants to move back in and stay in the closet.

“What if I won't? How am I supposed to put that gently? And down the road you will love me until you resent me” -> Since these lines directly follow the ones I just mentioned, you might be inclined to think that “What if I won’t?” is the narrator asking “What if I won’t move back in and rekindle our relationship?” BUT I believe the wording was intentionally ambiguous bc that way it could also mean “What if I won’t grow up and leave the closet? Will you eventually come to resent me if I can’t be the hero you want?”

“But it's a lot, All the shine of half a decade fadin', The whole facade seemed to fall apart, it's complicated” -> This perfectly parallels the 11/09/2019 ♠️ message. The narrator is saying her ex is asking a lot of her by wanting her to come out and destroy the facade. I believe decade might’ve been changed to half a decade so as to not make it obvious Gracie is singing from Taylor’s perspective. The “shine” symbolizes the love and support from fans that has come w being such a famous and successful artist. That’s not an easy thing to give up.

“Why won't you try movin' on for once? That might make it easy, I know we cut all the ties, but you're never really leavin'” -> Taylor knows that even if us kaylors walk away from her we will always eventually come back bc we can’t help but be invested and this puts a lot of pressure on Taylor that she doesn’t want.

“I'll open up, I'm thinkin' everythin' you wish I wasn't, The call was tough but you're better off, I'm bein' honest, So, won't you stop holdin' out for me when I don't want it? Just brush me off 'cause I'm your ghost right now, your house is haunted” -> This entire 3rd verse is extremely telling and fits perfectly w the 2019 failed coming out. The call to not come out was tough bc she was conflicted abt it but she thinks she ultimately made the right decision. Taylor is asking us to stop holding out for a coming out bc it’s not what she wants. Of course I don’t think this is how Taylor currently feels bc I think she’s getting ready to burn down the closet but I think this song shows how she felt at one point. I think the ghost imagery is supposed to connect this song w I miss you, I’m sorry and us as well as all the ghost imagery Taylor has used.

The Bottom

This song is abt hitting rock bottom and being worried that you will drag the ppl you love down w you. It’s kind of a more scathing version of Anti-Hero. I think this song could be directly related to the Mess It Up mv. Someone opens up the door to let Gracie in bc she wants to apologize by giving them a cake. But the narrator warns this person that they should keep their guard up bc she will always be doomed to repeat the same mistakes and drag ppl down w her. Since this song is kind of self explanatory, I’ll instead focus on the mv.

The first thing I noticed when watching this mv is the striking similarities to the Bejeweled mv. Both seem to be inspired by Disney movies/fairytales and even the bells during the title card parts sound similar. PLUS 🎃 anon told us to watch out for things that “ring a belle” -> there are bells in both mvs and one also shows up during the burning castle scene at the end and it is literally ringing; and Bejeweled should look and sound familiar if u have watched The Bottom mv; AND Belle is a Disney princess which is another indicator that 🎃 was referring to these mvs (Taylor wears a yellow dress just like Belle at the end of Bejeweled). Gracie said that The Bottom is supposed to be a satirical mv (see description of vid) and this parallels the Bejeweled mv being satire.

Another thing that’s interesting is that The Bottom mv is kind of the opposite of the Bejeweled mv. In The Bottom, Gracie is dragging a body down the stairs and burying it (descending) while in Bejeweled, Taylor is using an elevator to get higher and higher until she reaches the top floor (ascending). Ascending and descending are things that 🫚 emphasized in this message. Ascending and descending are also things a plane does when flying from one place to another -> “I thought the plane was going down how’d you turn it right around” and all the plane imagery lately. I think 🫚 could have been trying to get us to realize that the beginning stages of this coming out plan (the “ascent,” PR stunts w MH and 🏈, red herrings, 2023-early 2024 🛫) aren’t what we should focus on, it’s the end stages of the journey (the “descent,” cracks in the facade, getting louder w queer flagging, mid 2024-Dec 2024(?) 🛬) that are important.

Yellow shows up a few times in this mv, and I think it’s significant that the room in which the murder happens is a bright one w yellow chairs. Yellow is commonly used to symbolize happiness; Taylor and Gracie use this color in a very similar way to represent daylight/sunshine/summer/being out of the closet/not hiding your real self 💛🌼☀️🏝️ So putting these things together, this scene is symbolically similar to the yellow closet in the Lover house where Taylor has had to put away her sunshine and happiness bc she wasn’t able to come out during Lover era. What was supposed to be a joyous celebration ended w death and destruction.

It’s also interesting that throughout the mv, Gracie is dancing and performing (showmanship/PR) while in a literal spotlight. This ties in perfectly w the very last scene where Gracie is smoking a cigarette which represents bearding/red herrings/lavender haze/smokescreen/smoke and mirrors magic/Blowing Smoke/bad habits. In The Black Dog, Taylor uses smoking as an example of a bad habit/self-destructive behavior she is trying to quit.

Lastly, I wanted to leave you w a few things that I think are very interesting and that could tie in w this theory:

[taeb3rry-97]

An Analysis of the Winter Ahead MV:

The overall vibe of the music video is mystical with an eerie feeling. The music video conveys feelings of nostalgia and longing for closeness, love and warmth.

The Opening:

The opening scene of the music video depicts a lone character in a theater resting with eyes closed against the back of a seat in the audience.

A spotlight is shone on the lone figure to establish the importance of the character and solidify their central role in the MV.

This gives a feeling of loneliness and also establishes a sense of hopelessness.

0:12-0:45

The music builds, with the sound of footsteps and grinding gears while V (dressed in a princely red jacket that suits him so well) opens a door. This gives a sense of something to be discovered.

Upon opening the door, several scenes supposedly from the characters life play out. These scenes are familiar from the teaser which was released beforehand, they show the character (V) partying, blowing out candles, etc. surrounded by different people.

However, at some points during the various snapshots of the characters life he seems afraid, confused and unhappy.

One particular point is at 0:26, the character seems to be looking around for someone/something and doesn't appear to recognize the people he is with or where he is.

At 0:33-0:34, the lone character in the audience looks up from where he is seated and directs his eyes in front of him to the stage and the next shot shows him walking on the stage.

Finally, at 0:45 the candles are blown out by the princely version of V signaling the beginning of the story being told.

0:50-1:45

The jazz melody begins to play and the title of the video is shown on the screen in front of a house on a hill.

The character awakes alone in bed (similar to the music video for FRI(END)S)

The song begins with the lyrics, "Lie with me" as the character works on a sculpture of a woman.

The next shot depicts him dancing alone in a room with big glass windows.

At 1:34-1:35 he throws a pillow and another character (who looks exactly like him) catches it.

This establishes the fact that there are two of him and they are both seemingly aware of the others presence. (From this point on I will refer to the sculptor as Kim Taehyung/The Sculptor and the sculpture will be referred to as V/The Sculpture)

The shots dance between scenes of Kim Taehyung sculpting and scenes of V living in loneliness, however the sculpture doesn't seem depressed or sad about being alone. V portrays an attitude of apathy and familiarity with his solitude, it seems like he is used to it.

Meanwhile the lyrics sing of a desire for closeness and warmth and ultimately...love.

1:46-2:35

The scenes continue to show the creation of this female sculpture while V continues to dance alone.

It is clear from the shots of the sculptor that he is taking great care in creating this woman.

At 2:09, it shows the sculpture being marked with an X. This could be the sculptors way of marking his sculptures as completed and it could also be his artistic signature.

