CHUU — Y Magazine (Jan 2024) Ph. Kim Hyeongsang, Styled By Kim Seongdeok

( 230114 )     bling bling @ immortal songs 2     /     swan

MULLET JJOONG !

[NI-KI] Happy. New. Year

YUQI | WONDERLAND CHINA | JANUARY 2024 ♡

SWAN ♡ music core interview (230708)

i rllyy wna write abt darling nn her mother BUTTT i have this random writing block , ‘ts so stupid

.ﾟ۪ ♡ ۫     VENUS VICTRIX ... THE THRID FULL ALBUM !

Venus Victrix is the third full album of the fictional South Korean girl group VENUS. The album was released by Flowerbank Entertainment on December 18th, 2023. Before the release of the highly anticipated album, the girls released two pre-release singles, "DRAMA" and "I AM THE BEST," both getting two weeks of promotions and being met with widespread praise. With a total of twelve songs, VENUS would promote "THE BOYS", "UNTIE", and "BYOB (bring your own bestie)" for three months.

Venus Victrix has a total of 12 tracks, with all the girls having writing credits on every song. The tracklist is nearly entirely produced by other people as Venus decided to take a step back from producing for the time being, with the exception of "Making The Bed," which is written, composed, and produced by Chloe.

Long-time creative director Adrian Reyes produced a majority of the album alongside Ideal Music producer CLOSURE AKA Zion of Arm Candy, THATZTY AKA Tyler of Sunlite, Piper of SNS, Yuki of SNS, LULU formerly of ALLUME, SOOORA AKA Sora formerly of ALLUME, TSUISON AKA Noah of DeepDive, DOWN2LEE AKA Finn of DeepDive, and most notably Lee Chang.

The girls were given the honor of picking a song from the Flowerbank Vault, choosing "I Love You" out of the 50 songs within the Flowerbank Vault. All money earned from the song will go to his mother.

TRACK OO1. THE BOYS

TRACK OO2. I AM THE BEST

TRACK OO3. DRAMA

TRACK OO4. UNTIE

TRACK OO5. I LOVE YOU

TRACK OO6. BYOB (bring ur own bestie)

TRACK OO7. 7SECONDS

TRACK OO8. THAT GIRL

TRACK OO9. WE'LL TALK LATER

TRACK O10. THROUGH YOUR WINDO

TRACK O11. TALLY

TRACK O12. MAKE THE BED

Venus Victrix, received an impressive number of pre-orders, indicating its widespread appeal. Within just six days of the pre-order period starting, the album had received over 800,000 pre-orders, and by December 12th, the number of pre-orders had reached one million. Out of these one million pre-orders, 670,000 came from Korea, while 340,000 were from the US and Europe. Moreover, a limited edition vinyl of only 18,888 copies had sold out within days, further highlighting the album's popularity. As per the latest reports, the album had accumulated 1.2 million physical sales worldwide by January 12th.

The album debuted at the top spot of the Gaon Album Chart and broke the record for first-week sales on Hanteo among girl groups. It sold an impressive 590,000 copies in just one day after its physical release date. Gaon Chart would go on to announce that Venus' album received an official million certification after selling over a million copies in South Korea on January 22nd.

Undoubtedly, their highest performing album yet, VENUS, would be virtually unavoidable for the three months they were promoting, whether it be their songs being played on the radio or their faces on billboards; Venus was everywhere. Citizens would dub this era "The Venus Virus" as it seemed everyone and their mothers were listening or talking about the group during this time.

Venus was gaining popularity not only in South Korea but also worldwide. Venus Victrix made its debut at number two on the US Billboard 200 chart, with a total of 110,000 album-equivalent units. This includes 81,000 pure album sales, 26,000 stream-equivalent sales, and 2,000 track-equivalent sales.

Pitchfork would go on to rank the album 8.1 out of 10, making it the second highest-rated album on the site. "Venus not only pushes the boundaries of K-pop with their stellar vocal performances but also elevates the genre with 'Venus Victrix.' The album's catchy hooks and dance-worthy tracks are complemented by lyrics that delve into deeper themes, making it a standout release in the world of pop music."

