After eleven years of waiting, several false starts and countless delays, Fergie's sophomore album Double Dutchess has finally been released. A visual album, the thirteen tracks are accompanied by Seeing Double, a "visual experience" which contains standalone music videos for each of the songs as well as an exclusive interview with Fergie about the project. 

Of all of the music videos on Seeing Double, 'A Little Work' has to be my favourite. I'm not sure if I have the right words to explain it, but I found it beautiful, sad and intriguing. The video really spoke to me and the story behind it is based on Fergie's past and is mind-blowing! To understand it better, I'd recommend watching Fergie's 2012 interview with Oprah.

During her time in the R&B girl group Wild Orchid, Fergie was a crystal meth addict. The drugs made her lose her mind. Fergie felt like she was in some kind of alternate reality and that FBI and SWAT teams were following her. One day, she stumbled across a church and entered it to escape the law enforcement agencies. She had a conversation with God inside this church.

According to Fergie, she stated to God: "Alright, if I go out there and the FBI and SWAT Team is not out there, then it's the drugs and I'm stopping." Eventually, she braced herself to leave the church and there was no FBI or SWAT Team, only herself and God. She kept her promise, and from that day forth Fergie didn't touch crystal meth again in her life.

The video is a dramatisation of these events. It starts as Fergie walks down the street alone, confused, and frightened. This scene is intercut with scenes of Fergie as a narrator telling us she was seeing "devil faces" and that she was surrounded by creatures who were sending her all kinds of evil messages. Fergie sees a church and walks in, barricading the door behind her. Panicked, Fergie thinks she is surrounded, and kneels down to pray.

As the song begins, Fergie lays in a hospital bed in some sort of mental health clinic. Scenes are shown of Fergie in a padded cell wearing a straight jacket and beginning to lose her mind, hallucinating dozens of pills falling around her. Interspersed are scenes of a little girl wandering through a forest: this is Fergie as a child. Fergie as a narrator tells us that she has written journals to herself in which she expresses her feelings, as another version of Fergie dressed as a nurse inspects the patient lying in bed.

In later scenes, Fergie plays a mother who takes care of her child. There are too many bills to pay but no money to pay them, and eventually the mother receives an eviction notice. God and Jesus are very important to her. She has a cross with Jesus on the wall and a picture of Mary in her hands. I think these scenes refer to the period of Fergie's life in which she was broke, spending all of her money on drugs.

 Later in the video, Fergie wakes up in a forest. Fergie as narrator tells us that she keeps having visions. She says she has to work hard to keep these visions and spirits away. Fergie believes that in the holy war of good and evil, the good will always be more powerful. As she says this, a war erupts around Fergie's bed. Soldiers are running all over the place and explosions are seen in the distance. A soldier is standing next to her bed. His last name is Ferguson.

Next, yet another version of Fergie appears at a funeral. This is the funeral of her maternal grandfather, Gore. Fergie is devastated that he died because she saw him as her guardian angel. On the battlefield,Fergie joins the war, while in the church her paranoia grows. In her mind, the SWAT team is still outside the church, trying to break in. As the final chorus begins, Fergie wears a beautiful glowing dress; she is radiant and ready to battle her demons. Inside the church, the different incarnations of Fergie watch: Fergie in a straight jacket, Fergie the nurse, Fergie the mother. She is ready for the battle. She walks down the aisle, to the exit of the church, as though she is walking into the light.

Then the most inspiring part of the video starts. Fergie opens the door. wearing a dress; but when she walks out the other side, she wears a new outfit together with her son, Axl Jack. This part of the video has so much meaning. The fact that there was no SWAT team out there made Fergie quit the drugs. And because she stopped, she met her husband and together they have a beautiful child, Axl Jack. Together, they walk away from the church, stronger than ever and with each other to live for.

For me, this video was incredibly emotional and I found the story behind it very sad, yet beautiful. This was a genius video with a beautiful song to match. I think this is definitely the most fascinating and intriguing video off Double Dutchess: Seeing Double.

What are your thoughts?

When Wonder Woman was released early this year, I'd venture to say that 90% of the rhetoric surrounding it had to do with its feminist nature. Whether reviewers were arguing for the movie's very obvious agenda, against the whitewashing of its lead character or analysing every single thing to do with the film's costumes, makeup, or characterisation, it seems that all roads led to feminism. It's a discussion that undoubtedly had to be had, even if it got tired somewhat quickly.

Which is why it's somewhat surprising that the superhero event of the second half of 2017, Marvel's Netflix show The Defenders, hasn't been given the same treatment. An otherwise average superhero show, The Defenders excels at its portrayal of women, both when it comes to just how many are on the payroll and when it comes to their characters treatment on the show.

For those who didn't know, The Defenders is the culmination of four (soon to be five when The Punisher is released) series that Netflix has been slowly but steadily releasing for the past few years. Daredevil was the first, Jessica Jones arguably the most popular, Luke Cage the diversity quota and Iron Fist possibly the most annoying.

In a similiar way to The Avengers, The Defenders unites all four of these heroes to fight crime as the eponymous superhero team. That in itself isn't too great for the female quota: Jessica is only one of four. But each of the four heroes also brings their token "female friend" to the series with them, which adds up to a lot of female faces onscreen. All of the additional filler characters in each series (generally those who aren't love interests) were discarded, leaving only a bunch of strong women onscreen.

Jessica brings Trish Walker, who's possibly the most interesting supporting character in the entire series as a former child star turned radio talk show host turned wannabe superhero. Iron Fist brings Colleen Walker, a former ninja villain turned dojo owner. Cage brings Misty Knight, the tough talking cop with a huge personality to match her ridiculous rack. And Daredevil actually brings two female companions with him: Karen, a reporter and potential love interest, and Elektra, a past love interest and the main villain of the piece.

On top of that, there's several other strong females in the mix. Claire Temple is a former nurse who's appeared in every Marvel Netflix show so far and who acts as the sort of Nick Fury to unite the group. Alexandra is a new character, also a villain, whose actions form the backbone of the first half of the series.

Out of the fifteen main cast members, that's a whopping eight who are female. Women are actually outnumbering men, which is completely unprecedented in superhero themed shows. With the addition of Gao, another notable villian, and Jeri Hogarth, who plays a small role as a lawyer - neither of whom are main cast members, but who play significant roles, that's ten strong female characters in the show. Even better, four of them - five if you count the Greek Elektra - are women of colour.

Of course, the sheer number of females on any one show isn't the only thing that will make it "feminist". After all, quality comes over quantity, and this achievement wouldn't count for anything if every female character walked around in a skimpy bikini the entire time. Thankfully, most of these women are well-developed and with motives of their own; even if four out of eight of them are love interests. Each has a different but significant role to play: some of them fighters, some of them healers; some of them leaders and some of them gazers. Writers worked with Signourney Weaver (Alexandra) specifically to ensure that her character was sympathetic and not cliched, namely to avoid "terms like ‘ice queen’ that are often thrown at women who aren’t completely sympathetic." Weaver herself called the relationship between Alexandra and Elektra "one of the most unusual that I’ve ever experienced".

Which brings us, in a very roundabout way, to Wonder Woman. An admittedly fun movie, Wonder Woman was very on the nose regarding its feminist agenda, turning the political movement into a shtick to seperate it from the crowd of action blockbusters surrounding it. Because it defined itself based on its feminism, Wonder Woman's characters were entirely created from that concept, leading to a literal army of completely flawless, idealised representations of women. These women were all glorious Amazons with beautiful hair, cool armour to show off their long legs, and barely a character flaw in sight. It worked for Wonder Woman because of that particular characters status as a feminist icon, but it also displayed very little diversity in terms of female characters and only added to the idea that they are "other", separated from other superheroes thanks to their god-like status.

On the other hand, the sheer quantity of The Defender's female cast members means that they're bound to differ in their personalities and opinions. More importantly, they're all much more relatable: Jessica suffers from PTSD, Trish a controlling mother, Colleen an abusive male authority figure, Karen relationship issues and Elektra a split personality. Gone are the flawless Glamazons of this years first quarter: here is a group of women who don't have to be perfect to be powerful.

For a studio who does so poorly when it comes to females in film, Marvel's television projects are all surprisingly good. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. features a similarly large cast of females (although they don't match the males), Agent Carter was their first female hero to have a project follow them, and the multitude of series leading up to The Defenders, while not great on their own, have culminated in a very female friendly show. Let's hope that with the Brie Larson-led Captain Marvel, coming in 2019 Marvel will finally start to do as well with its film properties, too.