At 2:16, V is laying with his head on the couch and his eyes watch a figure pass by (supposedly the female sculpture, although you can't see her face)

He raises up from his position on the couch to watch her, with a look of curiosity and wonder in his eyes.

The scenes show the juxtaposition between how the sculptor looks at his creations and how V looks at the woman who is now living in the same house as him. (It very cutely depicts him being shy as he looks at her and then looks away when he is caught.)

2:36-3:00

The line "Lie with me" repeats as now V is interacting with the sculpted woman, making it clear that this woman was created with the purpose of being a partner for V. (Similar to how Eve was created for the purpose of companionship with Adam in the Garden of Eden)

The video montages through scenes of them being together before it shows V caressing the part of her neck where the X was carved into the clay before she was living.

3:20-3:41

At this point in the MV, each scene is punctuated by a red filter flashing on the screen as it plays through V in the theater and walking with a giant teddy bear before flashing back to his hand on the X at the female sculptures neck.

This could symbolize a warning or that soon something is going to go wrong.

V seemingly begins to remember various moments, including dancing with the female sculpture and all the good times they shared.

3:42-4:14

The creation of V is shown, and at 3:44 it seems that the sculptor is destroying a sculpture of V. Destroyed clay is shown on the ground and in another shot the sculptor is smearing the face of the clay V.

At 4:14, several sculptures are shown in the room of many different faces.

4:16-4:50

Repeats the scene from the beginning of the MV, V opens the door to reveal a bright room of the many different sculptures and they are alive and dancing together. He joins in and a cake (birthday cake) is brought in, he smiles at the camera (showing the POV of the person holding the cake) and blows out the candles.

The next shot shows him blowing out candles on a cake again but this time he is holding the cake and the person who brought it to him before isn't there. The scene is dark and many people are dancing around him but he seems lost and confused, searching for the person who was there before.

It can be assumed that the person he is searching for is the female sculpture.

4:51-6:23

A flashlight is pointed at V as the people around him disappear and he is alone, this time he seems lost and sad.

The music fades and he is faced with a version of himself dressed in black.

The scenes shift between him discovering a sculpture of himself and the version of him dressed in black with dark lines (blood? ink? cracks?) on his face.

He touches a spot on his neck and the sculptors X mark appears. Based on this it can be inferred that he is a sculpture.

*it is theorized that the V dressed in black is the broken sculpture (which is why he is bleeding)*

The two characters smile at each other, seemingly coming to a place of acceptance before the music resumes with the lyric "Paradise" and the scenes of his life repeat before showing the broken clay face on the ground.

Theory:

Based on the confirmed theory of this MV following the myth of Pygmalion, it is clear that the sculptor created a new reality. Crafting various sculptures and surrounding "himself" with his creations to feel happiness that, in the end, was an illusion as he himself was also a sculpture.

It seems that in this MV the black-clad V is the "real him" or "the original sculptor" as he has (what looks like) blood on his face. (Sculptures don't have blood, humans do), when this version of him arrives he is in stark contrast to the sculptures which are usually clothed in white. This goes with the theme of perfection which the sculptor seemed to consistently try to reach with his sculptures.

However, although the V clothed in black was devastatingly handsome, it was clear that he was imperfect (blood streaking down his face and the imagery of broken clay and red flashing lights when he appeared) hence the desire to find/create perfection.

Overall, this MV seemed to follow the theme of accepting reality. When the flashlight was pointed at V and he had to face the dark version of himself, all the good times fell away and were replaced with the painstaking effort it took for him to craft his illusion of "the perfect life" without any flaws (hence the dramatic/traumatic flashes of the broken sculpture of V on the ground) and in the end it all meant nothing.

Meanwhile, the lyrics display the characters true feelings and intentions behind creating the sculptures. The desire to have someone by his side and feel warmth and comfort.

In pairing the end of the video together with the lyrics, the lyric of "Paradise" is cut off as he realizes it was all an illusion signaling that it wasn't true paradise and once he faces reality and the darker version of himself, the full lyric of "Paradise" is repeated in full to symbolize true paradise.

*this is an unconfirmed theory based on the 6:23 Winter Ahead MV by V*

BORAHAE

[blueepink07]

Graphology - studying Amane's handwriting

I said in a previous post that I used to like graphology, so I decide to analyse for a bit one of Milgram's characters handwriting. Amane was chosen after I spinned the wheel, because I couldn't decide who to do!

Before proceeding, I want to remind that it was done for fun, and, because I only have her signature, I couldn't put all the information found on different sites!

1. "Pointed letters are a sign of an intelligent person who might be holding back aggression. Rounded letters signal creativity and artistic ability."

For this, I had to look at other Milgram characters handwriting in order to decide if her writing can be considered more on the rounded spectrum or pointed spectrum.

When compared with Kotoko's handwriting, which appears to be more agressive or with Fuuta, whose writing seems to lack any roundness, I couldn't consider Amane's handwriting as pointed. With the exception of letter A, the rest are quite rounded and the letter u, for example, looks similar with Yuno's (who without a doubt has rounded letters)

Amane, although she often tries to study and says that she likes it, is confirmed that she doesn't necesseraly has a special inclination towards it, or, at least, towards the more logistic subjects, such as math.

"Amane: ……what’s wrong, Shidou-san? Your hand has stopped marking. This is mathematics, so there’s no questions about the answers. If I got something wrong, please mark it with an X."

(skipping some dialogue!)

Amane: …please give me back my test. It seems you don’t have the concentration levels required to be my teacher. I’m going to get Kotoko-san to teach me instead."

And Amane asks her in a future interrogation question, in which Kotoko says this:

"Kotoko: There, I’ve finished marking. 83%. How do I put it… Even though you act like this, it’s not like you’re super brilliant at studying or anything, huh."

However, Amane prides herself with her japanese skills, literature being considered as a form of art, because you need lots of creativity in order to write a proper composition.

"What are your special skills?"

If we also consider Amane's first MV, called Magic, in which there are a lot of cartoonish elements, it proves further that Amane has an artistic ability!

2. "The size of a writer's letters shows how they fit in with their environment. Relatively large letters might indicate that someone demands attention, while smaller letters are typically written by someone who is modest and unassuming."

Amane is very modest, learning since an early age to appreciate the smallest things, hiding her temptation for cute objects or desserts, being happy with what she has.

From Purge March, we descovered that Amane's financial situation doesn't seem to be very favourable.

Old furniture, messy rooms. The walls from the front are cracked, indicating that it is a very old building.

And still, when asked if she wishes to do something, her response is negative, saying that she doesn't lack anything.

"If you could do anything and be forgiven for it, what would you do?"

Even when it comes to birthdays, she doesn't necesseraly want an object as a gift, being happy with just a "Happy birthday" addresed to her.

"Kazui: Even so, though, it’s not like I have a present to give you or anything. Sorry…if push comes to shove, maybe I can ask the guard for a cake. Depending on their mood, they might agree to it.

Amane: No, that’s fine. I’m not especially fond of that sort of thing. I’ll just accept your kind words as a gift."

Also, she doesn't seem to crave for attention in general, with her current state, distancing herself from most people, Yuno's interruption and approach, making Amane to feel a bit annoyed, uncomfortable.

"Amane: What is it…… Kashiki Yuno. Don’t sit so close to me. Go away.

Yuno: Sorry for barging in when you’re getting into your worldview thing. But Mahiru-san’s finally managed to get to sleep. Humour me with some small talk while I take a break."

"Small handwriting can also indicate someone with strong focus and concentration who tends to work on one thing at a time rather than multi-tasking."