Multiple Youtubers would go on to review/react to Venus Victrix. Music reviewer Anthony Fantano would be the first to review the album, giving it a 7.8 overall.

"While 'Venus Victrix' has its merits, I can't help but feel there's a missed opportunity here. The vocals and lyricism are commendable, but the overall sound lacks a certain adventurous quality. It's a solid 7.8, but I expected a bit more risk-taking from Venus."

Twitter's favorite reactionary Zach Campbell would go onto react to "The Boys" music video, heavily praising the girls and the song for it's energy and visuals. Unlike Fantano, Campbell would go on to become a darling amongst Constellations.

"This music video is like a visual feast. [...] Venus is playing in a league of their own!"

Most notably, AJay Delux would post her video "Venus Victrix - First Listen." just two weeks after the album dropped. Her review of the album was very positive, praising the girls for their vocal talent and versatility. Sena and Jiah would go on to post the video on their stories, thanking her for her review and mentioning how much they love her videos. AJay would go on to rate the album a 8 out of 10.

"Alright, that was a wild ride through Venus's 'Venus Victrix.' The vocals and lyricism held it together, and the diversity in sounds across the tracks kept it interesting. I'm giving this a solid 8 out of 10. Venus delivered the fun pop with meaningful lyrics they promised."

OO1. LOTS of interactions with other idols, especially for TikTok! Venus tends to stay in their bubble most of the time, but this time around, they really put themselves out there! Even bliss was socializing more, which is something constellations haven't seen since FOREVER. They mainly did the "BYOB" challenge with other idols, but for a few (mainly girl idols, lol!), they did the "UNTIE" challenge, which constellations ate up!

OO2. The long promotional schedule seemed to confuse a lot of fans with how fast-paced the industry seems to be nowadays. "I felt like we missed out on an opportunity with Burn The Witch by only promoting it for such a short period of time," Creative director Adrian Reyes would go on to explain at a press conference, "Things move too fast, and I want to change that. Venus is supposed to not be like other groups, which is why we went with what I feel is a proper promotional schedule. If it was full up to me, I'd promote this album all year." And while a majority of the internet knew what he was getting at, disgruntled K-pop stans on Twitter took this as an opportunity to frame Venus as "Pick Me's" and "Not Like Other Girls," which caused a multitude of fan wars on the site. None of the girls use the app, so they didn't see or care.

OO3. For the three-month promotional period, they will promote a different song and b-side for that month. For Dec-Jan, they promoted "The Boys"; for Jan-Feb, they promoted "BYOB" and concluded promotions with "Untie" in March. This gave fans an insane amount of content to be and look forward to, making sure none of their fans were bored. Even then, they still caused problems on every social media site they could.

OO4. Through their reality-styled web series, "VenusVentures," they would give their fans an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the making of Venus Victrix. However, the chaos backstage would turn out to be more entertaining than anyone expected. From funny bloopers during dance rehearsals to unexpected moments during the photoshoots, the web series was a hit, with many of the clips taken from the show going viral.

One of the more notable clips to go viral was a clip of Baebi and Chloe arguing over what they're going to have for dinner after they finished filming.

"I want a fruit bowl," Baebi would snap at Chloe over her shoulder, who would huff and flip her hair over her shoulder, looking annoyed as usual.

"I want Thai food. You always want nasty fru-"

"And action!" The director would shout, cutting the girls' fight off. Both of the girl's expressions would change in a split second, their annoyed ones being wiped away and replaced with fierce and confident ones, and the intro to The Boys would play. The clip, while not only hilarious, showed off the girl's professionalism and dedication to their craft.

OO5. Though there were A LOT of fan events organized by Flowerbank, one of the most notable ones would have to be the art gallery they put on. Venus invited Constellations to submit their fan art to Flowerbank to be displayed in a "Venus Gallery" as well as hold an art competition where the winners would receive not only VIP tickets to their upcoming tour but also to have their art incorporated into Venus' official merch, and also $10,000. The members of Venus personally selected the three winners. The event became one of the most special and heart-warming events between constellations and Venus, causing much buzz and conversations around all corners of the internet.