Over the last month, Taylor Swift has sparked quite the controversy with the lead single,' Look What You Made Me Do', from her upcoming album Reputation. The young singer has debuted an entirely new sound, and the old Taylor is certainly not coming back. Why, you may ask? Well, as Taylor herself said, "because she's dead!".

It goes without saying that Swift has received more than enough criticism and hate from around the globe, more recently being branded with the moniker of "snake" which was derived from the Kim Kardashian Twitter drama of 2016 surrounding lyrics from Kanye West's song, 'Famous'. Taylor had no problem reclaiming this name when she introduced her new era with three short videos of a snake slithering on Twitter and Instagram.

Singer-songwriter Swift has a brand new "no fucks given attitude", firing multiple shots at numerous people she's allegedly had beef with in the lyrics of the song including Katy Perry, Kanye West and Kim Kardashian. "The world moves on, another day another drama but not for me, all I think about is karma," she muses.

The lyrics of the song are for sure a new direction for Taylor, and its accompanying music video leaves anyone who watches it in shock as she completely turns every hint of criticism on its head. One things for sure: whether or not you personally like Miss Swift, the styling in the vcideo is a genius move and definitely a money maker. It features many of her personas, aka the old versions of Taylor, including one Taylor from 'We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together', one from the 2009 VMAs and a lot of other iconic looks and identities she's had in the past. "I don't trust nobody, and nobody trusts me," she cooes.

Then, just when we thought Taylor was done, she debuted another song from her album entitled '...Ready For It?' which once again features a new edgy, experimental and badass Taylor. "In the middle of the night in my dreams, you should see the things we do baby," she sings over a pulsing baseline.

What is your take on Taylor 2.0? Is it all a facade, or is she finally showing her true colours? Let us know in the comments down below!

Katy Perry is one of the biggest names in pop music in the last ten years, with her sudden rise to fame from being a mere Christian gospel singer who would often sing in her local church, to being a global success story with five number one singles from just one album. Katy has proven her ability to accelerate up the charts numerous times, earning records that only the King of Pop Michael Jackson has to his name...but the question is, how many of these things have been achieved with her latest era, Witness?

With the release of her fourth studio album Witness, Katy has gone through some major changes that have left most fans of the Teenage Dream Katy confused and rather upset. Let's take a look at how her previous albums and eras have ranked compared to her latest.

Kathryn Perry, an innocent and sweet Christian gospel singer debuted with her brand new and evolved image as the punk-rock "Katy Perry" with the release of her first studio album One Of The Boys in 2008. She gained a sizeable fanbase and loyal listeners during this era, catching the general publics and critics eyes. In April of 2008, she released her first single from the album, 'I Kissed A Girl'. The song reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100 scoring Katy her first number one, and is now 5x platinum in the United States, with the album being certified Platinum as well. 

Five years after her debut studio album, Katy released what is now one of her most successful and iconic albums, Teenage Dream. The bubblegum pop album was critically acclaimed and loved by the general public. The album gained a Grammy nomination from the #1, now diamond certified song 'Firework' which has become a global hit and a defining moment of Katy's career. In total the album gained five number ones on the Billboard Hot 100, which set many records as Katy was compared to Michael Jackson in the media. She released multiple music videos which have become some of Katy's signature pieces, such as the videos for 'Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)' and 'California Gurls'. Teenage Dream has been certified 3x platinum in the United States as of 2017, and has since been celebrated with a re-release of the album featuring new tracks along with a tour and feature film, Katy Perry: Part of Me.

Shortly after, Miss Perry released her third studio album Prism in which she released more of her defining singles such as 'Dark Horse' and 'Roar'. Both singles were released alongside two iconic music videos which have gone down in history as some of Katy's greatest. Both singles also went number one on the Billboard chart, scoring Katy a whopping eight number one singles. Not only did she score two number one singles, but she also performed at the 49th Super Bowl Half Time Show in 2014, where thousands of people watched her perform many of her career defining songs.

Now...last but certainly least, in 2017 Katy released her fourth studio album Witness which was debuted with the lead single, 'Chained To The Rhythm'. The song introduced a new side of Katy: a politically charged chameleon which fans were indecisive on whether they liked or not. The song landed at number four on the Billboard 100, which while impressive is also the lowest chart placement for one of her lead singles. Shortly after the release of the first single, she released 'Bon Appetit' which landed at #59 on the Hot 100, even with multiple performances and an expensive-looking music video. 'Bon Appetit' is now her worst charting single to date, and lowest charting second single throughout her entire career. Katy has not only failed commercially but has also been critiqued on her horrendous performances with Migos where she was lousy, boring and racist with her mimicking of the rap groups dance moves. During this era Katy has been hit with multiple accusations of bigotry with her insensitive Obama jokes.

This leads me onto my second question, and the most important one of all. How exactly can Katy come back from this horrific era, if it's possible at all?

Pop music is more varied than it's ever been, and trends are coming, going and overlapping like never before. From tropical pop to Latin vibes to sparsely produced techno-inspired EDM, there's a plethora of genres available for listeners. And if releases from three of the worlds most influential female artists are anything to go by, it seems as though country may be the new waters that the pop world is set to start charting.

As tends to be the way, Lady Gaga started the trend with last year's Joanne. Although it received mixed reviews upon release, Joanne has proven to be one of Gaga's most iconic eras, and included the biggest Super Bowl half-time show performance in the history of the game, a sold out world tour, a well-received Coachella performance and some of the best visuals she's put out in years. Joanne also explored an unashamedly hillbilly vibe, from the foot-stomping rock techno fusion in lead single 'Perfect Illusion' to the soulful, heartbroken country diva we hear in the album's biggest hit, 'Million Reasons'. But for all it's successes, there was always something that seemed somewhat insincere about Joanne. Gaga has the laidback attitude and damaged pipes to pull off country music, but her transformation into a backwoods babe never seemed quite fully realised - perhaps because she was still dipping her toes into heavy metal with Metallica and releasing dance-pop bops like 'The Cure'.

On the other hand, Kesha's recent release Rainbow has to be one of the most natural progressions into country and rock we've ever seen. Kesha has long expressed an interest in returning to her Nashville roots - 2012's Warrior was originally envisioned as Spandex on the Distant Horizon, a "cock-pop" album (which was to be a fusion of country, rock and pop). But label issues and a well-publicised lawsuit in which she accused former producer Dr. Luke of rape stopped her from making the album of her dreams - until now. Rainbow excels at showing off Kesha's stellar and previously under-utilised songwriting skills, such as with lead single 'Praying' which is sure to never leave a dry eye in the house. But the spirit of the old party girl Ke$ha is still alive in the album, as we can hear in songs like the boisterous 'Woman' or the sassy 'Let 'Em Talk'. Far more than Gaga did with her somewhat pretentious notion of continuing her dead aunt's legacy through a pink hat and a guitar, Kesha has nailed a natural progression from her old pop sound to the cock pop she's long wanted to explore, and we can't wait to see where she goes next.

But Kesha and Gaga aren't the only ones to explore country in their new releases. Miley Cyrus's upcoming album Younger Now is also set to explore a countrified sound, and we can't say it's unexpected. Like Kesha, Miley started her life in Nashville surrounded by country music, but has rebelled against her upbringing with recent forays into pop and R&B. Now with new single 'Malibu', Miley has returned to country with acoustic guitar, sprawling vocals and a refreshed, transformative message to match. All we can hope is that Miley is still able to maintain the sassiness she exuded during #Bangerz into some of these new songs - a fully acoustic album would be a little too much for us.

So far the country music trend hasn't seemed to pervade the rest of the pop world outside of these three women. There's relatively few indie breakthroughs exploring it, and there don't seem to be any males making waves in pop music with this kind of sound. But with each of these women finding success with their sound, it's unlikely it will stay that way for too long.

More interesting is what exactly is causing the shift towards country. Are people searching for true old-fashioned American values in a time when many are questioning what it means to be a patriot under Donald Trump? Or maybe the stories of lone rangers in the wilderness appeal to these three hardly done by women?

Let us know your thoughts about the country revolution in the comments below!

You may think you know all about the scandalous and corrupt behind the scenes goings-on in Hollywood, but you'll be surprised that the public don't know the half of it.

One of the oldest tricks in the books in Hollywood is the game of Public Relations (otherwise known as PR). Public Relations is a topic that is widely and vastly talked about amongst media outlets, Hollywood gossip websites and celebrity aficionados, but how much do we as the general public know or understand about what goes on in board room meetings? And just how is the topic kept so under wraps?

(I am in no way an expert in public relations, any information used in this article is public information and/or knowledge.)