In this small interaction between those two, it seems like, Yuno has distracted Amane from an activity, probably praying, and ultimely had to stop in order to listen to what Yuno has to say, meaning that she is not much of a multi-tasking person.

3."The space between letters shows the writer's need for personal space. Someone who writes with plenty of space between each letter typically doesn't like to be crowded and needs a lot of personal space. If their letters are closer together or even overlapping, it indicates they prefer to be around people and get lonely easy."

Amane writes with a lot of space between letters. As I stated before, she doesn't seem to mind loneliness, finding it quite comforting.

I could again put the interaction between Amane and Yuno, but I find it repetitive! So, I'll give other examples!

Amane enjoying a late night drink with the only company being Jackalope, pointing at her soft spot for animals.

Amane liking to study or read alone, being happy in a peaceful atmosphere.

4. "If your e's are usually narrow, you’re probably skeptical and uninfluenced by emotions. If you find that your e’s are usually large, you might be more open-minded and willing to try new things."

If we consider that Amane's handwriting is quite small, for her, the e's loop is surprisingly quite large.

We have to understand that Amane's unwillingness to try new things, such as desserts, amusement parks, or music, is because of her education and the way she was tought by her parents.

In reality, Amane is secretly wishing to eat desserts, to try cute outfits, to play with pretty things. However, she had to learn to refrain herself from doing so, because of the rules, in order to not receive anymore punishments and to be praised for being a good child.

"Shidou: Amane, I heard it was your birthday today. I asked Es-kun if we could get this cake to give to you……

Amane: I don’t need it. I’ll gratefully accept your well-wishes, but I don’t eat things like that. Also…… Shidou-san, I can’t say I’m especially fond of the way you assume that all children will love frivolous things like this.

Shidou: …Is that so… I apologise. I’m sure everyone else will be happy to eat it, so don’t worry about it. Sorry for intruding.

Amane: ……

……cake……"

Yes, she doesn't want to change her ways, her mindset, but that's because she can't just completely erase her education, what she believes in. In reality, in a place like Milgram, those rules and religion is the only thing left that seems familiar.

Moreover, this answer always stood out to me...

"If the world were to end tomorrow, what would you do?"

Amane is open to try new things, if something or someone wouldn't hold her back. If the world would end tomorrow, there is no reason is being afraid of a punishment, the consequences don't matter anymore. It's pointless to think about what would happen, when there is no future. So Amane believes that she can as well live the moment, experince as many new things as possible!

Thank you for reading! ~🖋️

[purplearmy13434]

MV Interpretation of "Winter Ahead" by V (with Park Hyo Shin)

Okay, so the main character of the musicvideo is obviously Taehyung/V. In the course of the video we see that he is a sculptor, who is currently working on a statue/sculptur of a woman. In my interpretation the video is about how the sculptor is losing himself in his work and his daydreams and interpretations about his work. His work, the sculpture of a woman, is displaying his wish to have someone by his side, to take care of him and love him. In his imagination, the woman of his dreams is slowly coming to life, however in the end, he realizes that everything was in his imagination and in the process of his daydreams he started losing himself. After realizing all of that, he can finally come to terms with himself and accept himself as who he really is.

I think you can apply what's going on here not only to sculptors, but any kinds of artists, like singers, painter or actors etc.... Getting lost in their own fantasy and in their own work, which eventually leads them to losing themselves. And I guess it can also be applied to any other person, not in terms of losing oneself in work, but losing oneself in daydreams or maybe even in other people, by relying on them too much and eventually forgetting one's selfworth. However, I think it's a bit more extreme for artists. They either have the natural desire to pay more attention to details or they were trained to do so due to their career. They tend to recognize even small details and analyze even the smallest things.

Now let's analyze the MV a bit more in detail:

We can divide the MV into several parts:

1. (00:00- 00:51) Preview of the whole video with some sort of mysterious music, and sounds of footsteps, heartbeats and the ticking of a clock.

2. (00:52 - 2:15) Song 'Winter Ahead' starts, some scenes show Taehyung being alone in his house, bored and kind of tired, some show him working on the sculpture of a woman

3. (2:16- 3:04) Another character, a woman, is introduced, V is no longer alone and bored. Scenes of him dancing and having fun with the woman are alternated with scenes of him working on the female sculpture.

4. (3:05 - 3:33) He no longer stays inside the house and is bored, when he is alone, V now starts going outside even without the woman and he looks happy and free doing so.

5. (3:34-4:15)Scenes of V being alone again, but this time he seems lonely and sad, it feels like everything is falling apart.

6. (4:16- 4:50) Then a cut, to where V enters a room and finds himself among many people, dancing around happily, however suddenly all the people around him look like monsters and he gets scared.

7. (4:51 - 5:52) Cut to a scene, where he finds himself standing in front of another version of himself. They look at each other and smile.

8. (5:53 - 6:16) Images of V in different places and some flashbacks from the video, similar to the preview in the beginning, but this time with the ending melody of the song, which is comforting (not like the sounds in the preview).

...

Now that we had a quick runthrough, through what happens in the MV, let's take a closer look at everything.

To 1.: As already mentioned, the first scenes serve as something like a preview what'll be happening in the video. The mysterious sound effects I mentioned before, like loud footsteps, the music, etc., they only serve to make the whole thing more interesting and dramatic to keep the viewer from clicking away, I guess. It's like a cut to the most important scenes, so the viewer is captivated by what's going on and wondering what the context of all this is.

The last scene of the preview is him blowing out candles on a cake and after that the screen goes black. This is the end of the preview.

After that we can see him opening his eyes as if he just woke up from a bad dream. It seems like, what the preview was for the viewer, was a nightmare for him, showing him what is going to happen.

Now the real song begins:

2. All of the following pictures show V in a tired and bored state. These scenes are often blurry and even though there's a lot of light, the colours of the pictures kind of seem depressing.

He is trying so hard to find something to keep himself busy with reading or dancing around the house and here the pictures look a bit more lively and warm toned.

These scenes are alternated with scenes of him working on the sculpture of a woman.

He looks really focused and immersed in his work on the sculpture.

He's so passionate about it, that in some scenes it looks like he is standing next to an actual human being and not just a statue.

In this scene, he's engraving an 'x' behind the statue's ear (will be important later!).

3. Another character, a woman, is introduced, V is no longer alone and bored. It seems like the sculpture, V's work, has come to life and now spends time with him.

These two scenes confirm, that the woman is representing the sculpture.

Another scene that confirms this is this one:

Remember when I said that V engraved an 'x' behind the sculpture's ear? The picture on the left shows the 'x' on the sculpture and if you look closely, you can see an 'x' in the picture on the right slightly beneath the woman's ear. In this scene, V is confirming for himself, if they, the sculpture and the woman, are one.

We can see that the colors of the music video shift into warmer colours after the woman appears, which shows us how V's life starts to feel warmer and happier due to the woman's presence.

4. Now he no longer stays inside the house, when he's alone, V now starts going outside even without the woman and he looks happy and free doing so, which you can see in the following pics.

5. But it seems like everything breaks down and falls apart. The song is speeding up and flashbacks to moments between V and the woman are shown.

The switch of emotions comes with this scene of him working on the statue. The red light is the beginning of the switch from V's positive to his negative emotions. Due to the light the sculpture looks so real (as I mentioned before), and we can see the passion V has for this sculpture.

When I searched for the meaning of the colour red, I found this:

(This is where I found it.)

