Planets and constellations...

Pluto is my desktop background for the indefinite future.
So pretty.
And there's flowing water on Mars.
So rad.
And the eclipse was really lovely. We had perfectly clear conditions to see it here. Gorgeous color.

Computer is great. Drawing and painting again is great. Multiple projects in the furnace, so I'll be stagnant on the end product for a little while still. S'all good.

But this post will mostly about constellations. One in particular.
Cassiopeia.

But that's all Kpop insanity, so it's going under a cut.
Private First Class Jaejoong jamming to Uptown Funk for the lulz.




Five stars representing five Kpop idols who were Kpop for six years and then were rent asunder by controversial and highly contentious legal drama. And the fans, Cassiopeia, the red ocean, torn apart as different values split everyone to different sides.

For six more years Yunho and Changmin got to go on with their careers.
For those same six years, Jaejoong, Yoochun, and Junsu had to fight tooth and nail to win legal battle after legal battle for even a whiff of a fair shake.
And during that time, hurtful things were said on both sides. There was much under-the-bus throwing. And for those six years, as far as their public lives were concerned, the two sides were never in contact. Totally cut off from each other.

Jaejoong joined the military in the spring. Was accepted into the military band and has been training/preparing for this big Ground Forces Festival since then. The military clearly happy to use his image and fame for good PR... and the fans grateful for the updates on his status.

Then Yunho joined in the summer. A little confusion how it all came about, but he was eventually slated to be the MC of the same Festival. A lot of obvious media play in the days and weeks leading up to the event about the two of them participating. And fans speculating about them being at the same base and if they would possibly cross paths in public.

And they did. Yunho co-hosted the opening ceremony and Jaejoong sang/performed Arirang with the rest of his group. And he was awesome and sounded great. And Yunho was, a little awkwardly, looking on and clapping along with the show. An intriguing flip in roles there. Jaejoong freely performing. Yunho relegated to audience for the time being. And all of Cassiopeia was going absolutely apeshit crazy. And then fans after the show watched and took footage of them meeting, amicable hugs and touches of hands, and talking with Yunho's father and Jaejoong's sister and niece and... yeah... Cassiopeia 'sploded with ALL THE EMOTIONS.

Two extremes came from this. The leftover YunJae fans from back in DBSK's heyday when SM Entertainment took every opportunity to play up a homoerotic narrative between them (cuz that's what sells to teen girls), came out in full force to claim their meeting as proof that they're still madly in love with each other as ever and we'll hear their wedding announcements soon.

The other side sticking with a negative narrative where there is still hate and resentment over the lawsuit and everything that happened. The friendly meeting being an example of their professionalism and maturity to tolerate the other's presence.

And then there's all the folks in the middle ground, myself included. I don't think they were ever more than dear platonic friends with a long history pre-lawsuit. I had gotten info from folks who worked with both groups post-lawsuit saying that they'd been in contact. Initially quite unhappy, a mutual avoidance for the first couple years. But the ugliest stuff was eventually put aside to allow for a little communication and closure and moving on. And I'd say the casual ease and professional character of their meeting at the festival would support that.

Curiosity for Yunho's choices, sure. That's all such a mystery to me... and everyone apparently.

Some extremists think SM had him completely under their thumb and made it impossible for him to meet Jaejoong (the love of his life, of course, lol). and there's this big sweeping romantic narrative of the lovers kept apart by the corporate machine. Yunho obedient to 'protect' Jaejoong and their relationship. Some extremists think Yunho's autonomy remained fully intact and he actively shut out JYJ, valuing loyalty to the company over his former band members, wanting nothing to do with them.

Again, I imagine the truth is somewhere in the middle and more complex. But I've never been able to suss out Yunho's motivations regarding JYJ beyond loyalty to the company who made him famous. And SM's motivation is to erase JYJ from any association with the company, including erasing their six years as the core of Korea's most influential 2nd generation group and flagship of their company. Literally re-writing the history as if DBSK was only ever two people. Aside from being totally ridiculous, I feel it's also disrespectful to Yunho and Changmin to do that.
Whatever.
That's SM's thing. A representative got asked a question in a press conference recently if they would let up pressure so that Junsu could promote his forthcoming album like normal. The representative said they didn't ever want SM and JYJ stated in the same sentence.

Which is just absolutely fucking hilarious on so many levels.

Anyway, seems like Changmin wants nothing to do with JYJ. And Junsu might be unable to let certain personal betrayals go. But where that puts Yunho's attitude with openly meeting Jaejoong in the military... and SM... I have no fucking clue. Supposedly there were even SME and CJeS people at the event.

Question marks. So many question marks.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN?!!!!!

All that aside.

Yunho looks rough. I haven't paid much attention to the duo for the last few years. I don't know if he's just aging poorly or that's just what he looks like with more weight on, but... rough. Almost looks like he has a thyroid problem or something. Puffy. Hope he's okay.


Jaejoong on the other hand, hasn't looked this good in six years. He's perpetually beautiful, of course, but it's different. He was always thin, but muscular as befits an idol. He lost a ton of weight from stress after the lawsuit, he had looked gaunt for years. Undernourished. Strained. A little sunken.
These JYJ tour rehearsals are like 6-8 months before enlistment. Skinny AF.

But since he enlisted he's obviously put on healthy weight and built onto the foundation of muscle he has always had. Solid. Looks even better than he did back in the Mirotic era, circa 2008. Honestly I've been a little emotional seeing how healthy he looks. Robust. Energetic. It's a fucking relief. With his self-destructive tendencies I was worried he might implode. Definitely not the case so far. The opposite. So happy for him.

Yoochun will probably stay pretty quiet through his service. He goes to work in an office, a professional environment, then goes home at the end of the day. Not going to get the same onslaught of fellow recruits and barrack-dudes fanboying like in Jaejoong's case.

Junsu will have a mini-album out in a couple weeks, which I'm pissing myself over OBVIOUSLY. Two albums, a musical, and three tours in the same year. Workaholic freak of nature. Early blurbs imply that it'll be more commercially viable. Public friendly. OST fodder. Less of the wildly weird in his previous three albums. It might mean there is some inkling he will be able to promote it on TV, or at least get more OST love. I'm all about it. Weird Junsu is best Junsu, imo, but he should absolutely do this. Smart move. PISSING MYSELF.