Public relations can be categorised into many different concepts, but the most common and well known type of PR is when two celebrities are publicly seen on "dates", or are linked together in a way that leads people to believe they are indeed dating. These types of relationships can include:

• Numerous social media posts and/or interactions about one another.
• Numerous public appearances with one another, such as going to restaurants, cafes, the cinema, etc.
• More drastic extents, including weddings and even children.

This particular type of PR usually occurs when both people involved have ongoing projects together: an example of this could be Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens, or Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart.

With all PR situations, there is usually a very strict contract which both parties have to mutually agree on. Some examples of this type of contract can be found here and here. If broken, the offending party could potentially have to deal with lawsuits; but in most cases the contract entails the sanctions for breaking the confidentiality of the contract which is often a paid fee, sometimes over four-five figures depending on the celebrity.

Another very controversial yet common tactic used by celebrities is The Beard. In this case, the celebrity involved is gay or lesbian, and they do not want this information to get out for various reasons. Management teams or labels may not want this person to share their preference, as they could have a target demographic that they would lose. The celebrity will thus participate in a fake heterosexual relationship, which makes the gay/lesbian talk die and fade out. 

For example: Justin Bieber.

For the most part, his fanbase and following is very much "female teenager" due to his perceived sex appeal. If he was to come out or be exposed as gay, his audience could lose interest (no shade).

These are just two of the very common tactics used in Hollywood to draw attention to celebrities, and to help build peoples reputation in the industry and/or following by fans.

With all this being said, not every relationship in Hollywood is planned for promotion, and although these tactics may be common, this does not imply that every pairing is a business plan.

Disclaimer: Any photos of celebrities used in this article do not directly reflect the subject matter, and does not imply that these couples are in a public relations relationship.

It's hard to believe that Elizabeth Eden Harris, better known by her rap name CupcakKe or her official title Her Majesty, has been in our lives for over two years. The youngest pop icon in the game first broke through back in 2015, when her iconic music videos for 'Vagina' and 'Deepthroat' went viral online for their incredibly deep and thought-provoking lyrics, and she's shown no sign of slowing down. Since then, CupcakKe has released two amazing mixtapes (Cum Cake and S.T.D. (Shelters to Deltas)) - as well as two albums - (Audacious and Queen Elizabitch) - for her fans to enjoy, while spreading the good news to other genres with features on songs from the likes of Charli XCX and K.I.D.

It's a testament to the versality and range of her lyrics that CupcakKe's tracks can be transplanted so seamlessly into other artists music, a quality that's shown not just with her official collaborations but also with the fan-made remixes of her songs which have populated the Internet ever since her arrival. CupcakKe's fanbase is an avid one, and along with their daily interactions with the queen on Twitter, some fans have created entire YouTube and Soundcloud accounts dedicated to working CupcakKe's iconic lyrics into the instrumentals of other artists. Today, we'll be looking at the ten best mash-ups that have been created as proof of CupcakKe's amazing power to cross borders. Enjoy our list and don't forget to list any that we may have missed down below in the comments!

10. CupcakKe - Vagina vs. Aqua - Barbie Girl

Perfect For: Teaching your younger nieces and nephews about the birds and the bees with their Barbie dolls.

9. CupcakKe - Vagina vs. Azealia Banks - 212

Perfect For: Impromptu subway parties with people who like hard EDM beats but don't like racist, homophobic, sexist psychos.

8. CupcakKe - LGBT vs. Lady Gaga - Born This Way

Perfect For: Pride Month. All day, every day. Gaga alone wasn't enough to bring down the current reigning Queen of Gay Madonna, but with CupcakKe's help she definitely has a fighting chance.

7. CupcakKe - Vagina vs. Ariana Grande - Into You

Perfect For: The funerals of deceased terror victims. This track is hot like the fire of a thousand ISIS explosions!

6. CupcakKe - Vagina vs. Katy Perry - Chained To The Rhythm

Perfect For: Blasting through the corridors of your fake live-in promotional home when your throat gets dry from talking too much shit about Taylor Swift.

5. CupcakKe - Vagina vs. Selena Gomez - Wizards of Waverly Place Theme Song

Perfect For: Your entire puberty experience. This song will help get you through your awkward phase while you date a douchebag, develop lupis and get a boob job!

4. CupcakKe - Spiderman Dick vs. Demi Lovato - Cool For The Summer

Perfect For: When you get sick of pretending to be a lesbian and start harassing your Tinder match for some dick.

3. CupcakKe - Deepthroat vs. Lady Gaga - Telephone

Perfect For: The homosexual daydreams you have of what it might sound like for Lady Gaga to actually be relevant in 2017.

2. CupcakKe - CPR vs. Lady Gaga - Do What U Want

Perfect For: When you want to be a #WokeQueen and you replace a seedy old black rapist with a talented young black rapee.

1. CupcakKe - CPR vs. Selena Gomez - Birthday

Perfect For: Your birthday. Or anyone else's. In other words, any day of the year.

With the long-awaited Final Fantasy XV out of the way, Final Fantasy VII Remake has to be the most highly anticipated game on Square Enix's upcoming roster. Rumoured for as long as we can remember, the new version of the game set to be released on the PS4 in the next few years promises to modernise the classic, heartbreaking tale while revolutionizing what a Final Fantasy game looks like on a modern platform. But what exactly do we have to look forward to? Read on to find out more!

1. A multi-part release

The idea of releasing the Final Fantasy VII remake in multiple parts was one born out of necessity, according to producer Yoshinori Kitase. According to him, one of the reasons why the remake has been put off for so long is because the sheer amount of content that would be involved in the games creation would not be able to fit on a single instalment, meaning that fan-favourite content would have to be cut and we would only receive a condensed version of the title. The development team got around this by releasing the game in multiple parts, allowing players to not only replay all their favourite parts of the original game but also to explore new quests that weren't present in the original release. There's still no news on how the structure for this multi-part release will work, but personally we're hoping that each game will be released a few months apart, allowing hardcore gamers to finish each part in turn and experience each new launch as a community. What we do know is that each game will be roughly the size of Final Fantasy XIII - not a small feat given how expansive that game was.

2. Expanded maps

One of the main reasons that the team first considered a multi-part release was to explore the world of Gaia more fully, allowing players to have a more fleshed out experience. Gone for good is that pesky overworld we travelled across, replaced by a fully transversible world in which you can look under every rock and inside every stream before moving on to your intended location. Furthermore, locations that we couldn't access in the original will be fully explorable in the new remake - we've been promised that more locations in Midgar will be ready for us to sightsee, meaning that we may be able to explore some of the seven other sectors we never looked around in the original game.

3. A completely updated battle system

The original FFVII was known for it's Active Time Battle system, a time-based twist on the traditional turn-based battle system which had dominated the RPG genre before it's release. Instead of featuring a system in which each party takes turns attacking the other, the original game featured time gauges which, upon filling up, allowed the player to attack their opponent. With battle screens now a thing of the past (although kudos to Pokémon for keeping the dream alive!) and gamers now expecting a more fast-paced, interactive experience, the remade version has been updated with a brand new battle system in which players can attack enemies in the world map. Developers have compared this style to Final Fantasy Dissidia and Kingdom Hearts, with Limit Break gauges allowing for more powerful attacks; but in reality, we wouldn't be at all surprised if the system was cut and paste from last years Final Fantasy XV, which featured an almost identical concept.

One interesting new feature not present in any of these previous games is the promise of interactive and destroyable environments. "Map and object destruction will also happen," confirmed Nomura recently, going on to say, "there are part-based destruction elements like breaking the Guard Scorpion’s legs."

4. Beautiful graphics

Over the years, probably the biggest reason people have had not to give the original FFVII a chance were the boxy, amateur 90s graphics. It's something the developers are keenly aware of and which they clearly have the technology to fix. Every character will have their model rebuilt from the ground up by Visual Works, Square Enix's CGI development branch. Instead of developing their own technology for the game's engine, S-E will be working with Unreal Engine 4, the same one used for games such as Tekken 7, Street Fighter V and Gears of War 4 as well as the upcoming Kingdom Hearts III. S-E are also branching out with the lighting and video quality components of the graphics, using technology from Geomerics and CyberConnect2 for each respectively. Branching out to work with other companies for such a huge title is a rare move for S-E to make, and one we're hoping will balance out some of their zanier ideas and allow them to garner some outside perspective from trusted sources.