The color is "romantic love", which describes his passion towards the woman/sculpture, but it also "indicates danger". The red in this scene is like a warning that what he is feeling towards the sculpture is dangerous, because the woman he spent time with is NOT REAL. She is just real in his imagination and in his dreams. "[T]he color [...] means "stop".", means that he should stop thinking that all of the things he experienced with the woman were real. Because they were not.

At this point he doesn't really understand it. He just realizes that she's suddenly not there anymore.

In this scene it looks like V is wiping a tear off his face and then we see how he is trying to do the same to the statue, but as the clay (?) is not dry yet, he ends up ruining the sculpture's face. What that means will be explained later on. And we can see a broken face of another sculpture lying on the ground.

All these scenes indicate that something's not going well.

6. I don't really understand the meaning of the next scenes, but I#ll try to make sense into them. V is now opening a door and he finds himself among a bunch of people in white, who dance around and look quite happy.

Then the scene with the cake from the preview comes up, where he blows out the candles and suddenly everything around him is dark. The mood is switching up and the people around him suddenly seem scary and leave him wondering what's going on.

7. After everyone left him, he finds himself in a hallway, where another version of himself, who is bleeding, is approaching him.

A flashback pops up, where V broke the sculpture's face/ removed some of the clay in the sculpture's face by "wiping a tear off its face". This flashback seems to bring a realization to him, as his eyes suddenly show a realization. He's reaching behind his ear, we can see there's an 'X' behind his ear. (if you look closely you can see slightly see it in the picture)

This reminds of the scene, where he engraved an 'x' at this exact same spot on his sculpture, remember?

So, what does that mean? It means, he IS the sculpture. But I think that he is another one of his sculptures, not the one that was shown in the beginning. There is one that looks like him and then there's another one, that looks like the woman. Both of them have that 'x'. In the following pictures he finds the sculpture that looks like him.

Back in the hallway, the real V looks at his other version, that's standing directly in front of him, their eyes meet and they smile at each other. We can even see a tear on V's face.

this scene is about him realizing that all this time, it wasn't about receiving love from a girl, but receiving love from himself and accepting himself as he is. Accepting that in the world, the only person we should truly rely on is ourselves because in the end, the only person that will stay forever in your life is yourself.

"you'll realize where you can find paradise." These are lyrics sung in the song and the word "Paradise" is being repeated at this exact scene.

These are important here, because now V realized that he can find happiness and paradise within himself. He can find happiness without having to rely on another person. That's why the word "Paradise" is being repeated while the two versions of him look at each other and smile.

8. Now we have a little summary again, just like with the preview, but this time with more happy music, as if he has come to terms with himself and found his happy end.

Now, to conclude my interpretation: In the beginning, I said the MV was about someone losing himself in his work, which was the sculpture for V here, but it's also about someone losing himself in his his longing for love. V lost himself and broke himself (bleeding version of him, broken sculpture) because he was obsessed with the idea of being loved by the woman. Only after he realized that the woman was just in his imagination, he understood what was really important for him to fix himself. And that was loving himself.

And here we are again at BTS' "Love Yourself" message. Thank you for reading this. <3

[tothisemptiness]

To What Extent Is Art and Emotion Banned In World Z?

Taking the diaries on face value we judge that art and emotion are very strictly banned in World Z. However a deeper look into the MVs depicting it tell us a slightly more contorted story. Let's start from the most obvious to least.

Bouncy

In Bouncy we see A LOT of places and activities with the direct purpose of enjoyment. We see a bar first. In a world where you are banned from enjoying anything alcohol consumption makes no sense (and by reason must be banned), therefore bars should also be banned.

Inside the bar we also see a billard table when games should also be banned since they are for enjoyment.

Boxing and betting is also for the sole purpose of enjoyment.

We suppose the Black Pirates are stealing the chilli plant from Z's government. The room is architecturally very artistic with its decorative pillars and ornate walls, which makes no sense to have as a government approved building. In a regime like this, this building would either be destroyed or renovated in a way that there would be no trace of art left.

Except for the bikers (who are heading to the city), all the units are in very old settings that are not similar to the descriptions of the city we are given in the diaries. Based on this we can assume Bouncy generally takes place in the outskirts.

Conclusion: Those in the outskirts do feel and express emotion and have places for this, they are more free than those in the city and less bound by regulation.

Crazy Form

There is a bar again, but this time it is at the heart of the city and is high end.

Games show up again but this time with military men that we can only assume are Z's military high ups by the way they secretly point a gun at Jongho when he brings up the card with the resistance symbol. What is going on here?

My guess is emotions and art are not that prohibited after all. The general public are banned from them and are controlled like sheep, but higher ups are granted luxuries like drinks and games. But why are they granted them?

Say My Name

Although it is mostly rationlism-inspired, the first glimpse we get of Guardians Island is still architecturally decorated.

There are sculptures and an art piece around Yeosang's cell. In a regime that prohibits art, such physical representations would be the first to go. Instead, Z prefers to keep them stored away from the general public but right in front of Sense Offenders. But why would he keep them unless he has a use for them?

A similar painting also shows up in an otherwise empty and uncolored room. The interesting thing is, both paintings seem to be salvaged from burning. Why are they displayed in Guardians Island like this?

In Conclusion

Z seems to prohibit arts and emotions only in law only to Strictland's citizens who are heavily controlled in all aspects of their lives. However, further away from the city this control seems to loosen one way or another for a reason I couldn't figure out (can't be difficulty to reach since we see the biker gang ride there easily in "Bouncy"). Moreover, government officials with higher authority (and probably the rich part of the regime) can enjoy the luxuries the controlled people can't. For now we don't know why they aren't controlled the same way the others are to increase obedience. All of these imply that Z's regime is actually even more corrupt than we see on surface level and that there is another underlying motivation behind the ban on emotion and arts.

[scootarooni]

For the reverse unpopular ask game thing: what are some of your favourite vocalsynth costumes / project diva modules / official arts for special events / etc.? Or favourite figurine, if that's an easier one to answer :D

ooooh gosh there's so many...I think I'll narrow it down to special events because otherwise I'm gonna talk both your ears off hehe

Magical Mirai:

2021 and 2022 are my absolute favorites! They pull off their respective themes soooo well and I already really really love fantasy and retro-future aesthetics ^_^

2021 has all these beautiful layers and florals going on...it kind of mimics Miku's iconic V2 silhouette in a way? but exaggerated to really sell the "magic" in "magical mirai". She is straight up a fairy bard to me-she has her microphone and speakers in her hair, her petal cape looks like fairy wings...and it's all tied so neatly together in Hidari's art style!! He's such a fantastic artist, I love his style sooo much (he also illustrated Mayu and Akikoloid-chan as well as worked on some Atelier and Fire Emblem games!)

And 2022 goes so insane for me. KEI's art is adorable in it's own right, I love her cute little wand, speakers and the little tamagachi-looking things on her waist. the dress and the boots remind me a bit of Ulala (which makes sense I suppose! Similar aesthetics?) but ohhhhh gosh does this miku come alive in the Future eve MV.....how her hair floats and bounces and flickers...........OUUUGH DUDE!! I cannot be normal about this miku at all.

I also really like the designs for the other cryptonloids for those years as well ^_^ 2021 Rin and Kaito and 2022 Kaito in particular! I have so much gender envy for 2021 Kaito...Princely characters have a chokehold on me....

Racing Miku:

2022 and 2024!! Techwear baybeeeee!! YES whatever the hell is going on with the bellybutton and crotch on 2022 is weird but the rest? No notes. And 2024 is a cool as hell techwear WITCH!! What da HELL!!!!!!!!!