OO6. Though the girls are known for their versatile concepts, the music video for "Through Your Window" surprised many fans with its controversial yandere concept, which was a bit surprising due to the song's light and almost mystical sound. The visuals, though beautiful, depict the girls stalking their love interests and presumed murdering him after they see him talking to another girl. "We could've gotten Venus as fairies, but instead, we got them killing men," one fan would tweet, though another fan would quote the tweet in defense of the video, saying: "I would actually like to see Venus kill more men idk why yall are complaining," causing an internal fan war. Though the video's concept was questioned, the girls acting and visuals were highly praised, and a selfie of Bliss with blood splattered on her face soon joined the "the most annoying mfs have this picture as their icon" list.

OO7. Of course, it's not a Venus comeback without some drama. Chloe's iCloud would be hacked, leaking multiple pictures of her with a lesser-known actor, Jeon Juyeon. What really caused controversy around this was not the fact the pair might be dating but that Juyeon was Chloe's long-running fansite "CozyChloe," having over 50k followers on his fansite Instagram account. This blew up the internet essentially, causing just a shitstorm for literally everyone. The rumors only got worse when Juyeon went on to deactivate CozyChloe and private his personal account. Chloe would catch a lot of heat for this, a lot of people saying she's abusing her power as an idol and taking advantage of her fans. Though their relationship was never confirmed, Chloe would go live on the official Venus account, issuing an apology in front of the infamous "apology wall" at Flowerbank Entertainment.

OO8. More importantly, they'd collaborate with Tate McRae! Venus would release an English version of Untie with Tate on it, even performing the version with the pop star a few times. Most notably, they'd perform with Tate on the show with her acting as a six-member, causing a lot of jokes and memes between the two fandoms. While Tate was in Korea, Venus would make her an honorary sixth member, letting her stay in the dorm and taking her to their favorite restaurant. While the collaboration was a bit sudden and off guard, many people found the girl's bond cute and wholesome. The vlogs, including Tate, would go on to reach a collective 12 million views.

OO9. The outfits for Untie would come under fire by religious organizations, saying the outfits were too promiscuous and revealing for television. At first, the girls would ignore the accusations, but once the internet caught hold of them, it blew up and was impossible for them to ignore. "While I don't agree with them, I do understand why old people would think a strappy tank top is promiscuous," Sena would go on to say when asked about the controversy, "I think it's important as artists that we're allowed to express ourselves even if that means showing our shoulders. So, I guess don't watch it if you don't like it. It seems kind of easy. We're adults. I thought we knew that." And she'd give a cute smile and a fingerheart, causing the audience to laugh.

O10. Towards the end of their promotions, VENUS would announce their third world tour! In April, the girls will travel to 22 countries, performing 66 shows all around the world. This will be their most extensive tour yet. The tour was announced via a promotional video posted to their YouTube channel. The video was set in a cyberpunk setting, with the girls dressed in sleek and futuristic outfits while walking through a city, being the only ones in black while the citizens are dressed in white. "Do you feel different?" The girls would ask in various languages, such as Korean, English, Thai, Mandarin, Japanese, and Vietnamese. The video ends with all five of Venus in front of a massive screen that is surrounded by little screens. The screens glitch for a moment before flashing white, the phrase "(IM)DIFFERENT." appearing on all of them, revealing to be the name of the tour. It's a short video but effective. In the description was a link to VENUS' official website, where tickets will be sold.

.ﾟ۪ ♡ ۫     OUTFITS #1 ... THE BOYS !

.ﾟ۪ ♡ ۫     OUTFITS #2 ... BYOB (bring ur own bestie) !

.ﾟ۪ ♡ ۫     OUTFITS #3 ... UNTIE !

43 + sena!

O43. A bloody kiss tw // implied fighting + mentions of drug use + blood (duh)

"You're such a fucking idiot."

"That guy grabbed your ass, Sena!" Finn groans as he's dragged into the bathroom by his wrist, hand up to his nose to stop the bleeding. Sena rolled her eyes at his reasoning, shaking her head as she shoved him against the sink.

"Who fucking cares," Sena deadpanned. She knew that wasn't the reason why Finn got into a fight with that man. Finn gets into fights because he likes to fight. He likes hitting people bigger than him, he likes knocking people down, and he likes to be in control.