5. A classic Final Fantasy experience...

Three core staff members from the original FFVII game have returned to help with the remake. Original character designer and Final Fantasy legend Tetsuya Nomura is back to direct and handle character design; the original game's director has returned as a producer; and Kazushige Nojima, who wrote the original script, is retooling it for the remake. This Holy Trinity of FF legends was originall brought together by FFVIII, FFIX, FFVII, FFIX, and FFXV producer Shinji Hashimoto, who took an interest in the remake following constant questions about it at panels. Apparently, all three of the developers felt that they were reaching "that age" - a time in which they felt that if they waited too much longer, they might not be alive to help develop a remake of FFVII - and none were willing to pass it onto a new generation.

Sadly, it is worth noting that legendary composer Nobuo Uematsu, who worked on the original FFVII's absolutely stunning soundtrack, will not be returning for the remake. Uematsu still seems to have a healthy relationship with S-E and works with them regularly, so we're not sure why he's not on board; but we're hoping that the majority of his original soundtrack, which includes songs like the beautiful 'Aerith's Theme', will remain intact, if updated.

6. ...Complete with connections to the Compilation of FFVII

Since the original game's release in 1997, a whole metaseries of media within the Final Fantasy main series has sprouted up around it, known officially as the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII. Before Crisis: Final Fantasy VII was a mobile game following the Turks; Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII is a first person shooter starring optional character Vincent Valentine; and Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII was a prequel game focusing on minor character Zack Fair. The film sequel Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children was also released in 2005, along with the anime Last Order: Final Fantasy VII, while short stories and a novel written by Kazushige Nojima were also released to the Japanese market. It may seem like a lot to pull off, but developers are committed to incorporating the settings and characters of the Compilation where it makes sense, making a more integrated gaming experience. "If there are any areas where we can use the settings or the characters, we do want to try to incorporate it in there, so it gives off that sense of nuance and those other stories existing," said Kitase, before backtracking a little with, "But, of course, it would be difficult to follow up on everything that happened in this universe. So, maybe some of the characters who weren’t as famous won’t appear or be mentioned." As long as we get some recognition of Vincent and Yuffie knowing each other before the main game, I'll be happy.

7. A crossdressing main character

Need we say more? One of the most bizaare and fascinating sequences in the original game features Cloud dressing up as part of an "inflirtration" mission (do you see what we did there?). Nomura has asked fans to "please look forward" to the iconic scene in the remake; and who can resist with the promise of Cloud in a dress in glorious HQ vision?

What aspect of the FFVII remake are you most looking forward to? Do you think the new version will be an improvement on the original or is it an unnecessary addition? Check out the latest trailer below and let us know your thoughts in the comments section!

The Academy Awards were held recently, which as we all know is an excuse for the elite of the world to multiply in one gigantic cesspool of champagne and swap the names of their plastic surgeons/harvesters of baby dragon blood. In the absence of Fashion Police (R.I.P. Joanie), we've decided to take one for the team and continue the trend of celebrating those stars who actually did it right for once and nailed their red carpet looks. Sisters were doing it for themselves this year, with all of our top six choices being female and the majority of them being people of colour - and, as per usual during OSCARs season, the overriding trend was neutrals - particularly creams, golds and blacks - with any stars opting for vibrant colours tending to go for a vivid red. Check out our personal faves below!

Sixth Place: Viola Davis

Viola Davis, who snatched the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her super powerful role in Fences, is no stranger to a red carpet, and her smoking hot Armani Privé gown is here to remind you why. The dress hugs Vi's natural curves perfectly without seeming overstuffed or overly billowed, and the perfectly draped sleeves add some embellishment to what could otherwise have been a hellishly tired red gown. Most importantly, the dress puts Viola right at the forefront, with her signature wide smile peeking out from a swoop of expensive looking lace front and her makeup natural, subtle and glowing. This outfit is so beautifully selected that we can almost overlook the fact that she's mixed gold and silver accessories, which as we all learnt in The Devil Wears Prada is a total fashion faus pax. Almost.

Fifth Place: Nicole Kidman

Darling Nikki has been a red carpet regular since before I was born, and this OSCARs season she's proved once again why designers keep her around. Like Viola before her, Nicole rocked a classic Armani Privé design, sticking well within her comfort zone with the figure-hugging silhouette that has become her staple. Nicole has to be one of the few people in Hollywood who can pull this colour scheme off without looking like an extra from The Walking Dead, with her pale skin and fair hair a perfect match for this nude gown. Not gonna lie though, we're a little disappointed that man-candy husband Keith Urban wasn't around to accessorise. Add a guitar and they'd be red carpet royalty.

Fourth Place: Emma Stone

Emma Stone and her crazy big eyes charmed her way into our hearts with her OSCAR winning role in last year's old fashioned Hollywood musical La La Land, and her vintage kick lived on during the red carpet coverage this year. Em served up effortless chic in her beautifully detailed Givenchy, making her the first Best Actress winner to rep the brand since Audrey Hepburn back in 1954; and with her waved hair and rouged lips, she gave Hep a run for her money as the poster child for old Hollywood glam. Spilling the tea tho, the one drawback to Emma's wardrobe is her reliability: after all, she's been wearing these kinds of looks for the past few years, and at only age 28 we'd like to see her switch up her colour scheme and silhouette a little more regularly.

Third Place: Ruth Negga

Ruth Negga made waves with her Academy Award nominated role in Loving, and her film's title pretty much nails how we're feeling about this Valentino design. Tbh, this gown teeters on the edge of disaster, with the modest neckline, high waist and long train veering a little too far into Mormon territory for our liking; but thanks to the daring colour choice, a well-placed headband, some bold makeup and an anti-Trump blue ribbon, Ruthie manages to hold firmly onto her cool girl title. Plus, look at those puppy dog eyes. Could you really tell her she looked anything but beautiful? Really?

Second Place: Janelle Monáe

Janelle Monáe has never been one to shy away from a bold fashion choice, but her typical style risks often channel Tilda Swinton, taking the form of a super sharp tuxedo. For her OSCARs red carpet debut, J went all out with a stunningly executed Elie Saab gown which harks back to her musical alter-ego Cindi (an androgynous android figure, duh), while somehow managing to work in a queen of the faeries vibe as well. On anyone else, the look could have been disastrous, but J pulls it off spectacularly, ensuring that she's the one rocking the dress and it's not wearing her. And just when we thought she couldn't get any cooler, she decided to accessorise with what's been described as a Jennifer Behr "crown". Some people have it so good.

First Place: Taraji P. Henson

Janelle's Hidden Figures co-star Henson usually stands out for her trashtastic wardrobe as Cookie on the hit TV show Empire (think The Nanny meets Kylie Jenner), but she showed an entirely new side to her look on the OSCARs red carpet in this truly stunning Alberta Ferretti gown. Henson's dress was cinched to perfection, hugging her hourglass figure to a tee before widening into a sexy Jolie-esque split. The stunningly fitted gown, along with the statement necklace and classic curls, exuded Breakfast at Tiffanys glamour with a 2017 twist - and the fact that Henson was the last person we expected it from makes the look so much better. Never change, Taytay.

What were your thoughts on the OSCARs red carpet looks this year? Was your fave on our list, or were they robbed of their title? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

Why does Remy Ma's violence get a free pass while Casey Affleck's career is left in tatters?

Last Sunday, actor Casey Affleck ascended to the spotlight when he won the Best Actor OSCAR for his role in last year's film Manchester by the Sea. The film, which co-stars Michelle Williams and Kyle Chandler, follows a man who looks after his teenage nephew after the boy's fathers death, and has been routinely critically acclaimed, placing highly on a multitude of critics lists for the best movies of 2016. Affleck's performance especially has been lauded as a "magnificent [...] career-best" and a "haunting face of grief and anger the viewer will never forget".

But Affleck's win has been a bittersweet one, with nary an article discussing his achievement without bringing up his "dark secret" - the sexual harassment charges that were laid against him in 2010. Most of these charges stem back to Amanda White, the producer of I'm Still Here, a Joaquin Phoenix mockumentary directed by Affleck whom she had at that point worked with for over ten years. Over the course of filming, White claimed that Affleck had ordered a crew member to show her his penis even after she objected; had referred to women as "cows"; and had asked "Isn't it about time you get pregnant?" when he learnt of her age. Most notably, she alleged that he had also attempted to manipulate her into sharing a hotel room with him; and when she objected, grabbed her threateningly and attempted to scare her into submission, before going on to send her abusive text messages from his room.