Other:

Miku with you 2019. My love of flowers/florals showing up again lol. I also really love the color palette!! It may not come as a surprise to anyone based on the tags I've read on my art eheh but color is the first thing I notice/my favorite thing about art. The official art has these very pleasing muted tones that translated pretty well into figures. Or at least the nendoroid, since that's the one I own and can personally speak on. Her twin tails have this very light and gradual gradient from dark to light, and her off-white dress was given a satin finish, so it shines a little in the light! She's so beautiful ; 0 ;

Space Dive 2020 Gumi + Una! Space cat girlies! Looking at Gumi's in particular, its so cool and interesting how her base V2 design translates into her other designs. Like for V2, Space Dive and V6 in particular, they all share that sheer orange/yellow top that is worn beneath her other clothes.

SF-A2 Miki "2012 Edition". Hopefully this counts lol. As a certified Miki Enjoyer(TM) I hope this one was obvious eheh. Being that Miki is meant to look cybernetic, this fittingly feels like an upgraded Miki. She's sleeker, more refined, but is still unmistakably Miki. She's still got a similar silhouette, the star motifs, the fluff has been moved from her shoulders to her shoes, her cybernetic outline joint thingies are now on her clothing too, she's still got the blue and pink stripes........its just perfect for me yknow? I love when artists take a design and just rearrange the elements instead of coming up with something completely different. No offense to the V4 design we got because I still do very much like it......but man I wish we had gotten this for it instead *crossing my fingers for her SynthV vb*

I also love the wing attachment things and the lamb ears. Lamb/Ram miki is everything to me.

[songstuckinmahead]

Ranking Taylor Swift's albums based on how many songs are in my playlists:

Number of songs that are in parentheses are additional songs that were not part of the original album rollout (soundtracks, remixes, vault tracks) and will be listed after the original album songs.

Okay, Let's go:

11th: Taylor Swift (self-titled Debut) - 0

It's common for an artist's first album/EP to simply be a collection of the songs they made so far and that's what this is. This isn't really an era but more just a beta test of Taylor.

But i do have a feeling that Debut tv will have the biggest amount of rerecordings as well as the biggest change in the vocals which scares me.

10th: Folklore - 1

The first of Taylor's depression decade starts with a typical COVID-19 lockdown depression yearning for a cottagecore escapism.

Following the dip of Lover and the lack of publicity due to quarantine restrictions and a surprise release made this album appear in low profile but between the times and the message of the songs it was better for it.

Songs: Cardigan.

8th (tie): The Tortured Poets Department - 2

Despite me being fully on the Eras Tour/the rerecordings/Midnights hype train, TTPDs double album and several variants started to feel a bit too much. It just felt being the 50 kg cherry on top of the thousand flavor, million calories oversaturation dessert.

This is an adult album written by an adult woman for adults. Rawdogging real life as it is with all the problems and each problem with it's own bullshit. And also a lot more swearing than before.

Songs: Fortnight, I Can Do It With A Broken Heart.

8th: (tie): Fearless - 2

The princess of the midwest waiting for her high school prince find out that she exists. That's Fearless, this album invented the cliche of removing the glasses of the shy nerdy girl to see and show the world how pretty she is.

Unlike Debut's truck country genre, being a princess in an all american high school fairytale seems to work better with her songwriting skills.

Songs: Love Story, You Belong With Me.

7th: Speak Now - 1(+2)

It makes sense for being known as the Enchanted era as this underrated album feels the least like a "Taylor Swift genre" and the most like other popular 00s grudge rock subgenres of the time, similar to Kelly Clarkson, Avril Lavigne, Paramore and Fall Out Boy (which the latter two appeared in the album).

Songs: Better Than Revenge, Electric Touch, I Can See You.

6th: Evermore - 2(+1)

Jack Antonoff once said that Taylor wrote Willow in 20 minutes it was quickly followed by the decision to make a second "COVID-19 lockdown depression yearning for a cottagecore escapism" album, and thus Evermore was born.

Honestly considering how much the two album share the theme, mv continuity, and release year. Folkmore should have been a single double album from the start.

When you read this treat the two Folkmore reviews as one in two parts.

Songs: Willow, Marjorie, Carolina.

Top 5:

5th: Midnights - 3(+1)

Now this is a type of depression i can relate to! culture counters culture and Midnight's more upbeat songs were perfectly made to counter Folkmore's cottagecore calmness. Beyonce released Act i Renaissance around the same time a bit after the COVID-19 pandemic because "the world needed to dance" and Taylor saw that regarding Midnights as well.

As much as i like the retro vibe of the album, I haven't really been able to define it (undefined vibe can be better than defined), especially with the Midnights era being the eras tour era.

Songs: Lavender Haze, Anti-Hero, Bejeweled, Karma (remix feat. Ice Spice).

4th: Red - 6(+1)

The most Taylor Swift album. Period. The perfect combination of the three archetypes of Taylor transitioning from the 00s country to the 10s pop while having both happy upbeat songs and sad poetic songs.

2011-2013 is a critically iconic time period and it wouldn't be the same without Red. I consider We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together as one of the holy trinity of iconic 21th century pop songs.

Between the rise of the breakup songwriter reputation(a justified reputation considering she has a 10 minute breakup song), screaming goats, and her influence reaching global levels, Red is the most important album of the Tay-lore.

Songs: State Of Grace, Red, 22, I Knew You Were Trouble, We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together, Everything Has Changed, Message In A Bottle.

Top 3:

3rd: Reputation - 8(+1)

The more famous you are, the more haters and scandals you'll have, and once you reach that global stardom there's no way to avoid that. And after what happened between Taylor and Kim and Kanye, the only way to stop it was to vanish.

The pre-reputation blackout was a "you had to be there" moment when she cleared all of her social media, the snake teasers, Game Of Thrones' season 7 finale, all leading up to the 2017 VMAs.

The Look What You Made Me Do MV and the other reputation MVs was the first time she personified and dress-coded her past hits and doing it by killing them all.

Another important part of Reputation lore is the counter to the big strong bass in Delicate, her showing her vulnerability to the public hate of the past few years, while showing mostly the heavy mental toll being famous does.

If it seems like it might be my favorite album of her then how it is only 3rd place? Well we just have to wait for the rep tv vault tracks (clowning here but i never stopped loving the idea of Ready For It remix feat. BLACKPINK).

Songs: Ready For It, Look What You Made Me Do, Gorgeous, End Game, I Did Something Bad, Delicate, So It Goes..., This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things, I Don't Wanna Live Forever.

2nd: lover - 8(+2)

Culture counters culture and Lover was conceived to counter and balance Reputation. Replacing the grim rainy cold metal cities with a pastel sky full of candy clouds. All the frustration was unleased with the last big machine album leaving an empty slate for her loved ones and onwards to deal with real life political problems.

And an empty slate is exactly how the album starts with I Forgot That You Existed which feels like the after therapy of This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things.

Lover is very simple, positive feelings like love, happiness and friendship as well as not to overthink your anger.

Songs: I Forgot That You Existed, Cruel Summer, Lover, I Think He Knows, Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince, Paper Rings, You Need To Come Down, ME!, To All The Girls You Loved Before, Lover (remix feat. Shawn Mendes).

1st place:

1989 - 7(+4)

This is it, global stardom has been reached and now she's a superstar, and as one she a bit outgrew the previous genre and city she had and was ready for a rebirth.

Taylor Swift was born in 1989 and was reborn with 1989.