Sena knew it, Finn knew it, everyone fucking knew, and yet he still tried to deny it.

Finn grunts gruffly as he removes his wrist from his bleeding nose, inhaling sharply through his teeth when he sees how much blood has poured out of his nostrils. He wondered if the man had broken his nose. It wouldn't be the first time something like that happened to Finn.

Sena quickly ripped out a handful of paper towels, turning back towards the dumbest boy she'd ever met. The crimson rivers cascading down from his nose and lips captivate her. She doesn't know why, and if she's being frank, the fascination frightens her a bit, but her senses are too shot from the adrenaline pumping into her veins.

Her big brown eyes watch as a bead of blood makes its way down his chin, leaving a long red streak down his throat. She feels her mouth dry, staring at Finn like she had seen a ghost. She thinks Finn is attractive enough on his own––Hell, she's slept with the guy more times than she can count. But this made her look at him like he was the only man on the planet. He looked so strangely beautiful.

"You know, you should be–" Sena slammed her lips to Finn's, effectively cutting him off and making him moan in surprise. His hands, once used for violence, card through her hair gently, holding the sides of her face as her lips moved feverously against his. Sena surged forward, pressing her chest against his as she bit his bottom lip to taste more of him. His blood didn't taste like copper like she thought it would. It tasted sweet, like a forbidden fruit she would never taste again but crave for her entire life.

Finn winces when her nose accidentally bumps his, turning away from her with a slight groan. Sena watched him with hazy eyes and parted lips, taking hold of his shirt to try and pull him back in, but Finn shook his head.

"Chill out, vampire. My face hurts." Finn sighs as he takes the paper towels out of her hand, pressing them under his nose to stop the bleeding, at least somewhat. Sena chuckles quietly at the nickname, smiling to herself when she can still taste his blood on her lips.

𑁍ࠬ NEW GENERATION ﹒ PRE DEBUT SINGLE

NEW GENERATION is a predebut single released by VIXENS. it was released on JANUARY 7, 2024 by FLOWERBANK ENTERTAINMENT. NEW GEN is a look into the members of VIXENS’ lives as new faces in the kpop sphere. following the story of four girls who can’t seem to put their phones down, the accompanying music video showcasing a blurring between the real self and an online personality, pushing the boundaries between what is real and what is not through sweet vocals and disarming shots of friends having fun.

TRACKIST

NEW GENERATION

MUSIC VIDEO

NOTES ABOUT THE ERA

౨ৎ the release had mixed reviews, of course. almost fresh off the coals of sumin’s abrupt leaving, fans were either excited about the single dropping or disregarded the group altogether. majority of the comments were fans fighting amongst themselves about whether or not sumin had been forced from the group and if the bullying allegations were even true.

౨ৎ in an unexpected turn of events, sumin herself issued support for the girls in a soon deleted instagram post, applauding the girls for such an amazing song. sumin expressed deep regret for her actions, stating she wished she could go back in time stop herself and her actions. all in all, she wished the girls good luck. fans were not sure whether or not to praise her for supporting the girls even when she nearly cost them their debut or to chalk it up to her banking on the girls’ success.

౨ৎ discourse aside, VIXENS were praised for their melodic vocals and soft sound as they truly did look like a group of friends having fun. praise especially was hailed for MEI and XIÙ’s melodic high notes in towards the end of the song, MISO’s dancing abilities, and HYEJIN’s impressive range — many predicting the quartet would give many prominent girl groups a run for their money.

౨ৎ the music video garnered a startling 1.6 MILLION views within the first 24 hours, shocking not only netizens but the girls themselves. online forums speculated it being from the media surrounding the group, but the girls had no complaints. VIXENS would later release a 30 second video celebrating the success to their social media, further heightening the humility and gratefulness the group had become synonymous with. in a heartwarming caption, the group would thank fans and viewers for sticking with them this far, promising new, better, and greater things in the future.

BEHIND THE SCREEN ⸻ THE FIRST FULL ALBUM !

you've received two ( 2 ) random photocards from CRYSTYLE's recent full album, BEHIND THE SCREEN ! screenshot your pulls and show them off to everyone on the net !