As part of her producer duties, White also renegotiated an agreement with Magdalena Gorka, the films director of photography who had previously left the project due to a similiar pattern of harassment which she called "the most traumatizing of her career". Apparently, Gorka had to face Affleck jokingly suggesting that she have sex with the camera assistant; received a "daily barrage of [...] unwelcome advances by crew members" and was berated by the director to the extent that she quit the film, twice. When the cast and crew had flown to New York to film, Gorka stated that they had not been given hotel rooms and had instead been expected to stay at Phoenix and Affleck's apartment. Phoenix had offered her his bedroom to stay in while he slept in the living room; but when she awoke in the middle of the night, she found Affleck “curled up next to her in the bed wearing only his underwear and a T-shirt. He had his arm around her, was caressing her back, his face was within inches of hers and his breath reeked of alcohol.” When she ordered him out of bed, he tried to convince her to let him stay before leaving the room and slamming the door in a rage.

On the other hand, Remy Ma has been praised and adulated in the press recently thanks to her aggressive diss track against fellow female rapper Nicki Minaj. The beef started after Minaj featured on two recent singles - Jason Derulo's 'Swalla' and Gucci Mane's 'Make Love' - rapping lines which Ma interpreted as being about her. “I’m the iPhone, you the Nokia/Everybody know you jealous, bitch it’s so clear./Oooohhh, oh you the qu-e-e-the queen of this here?/One platinum plaque, album flopped, bitch, where?" she rapped in the latter, allegedly referencing the fact that Ma had only platinum plaque for her Fat Joe collaboration 'All The Way Up'. Ma hit back with 'Shether', an explicit Minaj diss track in which she quite literally raps "Fuck Nicki Minaj" and "They told you your whole career I’d come home and kill you, right?"

Ma's past is a lot more colourful than Affleck's, and culminates in the night of July 13th, 2007 when she turned herself into New York City police. According to police, Ma was with a group of people outside the Pizza Bar restaurant that day at around 4 a.m when a gunshot was fired at Makeeda Barnes-Joseph, a former friend who had been accused of stealing money from Ma. Barnes-Joseph, who was 23 at the time, took the shot in the torso and sat in her car seriously wounded as Ma rifled through her purse looking for the stolen money. When she couldn't find the money, Ma jumped into a getaway car and left Barnes-Joseph bleeding out in the front seat.

In March, 2008 Ma was convicted of assault, illegal weapon possession and attempted coercion. She was also charged with witness intimidation and gang assault after ordering several of her male friends to attack a witness's boyfriend after finding that the witness was testifying against her. Barnes-Joseph underwent several surgeries, but still experiences numbness in both legs and digestive problems as a result of the damage Ma did to her.

If we're to believe the worst, then what both Affleck and Ma did are disgusting and reprehensible. Affleck's alleged crime points to a wider trend of cyclical chauvinism in the Hollywood sphere in which women are still underrepresented, while Ma's actions point to a psyche which is cruel, heartless and money-hungry. And yet what's interesting is the media's responses to each artists respective wins this week. For her part, Remy (the woman accused of attempted murder) has been able to avoid any discussion of her past, with critics ignoring her crimes to applaud the "nastiest ever diss track", a rap that "spewed venom" and a "work of notable lyrical invention". On the other hand, Affleck (whose most heinous crime was allegedly grabbing a woman's arm) had his win deemed as "gross" and a "disappointment", while award presenter Brie Larson received praise for her "silent stance".

Sadly, it's a trend that's represented not just in this situation but in countless others as well. While the white-fronted La La Land is accused of "whitewashing" it's narrative, which critics say shows a white man "saving" jazz music from the evil clasps of a black male who is attempting to destroy and commercialise it, the exclusively black Moonlight is praised for a character list which is comprised completely of drug dealers, drug addicts and physically abusive bullies. Outside of awards season, we see the same rhetoric being used against Taylor Swift, who is often criticised for what people see as an arbitrary contribution to feminism when she donates hundreds of thousands of dollars to Kesha's lawsuit attempts or Tweets support of women's rights protests; while Beyoncé is praised for stealing writing credits on an album about her cheating husband and imparting such pearls of wisdom such as "mothers are like trees", while failing to donate any money or attend any protests herself.

While you could collect this sentiment into the narrative of "hardly done white man suffers while black female soars", I'd venture to say that this would be the easy way out. For as much as this media trend belittles white males, it also reflects an underestimation of black females which is common in the media. Remy Ma's attempted murder, arrest and subsequent release are hardly remarked upon because violence is expected of her as a black woman. And Affleck's are brought up time and time again because as a white man of privilege he is somehow expected to know better. These are characterisations which do no favours to either star, and which, if media outlets such as BuzzFeed and Huffington Post are truly attempting to strive for equality through their articles, need to be avoided.

Quote

Dear PHF,

We have removed the following content from Redbubble as a result of having received a complaint from TAS Rights Management, LLC, the claimed owner or licensee of related intellectual property, and in accordance with Redbubble's IP/Publicity Rights Policy:

Taylor Swift's 'no its becky' T-Shirt: http://www.redbubble.com/people/galepop/works/19160264-taylor-swifts-no-its-becky-t-shirt

As you will be aware from our IP/Publicity Rights Policy, Redbubble requires a certain amount of information before it acts on such a complaint, including that:

• the relevant content is specifically named;
• the complaint came from the owner of the respective rights (or someone authorized to act on their behalf); and
• they have a good faith belief that the use of the relevant content is not authorized by the content owner, its agent or the law.

If you believe that removal of the above content is the result of a mistake (for example, that you have authorization to use the relevant content from the content owner) or misidentification, you can send us a counter notice.

Regards,

Redbubble Content Team

This is the e-mail that I received two days ago, on the tenth of December, in relation to a t-shirt design I had uploaded to the Redbubble online store. The design in question, uploaded under the title ‘Taylor Swift's 'no its becky' T-Shirt’, is one that had been present on the website for several years, and which had been a moderate source of finances for me as a designer; the company making the complaint was one ‘T[aylor] A[llison] S[swift] Rights Management’, a newly formidable presence in the online design world.

Yet at first glance, for those as yet uninitiated into the 'Swiftie' fandom, the design may seem more related to Beyonce than it is Taylor. The “no its becky” meme began way back in April 2012, when a Tumblr user known as 'Yallarebrutalizingme' made a satirical post about the dangers of “snorting marijuana” with Swift as the poster child for drug addiction. “Please don't wind up like Becky”, the post read, along with a photograph of a high school aged Swift smiling benignly for the camera. User 'bitch-pudding' pointed out the mistaken identity in a reblog before 'dundermilfllin' sarcastically responded with "no its becky".

But in possibly the only truly brilliant move she’s ever made, Swift took the meme to legendary status herself in 2014, about a week after she first created her Tumblr account. In promotion of her new album 1989, the popstar posted a selfie featuring a mustard-colored t-shirt which mimicked the text in dundermilfllin's post - font and all. Fans immediately lost it at the fact that their idol was noticing something they had previously thought of as an inside joke, and the post became a social media hit, gaining over 18 000 notes and being covered by sites such as MTV News and PopCrush.

The memes well documented past makes it all the more strange that Swift and/or her legal team would later try and claim credit for it when it comes to Redbubble designs inspired by it, some of which are still uploaded today. Copyrights and ownerships are notoriously difficult concepts to comprehend on the Internet, especially when the recontextualisations and edits of Tumblr are taken into account, where copyright is generally ignored in favour of a free-for-all melee of appropriation. But if ownership had to be assigned for the "no its becky" quote, if anything it should clearly go to the elusive dundermilfllin, the user who coined the caption in the first place.

Of course, this isn’t the first time Swift has tried to make a dime out of her fans art. In 2014, she used her record label Sony to demand that a ‘Bad Blood’ parody video made by YouTuber Shane Dawson be taken down off the video-sharing website. In February of last year, the popstar controversially sent cease and desist letters to her fans on Etsy who took to the handmade arts website to post work in dedication to the singer. Later that year, in September, she used the aforementioned TAS Rights Management to shut down Periscope streams of her 1989 Tour that were circulating around Twitter. And on a broader scale, she’s famously copyrighted 1989-related phrases such as "This Sick Beat", "'Cause We Never Go Out of Style," "Could Show You Incredible Things" and "Nice to Meet You, Where You Been?". Everyone knows about the time she tried to threaten Kanye West and Kim Kardashian into submission. And the singer is currently in the midst of a lawsuit with a radio DJ who she says touched her inappropriately during a backstage meet and greet.

What are your thoughts on the case? Does Swift deserve the rights, and all associated profits, to the Internet-created “no its becky” meme? Or has she taken her legal rights a step too far? Sound off in the comments down below!