Embracing pop and shedding her fake southern accent has only brought main pop girl hits while also criticizing the industry she just joined and worldwide people's reactions who were just exposed to her (Shake It Off criticized her genre transition, Blank Space criticized her breakup songwriter reputation, Bad Blood criticized the industry's "feuds").

However, even though i was there during the 1989 era, afterwards i kinda forgot the definition of the era and couldn't really remember. It just felt like the transition between Red and Reputation until i remembered it's true meaning when 1989 tv came out. It's just a main pop girl music, this was her Please Please Please (the song after the song that placed her at the top).

Of all the rerecordings across all albums Wildest Dreams had the biggest upgrade and Bad Blood remix had the biggest downgrade.

Songs: Welcome To New York, Shake It Off, Blank Space, Style, Bad Blood, Wildest Dreams, New Romantics, Bad Blood (remix feat. Kendrick Lamar), Slut!, Now That We Don't Talk, Is It Over Now?.

[yuuana]

Music Monday #252: BE:FIRST x ATEEZ - Hush-Hush release: July 2024 genre: Jpop cw: flashing, cyberpunk surrealism

It may or may not even be Monday any more by the time you read this (probably not), it's been one of those days, but I am determined, dammit. XD Or maybe just exhausted. Or both? Could be both...

As is all too common in Jpop, we didn't get a whole lot of lead time on this release, though looking back, it's pretty obvious this was one of the things ATEEZ was working on earlier this year and why they seemed to be spending extra time in Japan during NOT OKAY promotions. I knew it was going to be something special, because ATEEZ always bring innovation to the stage, but I wasn't prepared to be completely blown away.

I feel like I should start with the caveat that a lot of collaborations coming out of Kpop right now tend to feel less like a cooperative project and more like someone doled out lines and even if there is an MV, there's very little interaction between collaborating groups. Combined with the trend starting in late 3rd gen of lines being treated like the sole property of one member at a time, and that ability to interact gets even smaller. It's never zero, there's always the chorus (in theory), and the Japanese idol system has its own expectations ... that I am, admittedly, not as current on for reasons, so I was coming to this with that Kpop experience and expectation.

In hindsight, that was a complete mistake because of course ATEEZ brought Edenary with them to this project to co-produce at every level alongside the BMSG team. From the first line, we get a genuinely collaborative vibe that flows through the whole song where the rapping sections are the majority of the solo lines, traded between the two groups equally. BE:FIRST and ATEEZ share such similar tone and range that until the video came out, other than the raps and Jongho's signature high notes, I spent a lot of time being very unsure who was singing what. And surprised and pleased at how often it was at least two voices blending together. And don't think I didn't catch that line about the underdog who now wears the crown. ;) The lyrics are pretty meta, actually, talking about working hard and not backing down but also not looking to fight about who's the best because they already know the answer and don't feel the need to argue it out with anyone.

Speaking of the music video... look, I stopped counting how many times I've watched this days ago and I'm still stunned and amazed and picking out little things. Obviously this was a whole lot of green screen ... which actually makes it even more impressive in some ways because any time you have to green screen in an element (or two or ten), the artist is acting against a blank. At best, they might have had some early animatics to give the artists some idea of what would be going on around them, but a lot of the video was filled in after the fact. And yet all fifteen of them sell it like they really are in grand sweeping spaces.

For obvious reasons, I'm not ticking this as lore, but if you told me it was, I would believe you. Between Z-team's history of cyberpunk aesthetics and A-team's history of dreaming... I could easily buy this as the start of an alliance - eight men can't save the world all on their own, after all.

2024 is definitely shaping up as the year ATEEZ takes on world domination with a vengeance. BE:FIRST are still relatively new to their career, having only debuted in November of 2021 (plus their youngest is an '06-liner, oh god, the babies are taking over) and are already dominating in Tokyo and see this as a first step onto the world stage. Which is both fair and wise. ;) This one-track single is available now for streaming and/or digital purchase on most of the major platforms, as is a remix by m-flo's Taku Takahashi.

Want to see Music Monday deep dives more often? Sponsor a song selection! For the low, low price of one (1) KoFi, I'll write up the song of your choice. ANY song of your choice. Yes, even that one that's been played to death. Yes, your obscure faves too. With sponsors, I can stop skipping weeks and falling further and further behind in the releases! Sponsor a current CB for the next open Music Monday slot or sponsor a throwback for a Thursday feature! But seriously, if you've been enjoying my selections and analyses, we (me and the foster kittens) would love a KoFi in thanks. DW | Twitter | Mastodon | Bluesky | Ko-fi | Patreon | Discord | Twitch

[wildflowercryptid]

it's kinda fun to speculate on which pokémon miku will be partnered with for project voltage so here are my predictions of what pokémon we'll see with miku for the remaining types! (this is also kind of a wishlist bc some of these could be a bit of a stretch.)

i'll start off with the ones that have a more obvious connection to music or sound and don't really require an explanation bc of that.

BUG : kriketune

FLYING : altaria*

DARK : obstagoon

FAIRY : jigglypuff

POISON : toxtricity

now, the ones that i feel like require more of an explanation.

FIGHTING : sirfetch'd — regional evo of project voltage's poster pokémon, farfetch'd. doesn't have a connection to music or electronics, but does have a huge ass leek. could also be galarian farfetch'd, but sirfetch'd is what i'd like to see more.

GHOST : gourgeist — its gen 6 pokédex entries all reference it singing, its hair-like tendrils also remind me of miku's twin tails.

DRAGON : noivern — BOOMBOX BAT. okay, enough said. moving along.

* (actually, not moving along bc i wanna mention that i feel like you could easily swap noivern and altaria for each other since they have similar typing. it just depends on what aesthetic they're going for for each type.)

GROUND : flygon — its wings create a "singing" sound when they're flapped, earning it the name "the desert spirit." *insert sand plant reference here*

ROCK : nihilego — mystical pokémon aren't off limits so they might as well throw an ultra beast in there. it's said to show the mannerisms of a young girl at times, along with being able to create illusions and see the memories of human in the anime. that reminds me a lot of how miku is able to take on whatever form producers or artists wish to put her in. i feel like there's a lot of cool imagery you could do with this combo, too. like making miku's hair look like nihilego's tendrils or nihilego transforming into miku, but looking like her standard design.

STEEL : jirachi — the lore around jirachi is that it only awakes for 7 days every thousand years unless it is awoken by a voice of purity singing to it. you can't tell me that wouldn't be perfect for miku, just imagine the mv... it also has the ability to grant wishes, like how miku is able to grant people's wish to create beautiful things like music or art through her! 😊

[dearmahiru-archive]

cinnamon!! got any predictions for mikoto and kotokos trial 2 cover songs?

so embarrassing that i was like "aw i wish i could think of something else to post for today" and then i shot up like a bullet going "OH NO WAIT I RECIEVED AN ASK!!!"

um uhm well. hmm. my track record for this has been 1/3 so far so i'd like to see how wrong i am! i don't think these two could get robbed out of any specific cover.

there's tons of different mikoto options i've seen and i want them all tbh. horrid that we're only allowed three when he could easily do so many more... in my perfect reality he protected mahiru from the yandere allegations and covered psychogram himself.

although, funny story with mikoto is that i was discussing potential covers with gunslingr and they said "i fear mikoto will have a chimera cover" right before i said i hope he gets one. my face literally beat red it was soooo embarrassing!!!!