I'll start this review by admitting straight up that I haven't yet completed Final Fantasy XV, the long-awaited fifteenth title in the main series of the legendary Final Fantasy franchise. Unlike some of the Square-Enix superfans in Japan who completed the entire game in one sitting over the course of 24 hours, I'm taking my time with FFXV, pondering over every sidequest and fishing hole at my own leisure with no sense of urgency to propel me forward. It's a slow pace that was mirrored in the game's legendary development cycle, which took over ten years to complete and which evolved the game through a variety of incarnations since its announcement as Final Fantasy Versus XIII for the Playstation 3 back in 2006. After such a long wait time between announcement and release, it's safe to say that fan expectations were high, especially given the massive PR campaign that the game developers based around the title, which included a film, an anime series, a prologue novelisation, a huge soundtrack album and three songs recorded by Florence + The Machine.

Which is why it pains me to say that after all of Square Enix's hard work at hyping up the title, the game sadly came as somewhat of disappointment to me. When I ran to the stores on release day to grab my copy, it was in hopes of playing the first truly open world Final Fantasy game, a unique and unexplored mashup of classic FF elements and themes with the freedom and limitlessness of one of the Bethesda-styled games that have become popular in recent years. Instead, what I got was a jumbled and inconsistent collection of gameplay mechanics based around a limp and muddled plot with jarring holes where previously promised content had been replaced or removed completely. When Final Fantasy XV excels, it provides a fun slice of escapism following four best buddies with witty banter and truly beautiful scenery; but when it fails, it does so quite spectacularly. Here's a list of five areas of improvement that were sorely needed for the game to live up to expectation.

1. The plots seem insignificant and muddled

Before the release of FFXV, we had little clue as to what the plot was about other than a short synopsis that had been released regarding the games opening scenes - in short, a statement that detailed the importance of the crystal to the Kingdom of Lucis (and, thus, our hero Noctis who is the prince of said kingdom), and a brief sentence about the Nilfheim Empire's overthrowing of the Kingdom and the resistance lead against them by the kings-guard. In a social media landscape rife with oversharing, the sparseness of information relating to the games plot was actually quite riveting, and I was excited to see how plot points would unravel with little idea of what to expect. Little did I know that plot summaries were kept deliberately vague not in an effort to provide surprises for players, but to mask the fact that the plot itself is a complete muddle of ideas which never quite seem to take off.

Let's fast forward a little bit to chapter six which I've just completed. So far, we've got several ongoing plots which all seem very important but which have not been explained in the slightest. We're slowly making our way across the world to Noctis' beau and the mysterious oracle Lunafreya in order to keep her safe, although the amount of pitstops we're taking suggests that there's no real rush in getting there; we're trying to find some ancient weapons belonging to past kings which grant us magical power but whose actual importance to the plot is kept extremely vague; we're meeting up with some gods here and there who also grant magical powers as instructed by a messenger of the divine, but there's little information given as to why this is necessary; we're trying to mount some kind of resistance against the Empire that's just invaded our city (according to the plot synopsis above), but there's no actual planning that occurs to tell us how to do this; and we're headed to a mysterious quay to board a mysterious ship that will take us to a mysterious place we know absolutely nothing about.

So naturally, it's time to take a break and seek some revenge for a character we've met a grand total of twice and have very little affinity for: an old man by the name of Jared who was somehow killed in an invasion on Lestallium we never actually saw happen, or saw any consequences of. The party heads to a nearby military base to "seek vengeance", but while we're there we find a commander from the Nilfheim Empire who we decide to take hostage - because why not? An entirely new mechanic of sneaking is introduced to take this commander under our guidance and care, and when we finally do our trusted friend Ignis leaves us behind to destroy the base while he escorts the commander to safety. But when our objective is complete and the military base is alight, Ignis returns to say he's travelled halfway across the continent to put the commander in someone else's capable hands, only to have him escape their custody - in the less than five minutes it took for us to complete our part of the bargain. As we leave the base, we notice several guards chasing after us, suggesting that there has been no vengeance sought and no commander held hostage - only to continue on our original path to the mysterious quay which we don't know anything about. Do you get the gist yet?

The sad part about this is that all of these plots on their own could be easily developed into something that came across as entirely consequential and even earth-shattering if they had been handled properly. If the game was explicit about the fact that we were trying to fight the Empire, gaining the power of past kings and gods would be an obvious plan of attack, and could set out a nice structure to the game a la Ocarina of Time. Even seeking out Lady Lunafreya across the land, only to continually miss her by days, would be a noble cause if we were invested in the relationship between her and Noctis. But due to the lack of plot development, and the absence of key scenes - the game frequently gives us a caption of "Three days later..." to avoid explaining what happens in particular moments, such as (weirdly) when we're captured by an enemy commander who was disguised as a friend and then abruptly let go with no explanation - all of these plots appear completely inconsequential and unimportant. It's possible that some of these side characters, and indeed even some of the plots, are fleshed out more in some of the companion media - so far, an entire film entitled Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV and an anime series called Brotherhood: Final Fantasy XV have been released to moderate success in Japan - but even if that's the case, the importance of the games secondary titles was never made clear to western gamers, and thus their viewings should not be a pre-requisite to enjoying the game itself.

2. The open world is much too closed

One of the saddest parts about FFXV is the fact that for a game promised to be open world, the entire setting is actually quite closed. The map itself is quite large, and impressively seems to feature no loading screens at all, which definitely adds to the sense of limitless possibility that a gamer may feel when travelling through it; but much of it is closed off due to high mountain ranges, highways and industrial structures, all of which seem to have been inserted simply to save the map developers time in crafting new locations. Most annoyingly, there's high fences blocking much of your path throughout the game which characters should easily be able to jump over with the aid of their chocobo steeds but which instead force you to take overly long routes around them only to end up on the other side. In a strange twist of fate, even the absence of explorable locations probably isn't a bad thing, because despite the sheer volume of world to explore there's very little to actually do once you get there. Stumbling across an abandoned hut seems exciting at first, until you realise that it's simply a recycled version of another shack you saw five minutes ago, with no key items, non-playable characters, or sidequests to encounter therein at all. These said sidequests and item locations are marked on your mini-map, so there's really no need to explore the world around you too much at all, and even if you do go off-road there's very little to find apart from a limited set of beasts to fight. The side quests themselves are tolerable but repetitive, forsaking the fun and uniqueness of games like Grand Theft Auto for a repeated set of quest proprietors who will continuously pop up around your map to ask for help achieving key items, defeating beasts or taking photos. It's not a completely dreadful mechanic, but the fact that you can, at the touch of a button, know exactly who will be asking you for help in exactly what area combines with the closed off setting in limiting your sense of curiosity as an explorer.

3. The transport mechanics are too simple

Much was made of FFXV's car mechanic pre-release, with some reviewers even going so far as to characterise the entire game as a "road trip buddy adventure". Indeed, the choice to include a car for the first time in a major role since Final Fantasy VII was an inspired one, and should have added an entirely new level of gameplay that previous games in the series hadn't yet achieved. Sadly, despite major influences from the aforementioned title GTA, the car mechanic in FFXV is severely limited. Players can choose to let their fast-travelling Ignis drive the car automatically or do so manually by playing as Noctis; but even when Noct takes the lead the mechanics consist mainly of holding down R2 to accelerate and turning a joystick to move around corners while the game guides you in the direction you need to head in automatically. Swerving in front of an oncoming vehicle will elicit not road rage or any damage to your ride, but instead will simply cause the drivers wheeling towards you to stop in the middle of the road and wait for you to make room for them; and there's no ability to run over any NPCs or fight a beast from the comfort of your backseat, meaning that there's really not much to do except to watch the scenery go by. There are some fun elements to your vehicle, such as the CD player which blasts old Final Fantasy soundtracks (and, weirdly, a singular Afrojack song) at your leisure, as well as decals which can be utilised to customise your ride. But in comparison to chocobo riding, which in this game at least requires the use of four controller buttons, the car totally pales; which, given how often its used and its importance to the plot, is a real shame.

4. The day and night system is tiresome

In another interesting move, FFXV developers decided to implement a unique day and night system to the game. This mechanic encourages players to take a nap at the end of every day in order for their health to be restored and their experience points tallied, meaning that (free) campsites and (expensive) hotels are the only places where characters can actually level up. Resting havens such as these are intended to be spaces to allow the characters of Ignis and Prompto to exhibit their special skills: with the former cooking a meal of your choice using items obtained throughout your travels which can boost set attributes, and the latter giving you a series of photographs taken automatically throughout the day for your perusal which you can save in a photo album or share with friends on social media. When nighttime hits, roads are blocked off by overpowered beasts you must fight through and certain quests can't be completed, effectively forcing players to make camp at their nearest haven. While I actually appreciate the uniqueness of this time change mechanic, as well as its necessity in forcing players to take advantage of the characters skills, its actual implementation comes off as a hinderance to flow in the game. Countless times I've been in the middle of an important mission as momentum builds in the story, only to have to stop whatever I'm doing right as I get into it because dusk has begun to fall. This would be less of a problem if daytimes were longer, but they move by so quickly that often you barely have time to get from one quest location to another before you are forced to go out of your way to set up camp just so that you can continue with the actual story. It's an interesting mechanic for sure, and I appreciate the desire of the developers to do something different with the game, but in this case a poor implementation makes for a frustrating experience.

5. The abilities and items are severely limited

One of my favourite parts of Final Fantasy X (which I should admit I am totally biased for) was it's Sphere Grid system, the levelling up mechanic which allowed players to customise each of their eight playable characters completely uniquely and to suit their own needs. FFXV has a similiar mechanic in its Ascension Grid, but instead of giving characters the chance to delve into whatever weapon, magic or skill they wish to master, the four characters are limited to abilities which are designed specifically for them which no one else can access. It's a problem reflective of a larger overall issue with the game's lack of freedom which prevents players from gaining any real unique abilities past the arbitrary "hit O to attack" mechanic introduced at the start of the adventure. Gone are the days of white, green and red magic, as are standard Final Fantasy abilities such as 'Steal', 'Flee' and 'Poison', in exchange for a limited set of attacks which doesn't even quite reach the level of freedom expressed in the similiarly-styled Kingdom Hearts series. Weapons offer a little more accessibility, with Noctis especially having access to a variety of arms as well as being able to customise his own types of black magic; but the fact that almost all weapons and accessories have to be bought and not found or won makes upgrading your arsenal a tedious and uneventful task. Am I the only one who's waiting for the return of the class system?

With all that said, there's still hope that Final Fantasy XV may improve. At this point, I'm just a little under halfway through the games fifteen chapters, which leaves plenty of time for a late turnaround - although the slow start to the plot would still be a definite flaw. And even if it doesn't quite get there in it's current form, a set of recently announced updates could still do the trick. In a recent press release, Hajime Tabata announced that FFXV was meant to be a game that would be enjoyed for years to come, with planned updates joining DLC to come in the next few months that would add "scenes that will give you insight into character motivations", new playable characters and potentially even customisable avatars, and even a form of real-time multiplayer that would allow you to battle entirely new bosses and limited-time hunts. If Final Fantasy XV's numbered predecessor is anything to go by, these updates may very well be crucial in making an extremely mediocre game extremely fun - Final Fantasy XIV's relaunch as A Realm Reborn was a pleasantly brilliant revival of what was once a pretty woeful title. But it's sad that after waiting ten years, fans will have to wait even longer to receive the game that was promised to them. Here's hoping we won't have to wait as long for FFXVI.

Excuse me, sir/madam, but do you have a minute to talk about the one true Lord and Saviour, the daughter of Pop Gods Michael Jackson and Madonna and the divine harborer of the Holy Spearit?

You see, over the past few months our one true god has undergone a resurrection to make her presence plain on this earthly realm in which we live. We use the word "resurrection" loosely - for while she had never truly forsaken us, she had departed us for some time, lost in the heavenly slumber between life and death. Her earthly body remained here, lending its voice to some true bops and its muscles to several lacklustre music videos and live performances; but her soul was somewhere else, travelling the universe on a divine journey for ultimate truth.

The name of this god who has graced us once again with her divinity?

It's Britney, bitch.

The younger among you may not have experienced our religion at its prime, for it has fallen since its creation in 1998 after the first of nine gospels, known as ...Baby One More Time, was first discovered. But at its peak, our religion had over 30 million devoted followers dedicated to worship, a far-spreading reach that hit music, television shows, movies and fragrances, and a public that saw our saviour for who she really was - a virginal saint.

The world has changed since then, and the Holy Spearit has grown, matured and evolved with it. Her first true experience with the devil came in 2007, when she bit the apple of temptation and showed the world that even gods have feelings. In her darkest hour, it seemed like our great god above might never pull through; until she shaved her head in sacrifice, and invoked the magical ruin of lore, the umbrella, in order to defeat her satanic enemies.

Britney Christ may have won the battle, but the scars continued to haunt her. Our lord was weary from our battle, and taking restorative potions and drugs to get her through the day. While she responded to the prayers sent her way, it seemed as though she was simply regurgitating information from one of her past gospels than preaching any new scriptures. Even when she tells us that "love makes miracles", the waver in her voice and not-so-subtle eye roll tells us that our one true lord is not practicing what she preaches.

Now, compare that with this conversation from earlier this year. As Britney herself says, "it's all about the contrast". No longer a vengeful god, the Holy Spearit has returned to gratify her followers with warmth and kindness, even ascending one of her most devoted practitioners to her place in heaven - if only for a short while until he comes back down to earth.

Her sermons, too, have become more and more involved. Recall this performance from a few years ago, where our lord diminished herself in order to perform as the special guest of a false idol. She walked around the altar uninspired in her stilettos and barely even mustered the few hair flips that were expected of her. It was clear that the divine being was still in pain.

But now, our lord struts around the altar with a purpose, disseminating her gospel with the passion and joy she exhibited almost two decades ago when she was first crowned as divine. Not only are her movements perfectly suited to that of a goddess, but her skin glows with the radiance of the godly flame that burns inside her once again.

As has always been true, there will be non-believers who refuse the teachings and dedicate themselves to a life of sin and treachery - some refer to them as "Xtincta stans". But Britney's ever-expanding power is making it harder and harder for those Satan-worshipers to defy her. No one knows exactly what has triggered this resurrection or why the spark inside our lord has been missing for her past two gospels, many of which were re-written by her prophet Myah Marie. But if she keeps this up, our lord will be back in the minds, hearts, and CD players of the entire world in no time.

Tell us, followers, when did you first learn of the Holy Spearit's resurrection? Has it surprised you to learn of her divine powers, or have you always known that deep down the lord was ready for her place, waiting to resurface? Share your thoughts with your fellow clergy members in the Sunday school session below.

Like almost every aspect of popular culture, pop music is a subject ruled by dichotomies. There's a reason why Lady Gaga, the major proponent of sexual freedom, radicalist fashion and politically forward-thinking views, rose to fame in the same year as Taylor Swift, the chaste virgin queen who practiced all American values and permed hair.

In recent years, this dichotomy found itself oppositioning the high-tempo, high-octane dance-pop of American artists like Gaga, Rihanna and Katy Perry with the slow crooning of English soul stars like Adele, Sam Smith and Ed Sheeran. But now, a middle ground between fast and slow and originator and colony has been reached with the rise of the mid-tempo jam and the birth of slow-pop.

Harking back to the sound of choice in the 90s, slow-pop fuses the R&B slow jams of old with the electro synths of today to create a sound that fits neatly in between the euphoric dance tracks intended for the clubs and the lyrical, vocal-based musings of the balladeers which are perfectly crafted for rainy days in bed. Often drawing inspiration from genres such as R&B, trap and hip-hop, the genre is nevertheless intrinsically linked to synth-pop and the catchy, repetitive lyrics and beats it provides.

In recent months, smaller acts like Kiiara, Terror Jr. and Phoebe Ryan have all shot to fame through their manipulation of the slow-pop genre. Kiiara has had her first top forty hit on the Billboard Hot 100 with her sparsely produced trap-pop debut single 'Gold', in what's almost an unprecedented move for a new artist nowadays; Terror Jr. have reached an audience of over ten million with a high profile placement in a Kylie Jenner Cosmetics commercial; and Phoebe Ryan has received millions of fans thanks to an endorsement from the snake herself, Swift.

But the slow pop revolution hasn't settled with staying underground. Last year saw the release of Selena Gomez's 'Good For You', one of the year's biggest hits; and after it hit #5 on the US charts, the track was able to usher in a new wave of sexy slow jams in it's wake. Britney Spears' 'Make Me...' follows in the same formula, with an emphasis on sensual vocals, a slow build and a male counterparts rap over any magic tricks in the production. Even Rihanna's 'Work' finds the singer trading in the high-energy pulsating rhythm of a track like 'We Found Love' for a more simple beat and some repetitive lyrics, propelled forward by the addition of Drake; and the third single from her new project, 'Needed Me', is classic slow-pop, thanks in large part to DJ Mustard's understated dubstep and trap inspired beat.

It's a stark difference between the chart listings we saw last year, in which tracks like Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars' 'Uptown Funk', Justin Bieber's 'Sorry' and Major Lazer's 'Lean On' reigned supreme. But if there's one thing we know about pop music, it's that every new trend is just another on a huge wheel - and that nothing will stop the wheel from turning or the cycle from beginning anew. Slow-pop may be the genre of the minute for now, but artists will have to continue to adapt to whatever the next thing may be if they want to stay current.