even if i'm still horrified over the memory, i'll still stick to my guns and say i'd like a chimera cover. is it deserving over other songs? absolutely not! but it feels right to me. the cover art depicting miku with three sets of one's—one yanking her hair, one grasping her shoulders, and one praying—really struck me as rgbkoto. especially with the different color palettes bathing one part of her in warm colors while the other is colder (there's a similar mikoto artwork i believe?) there's also the song's name "chimera" which relates to mikoto being made up of multiple identities stitched together instead of a singlet.

the song's theme of reinventing yourself for the sake of attention and hating it also really strikes me as mikotocore. i'm not too familiar with his story just yet but from what i've gathered he struggles with maintaining this easy-going facade in order to blend in with society.

off-tapic but i'm not sure if he works for a black company but... yes, it doesn't justify murdering an innocent bystander (yet) but i will be very upset on his behalf if that turns out to be true. the industry culture of stressing your artists out, making them work overtime, drinking themselves to death, paying them pennies, and then forcing them to maintain this happy-go-lucky attitude—it drives me insane! treat your workers better asshole!!!!!

sorry had to get that off my chest >< but back to the chimera cover! if the black company theory is true then it reads to me like mikoto urging himself to wear this sweet facade whilst loathing everything around him. as an extension of monopoisoner it also has the same "you" themeing and sexual undertones.

Don’t be greedy or you'll drown in poison -> hehe monopoisoner reference

Your face looks like you're trying to suppress your EGO But watch your mouth, love how unsatisfied you are And be sure to swallow any uncouth words

Aw, I just don't know who I am I'm cute Chimera who's changed ←new??That blotchy pattern was a message I'm a pretty little Chimera made to be desired ←♡♡♡

kotoko's a bit harder because my thought process is ❤️❤️❤️ she's so cool! she'll get a cool song! and that's kind-of it.

unfortunately my knowledge of deco is mostly locked into the mvs on his main channel and utaite rachie's cover so uhm. i'm sure there's older songs perfect for her as an extension of anti-beat but dear lord i do not know them. so uh, just going to off of "kotoko would sound so wonderful singing this!!"

I KNOW!! I KNOW!! TWO BORING ANSWERS BACK-TO-BACK LEAVE ME ALONE!!!!!!!

i'm honestly not a fan of reversible campaign so i'd genuinely prefer if she got 118 or another high-energy song. but hm... it once again simply feels right to me. i feel like kotoko is powerful enough to grab me by the throat and force me to like the song through sheer instrumental change and vocals. rather than mikoto where i can connect him to the entire song, it's really only these two lyrics which strike me as kotokocore:

Using my worthless ego as a pretext I just want to waver between black and white

she insists she doesn't need to be traumatized in order to act this way... she hates herself like everyone else does in the prison. even as she tasks herself as judge, jury, and executioner, i highly suspect its because no one else fought for her. the world she's in is divided between the weak and strong, nothing else. the lashing out in anti-beat slowly dies down into reversible campaign as she considers her feelings. or uh, something like that?

apart from that my absolutely copium cover desires would be theory of negativity, undead alice, ane ghost rule. i feel like those are deffo going to my/haruka/shidou but. but she'd totally slay them. god bless. alternatively for her t3 cover i hope she covers undercover it'd be iconic.

once again kotoko sits in a strange place for me because everything she does will be perfect to me. she's just so cool...!

[gamebunny-advance]

"Plants" Process (Initial Sketch | Layers)

Sure, might as well talk about this one, because I actually have a bit to say about it.

So the title I uploaded this with, "Say you will about NSR..." was originally a (*mis)quote he says in the game when you fully unlock the Natura district. The line isn't especially significant, but I've always thought of it as surprisingly "quaint." It's very small, but it serves to humanize him just a little bit when up to and after this point he's dipped into cartoon-style villainy. These brief moments of honesty within his duplicitous nature is a part of why I find him to be an endearing character.

*The actual quote is, "Say what you want about NSR..." but I mistyped it when posting it. The meaning of the line is basically the same, though.

Due to this line, I've had the idea of drawing him surrounded by plants for a while. My first iterations of this idea usually involved him on an apartment balcony adorned with plants and overlooking the city. Sadly, my visions for the scene exceeded my artistic ability, so it's an idea that's been on the back burner for a while.

[A sketch I did last year based on the idea.]

It wasn't until I just randomly thought to come back to this idea that I sketched this piece.

But tbh, I don't think my vision was very clear. There's no sense that he exists in a real place (why in the world would a hanging planter be hung so low, XP). All I knew was that I wanted to draw him surrounded by plants, and that originally I wanted the color palette to be very limited.

Very recently, the SiIvagunner channel had uploaded a parody video of the Yona Yona Dance MV, which led me to listening/watching the original video (which I somehow managed to never see up to that point).

I found the limited color pallet of the video to be very striking, and I wanted to make something inspired by it combined with the experiment I did with my recent Kliff x Tati piece, which also only used about 4 colors.

However, I am abysmal at color picking, so I grabbed a color palette from @/color-palletes (link) to help the process along. In the end, I couldn't keep myself from trying to use all possible colors. Strictly speaking, there's a shade of every color in the rainbow in the final piece, which is about as far from a "limited palette" as it could be. Nonetheless, I think the darker tones of the colors do help to tie everything together, so it feels more limited than it actually is.

To return to discussing the sketch itself, there were a few ideas that changed and evolved throughout the process.

Besides moving some of the plants around, an idea I had that didn't get fully realized was that the three smaller plants in front of him were supposed to represent the game's rockstars: Mayday, Zuke and Tatiana. I had difficulty making that happen with the limited palette: since May, Kliff, and Tati share a lot of colors (notably red), and one of Zuke's main colors is green, the same color for the plants, it was difficult to main the references while still having them all not blend into each other. Perhaps with more time to think through the idea I could have reached a compromise, but as things are, that reference was more or less lost.

To get it out of the way: there isn't any real symbolism behind the plants chosen. They were picked strictly on their aesthetic value/ease of drawing them. If you wanna stretch, the Zuke vase is holding red flowers (poppies), so it's kinda referencing that time his hair was set on fire, but that's totally incidental~ However, I will say that originally that vase was supposed to hold orchids since it's apparently a flower common in Malaysia, but I had difficulty drawing them and settled on poppies. Hibiscus plants were also considered for similar reasons, but as someone who's actually grown up around hibiscus flowers, I knew I didn't really have another place to put them since those plants actually get really friggin' big.

Something else that was lost was the poster behind the snake plant. Originally I had thought to put a poster of Kul Fyra on the wall, but I honestly got pretty lazy about adding the details. That and Kul Fyra's colors would have blended into Kliff hair since she's a combination of reds and yellows. But that space felt so empty without *something* there, so I messed around with random shapes and eventually just landed on putting up some records. It's a generic detail, but I do feel like they add a "pop art" quality to the piece.

To conclude, this was very fun to work on and the turnaround on it was fairly fast. Usually for pieces like this, the process takes me a few days, but I sketched and finished this all in the same day. Had I given myself more time to sleep on this, I might have worked a little harder to incorporate some of my other ideas and clean it up a little more. That said, this is still one of my favorite pieces as of late, and I hope that I'm able to make more things like it.

[lajikookbolala]

Hi! i saw ur post/asks about JK's MV. I know that you are allowed to feel however you want and iam nobody to ask you feel only certain type of way. It is okay to feel something if JK would be making out with the actress,but please remember the MV is their profession. Him making out wont cancel jikook. Also this song is not personal to him like how face was to JM. But Jk wanted to do this song which means something made him to feel tht way ,it could be the music or the lyrics or the concept we dont know that yet. There are many queer artists who have been with opposite gender in their works. I can understand why it would be difficult to see him with woman since we are so used to see him with bts members only.

At one point all members would work with woman ( many members already did in one way or the other). So dont feel dreaded thinking about MV. Dont let antis affect you . I can vouch you thag JM would have already watched the MV or atleast heard the song. I know you are aware of all the things i mentioned, still wanna share my thougjts so that other anons or anybody who feels the same would feel bit better. 💛💜.

Thank you for your ask, Anon! I really appreciate it.

As for the stuff about Jikook and Han So Hee, I suggest you check out my latest post as I just answered an ask very similar to this one.

Basically, I realized I am less worried about Jikook and more worried about how the fandom would react if something DID happen. I don't know if I can handle that much drama right now 😅

Thanks for sharing, Anon!

[filthforfriends]

Context: thinking ab Victoria in Mamma Mia MV

No bc they could've picked ANY OTHER GIRL for Victoria to kiss in the Mamma Mia MV and they picked a WOC? Melaninated AND textured hair?????? TEXTURED HAIR😫❤️

🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽

😫😫😫😫 ❤️

There's hope må kinky/curly girlies of color THERES HOPE like so u mean I have a CHANCE??? ❤️😫🙌🏽

¡sí se puede! THIS is what movement leaders of the past fought for (joking)

Ahahaha how many racist ass må fans were pressed as hell seeing that aha stay mad bitches

In all seriousness ik that can be a whole fuckin thing bc yea with everything they've done in the past , this could be seen as like tokenism or like "see we're not racist!1!!1!" But I see it as like making an effort and not caring what racists might say and how it was so well received (as far as I know 😶👉🏽👈🏽) makes me feel 🤏🏽 this much safer in the fandom kinda bc ugh yes queer wlw representation that's not just (I say this respectfully) 2 white bitches and the fact that she was darker skinned too with at the least 3C curly pattern

Say what u want I love the effort and how esp for Europeans and esp in Italy this was a bold move considering how racist and homophobic it is over there, only imagining the level of hate straight interracial couple face and noninterracial queer couples face there a queer wlw interracial lil kiss moment in the MV is bold and an effort and was a statement of exactly what they (at least try to) stand for and I enjoy it

If any racist må fans were pressed y'all can leave the fandom and either stay mad or educate yourselves away from hate and unlearn all that stuff (from what I saw probably no one was pressed but I don't know bc I'm on the American side of the må fandom socials and we didn't care here we loved it)

This is why artists need to be outspoken about these things this is why representation matters

I remember there being a shift in media representation when Obama was elected where commercials went from exclusively white to including POC. It’s no coincidence that Glee came out a year after his election. I don’t know which European countries have had a similar cultural shift. For me, employing POC as a “woke” artist is the bare minimum. It’s simply what I expect at this point, regardless of the demographics where they’re shooting the footage. Obviously I am very privileged to grow up in a part of the US so liberal that I can have this expectation. I also recognize that Vic's love interest being a WOC was a conscious choice and that the representation was incredibly important. I wish they’d kept that energy for other videos but they didn’t

[wngweis]

... hmm gon be honest everything thus far has fallen under my overall idea of concept, mood, and atmosphere i guessed this debut gon be but after yesterday teasers photos and todays mv teaser im kinda thrown off course..... this direction of smoke is nothing like i imagined but let’s roll

this was the tone i always had in mind but so much has shifted since this teaser... & it’s true it did open the scene, so maybe that’s why it felt that much more impactful..... like i can’t even compare the smoky-ness in this to any other teasers that dropped out later. like this is just peak immaculate vibes. it’s almost genial he even did it so i should be grateful so much for it.

the dusk orange... the recklessness of 70s rocky psychedelic smoked air.... JUST.. criminal !

the leather picks he wears here... the F7CKING BOOTS... the studs in the pants... the lighter... i need to raid this wardrobe so bad. not to say the car as well.... lmao he’s the coolest for this Cadillac pick like ive no words!!!!!!

+ THAT ONE MAHOGANY /REDish PICTURE I COULDN’T STOP MYSELF FROM POSTING ON ANY PLATFORM I COULD... LIKE I NEED THAT ONE AS AN ART PIECE... IN A FRAME..

2nd favourite. this was peak artistic aesthetic to show off everything that has made you this far and showcase it in a way you present what all these details mean to you... my idea is that this whole album lives in every fragment of every photo of this photset that came out that day. or it helps me realize/visualize what he values behind it

the tiny tiniest attention to the details almost killed me. love it when people/artists take the time to salute and give back on what has helped them / served to inspire them thru a process.

here especially... it feels like modern art since this place almost symbolizes blank canvas a 'rundown house' and the things are just thrown around yet they lead me into a final product that feels too contemporary yet it gives an ode to the past.

his styling here oh god....... just so Jaehyun...

to think of this is making me crazy again. i love whoever came up with this set. one of my fave ever

i could talk about the rest but these two just super take the cake for me so no need to drag...

also, the highlight medley was phenomenal

not that i complain but the teaser today feels like a mood ive already experienced??? be on film or other teasers of other kpop acts... like it feels too familiar to me when all the previous teasers he put out were very him, very original and true to how, at least, i experience him as an artist even a human

but its Jaehyun though with a face that we will never see again in the next 100 years... so he'll make it work, im sure... though it's giving vibes ive seen... can’t lie..

again... need no more rumbling this focus face is absolute cinema ... i guess that’s what smoke is all about in the end,, his smoky aura...

im just realising how it ties to the psycho mood he embodied in The Smoky Night which then again was truly his very 1st video teaser so i guess it kinda of makes sense but ive become so deeply rooted to my vision that now the new stuff feels kinda off my radar... smth i didn’t see getting integrated,

like the suits, although he’s so known for them i truly hoped they would be off this time and we will focus more on Jaehyun Jaehyun and not idol Jaehyun which sm always puts him in this suit role like rent is due.

no, i don’t care about kick it Jaehyun. no i won’t draw the similarities there. this is not nct Jaehyun this is just Jaehyun... sooo,

so the historical remark in the robe he wears is also kind of all over the place since it never got introduced anywhere before... nor i see it in the music though i think yesterday's teasers are exceptional and very elusive but they don’t click in terms of the straightforward contemporary music he’s teasing...

so that way im really confused on these details rather but its OK. thats just fucking me and my eye to always see things under a microscope

again... this is all as far as the visual concept goes. which im very much crazy about... like the visual stuff... i have no opinion on the song yet... nor i can complete an idea after all the short snippets of it we got. the recent posts have truly, completely clouded my vision, so will see on monday!!!! if i had to compare.... 'can’t get you' still feel too good to be true.... roses too... he has to deliver smth more solid... in the end of the day is just a tt. bsides are known to cater to individuals while tts cater to audience which are two different things.

also, i think is very quirky how all the teasers and the stories are presented to us in such order that they are kind of told in reverse imao. it started from smoky night and his villain self to that scene 4 where he was so happy to go on his date with nothing but his casual converse and bouquet of roses......

the romantic protagonist turn cruel due heartbreak... arc

again these smoke teasers yesterday are so 😁😁 saucy if i can say... truly in his, "you broke my heart, now you’ll realize what you lost"

and him repeating roses’s you wanna be mine two times is just as desperate as ian repeating im sane in don’t go insane..... it’s that pathetic.... of a refusal.... to believe the truth

deranged behaviour truly set in for smoke. let’s see im excited i waited for this for so long i can’t believe im experiencing it real time.