In a recent interview with ES magazine, musician and outspoken proponent of Syrian and refugee rights M.I.A. opened up about her thoughts on the Black Lives Matter movement and it's dissemination through pop culture. When asked if she'd seen Beyoncé's latest performance for 'Formation' at this year's Super Bowl - the former Destiny's Child member's empowerment anthem aimed towards females and people of colour - M.I.A. encouraged a broader view on the subject, taking to task the movements unequal hierarchy on the long list of racial issues facing the world at large.

"It’s interesting that in America the problem you’re allowed to talk about is Black Lives Matter," she mused. "It’s not a new thing to me -- it’s what Lauryn Hill was saying in the 1990s, or Public Enemy in the 1980s. Is Beyoncé or Kendrick Lamar going to say Muslim Lives Matter? Or Syrian Lives Matter? Or this kid in Pakistan matters? That’s a more interesting question. And you cannot ask it on a song that’s on Apple, you cannot ask it on an American TV program, you cannot create that tag on Twitter, Michelle Obama is not going to hump you back."

Later, the star took to Twitter to further explain her views.

M.I.A.'s quotes, like the movement itself, quickly went viral among the easily insulted SJW circles of Tumblr and Twitter. And as is typical in race discussions, those in support of the movement were loath to allow her the opportunity to expand the conversation beyond what was already being had, instead criticising the 'Paper Planes' rapper for diverting the attention away from the issue at hand. Such an argument is routine in the political culture of today, in which competition over representation is preferred over uniting cultures under a single banner - you cannot bring up male rape statistics, because it distracts from female rape; and you cannot bring up injustices faced by Syrians, because it is insulting to African Americans.

But M.I.A.'s critiques of the movement were likely justified. Far apart from the obvious commercialization of the movement (the fact that it was referenced at the Super Bowl suggests it's probably being used more as an attempt for commercial gain than for actual social change), the Black Lives Matter movement (and indeed most racially charged protests in the past few years) has quickly become something of an elitist club in which skin colour determines entry. Those who don't fit neatly into the categories of "privileged white person" or "racially stereotyped African American" are left out of the conversation, effectively excluding the viewpoints of huge portions of Hispanics, Asians, Native Americans and hundreds of other races - and that's not even getting started on those mixed race individuals.

And outside the US, the situation is even more dire. It can be difficult to step outside the insularity of America to examine the problems of other countries, but it's worth remembering that in the Middle East there is still an ongoing War on Terror which has almost completely obliterated entire countries. Everyday, thousands of people lose their lives in this war - an estimated 1.3 people million in total, most of which would be civilians. It's easy to look at this situation at a distance - after all, people in the Gaza Strip don't look like us, think like us or behave like us. But what cannot be forgotten in this particular war is America's own undeniable influence behind it. After all, if it weren't for George Bush's administration, none of these citizens would have died in the first place.

As M.I.A. suggested, part of the problem in this equation is the media. It's natural for the US media to fearmonger and bandwagon only causes which relate to their own citizens - it will encourage the most moral panic, and thus the most hits. But an equally large part of the problem is the forced censorship of activists by those who are only interested in US affairs. When Black Lives Matter activists criticise M.I.A. for trying to broaden the conversation, they are not only ensuring their own insularity, but silencing millions of voices whose opinions and lives are just as sacred as their own. Instead of setting up African Americans and Syrians in competition, and allowing only one of these minorities to be focussed on at a time, they should unite those that fall outside the white Anglo-Saxon majority together. Maybe then, with a majority viewpoint made up of thousands of minorities, actual social change could be enacted.

Dear Mr. Tromp,

As webmaster, administrator and content writer of #PopHatesFlops, I am awoken every morning by a flurry of e-mails related to my website which I must attend to. Generally these e-mails are simple acknowledgements of errors that have occurred on the websites; often they are updates offered by our host or system manufacturers; and sometimes they are complaints by users of abuse on the website. Most common of all the e-mails in my inbox are newsletters from various outlets promoting their latest wares; and most rare are those threatening legal action against me and my website.

I have been unlucky enough to receive half a dozen or so legal threats over the years since I first started PHF in 2012. When we posted about a Natalia Kills song 'Heart To Break' in 2013, we were sent a cease and desist letter from Ms. Kills' team asking us to take the article down as it was regarding a song that was unlawfully obtained. When the Lana Del Rey track 'Noir' was discussed in 2014 before its leak we were sent a cease and desist letter from Music Rights Australia telling us to erase any reference of the track. Earlier this year, we were admonished with fake claims of illegality from an imposter of the artist Allie X who claimed that we were trading her tracks illegally; it was later revealed that they were in fact just a crazed stan who had taken their obsession too far. And the latest legal advice we've received has been from you.

This morning I woke up to receive the following e-mail from you, hastily copy and pasted with the remnants of a long-lost formatting persisting on:

As mentioned, we have received many legal threats in the past, but this is by far the most shoddy and unprofessional one yet. From the unprofessional Gmail address to the poorly researched information on defamation which you clearly copied from an article entitled 'How To Delete Things from the Internet', your e-mail was a trainwreck from the greeting to the sign-off.

Unfortunately, Jay, unlike you I am well aware of my rights and the protections I have under the law of my home country Australia. Over the past three weeks, I have binge-watched five seasons of CBS's hit show The Good Wife (airing Sunday nights at 9pm) and thus have an understanding of the law only matched by the top district attorneys (probably). You claim that our website's lone post about you was defamatory - and yet judging by your own (plagiarised) definitions of defamation it was nothing of the sort. Firstly, you have been grossly misinformed, as we did not post about you on social media. Secondly, as stated in our Terms & Conditions, all posts on #PopHatesFlops are inherently statements of opinion belonging to the users they are made by and thus are not intended for interpretation as fact. As you yourself copy and pasted, "for celebrities and public figures [...] the statement [must] be maliciously untrue - you knew it was false". As is apparent in a quick perusal of our post, Jay, nothing that any of our members said was in fact false - you have admitted to illegally posting a song by Lady Gaga on iTunes, thus violating intellectual property laws. We did not harm your reputation - you handled that all on your own.

It's equally clear that your request for us to remove our content is simply an effort to avoid permanent evidence of your misdoings to be floating around - misdoings that you admitted in your own e-mail to be illegal, and which are thus not protected by the laws of the United States of America. You seem to now be claiming that you never posted the song at all, and that the whole thing was a dream in the over-active imagination of DJ White Shadow. Rest assured that all posts about you on any website (including your own Tumblr, which you have now deleted) have been documented for good on The Way Back Machine.

Frankly, the whole attempt at a threatening e-mail was laughable. And possibly the funniest thing about the whole situation is the fact that if you had simply asked me to remove the thread in a polite way without resorting to baseless threats I would have done so.

The current trend of threatening legal action against those who frustrate you online - whether it be someone telling the truth about you on a forum post, or a music fan who has just leaked a song you were trading just days ago - is snide, unfair and hypocritical, and must be stopped. As such, I will not follow the lead of other websites like GagaDaily who have removed every post written about you from their website; but will stand by the posts that were made on PHF with the full force of the United States and Australian legal systems at my side.

I hope you rethink your attempts at at a power play, and wish you luck restoring your besmirched name. I sympathise with you for facing legal trouble from a huge corporation such as Interscope and wish you luck in your legal battle - hopefully the judge will be lenient on you and you will not face prison time. Thank you for wishing me a nice day, and I pray you have the same.

Kind Regards,
Mo

Update:

After conversing further with Mr. Tromp over e-mail, he has publicly and privately apologised for his threats towards us on his Twitter page. In turn, we have agreed to remove the original post as a good-will gesture towards him. We appreciate Mr. Tromp's willingness to sort the situation out. We certainly sympathise with his situation and we wish him all the best in the future. We urge Interscope Records and Lady Gaga's team to forgive him his mistakes as we have done.

I’m a strong advocate for speaking up about racism, homophobia, and transphobia, but does it ever come to a point that Social Justice Warriors (dubbed as “SJW” on Twitter and Tumblr) become a nuisance? Their messages come with good intentions, however when they try to speak up and bring their ideas into fruition, they attack and use radical actions along with sometimes having just flat out ridiculous beliefs.

One of the most notable reasons as to why Social Justice Warriors could be seen as a nuisance, is the constant searching and “exposing” of old tweets, comments, and speech’s saying something problematic and using them against over whoever it may be. This could extend to a random user on Twitter who they are arguing with, a politician, or another celebrity. A lot of the time these comments come from a time when the particular person was young and or ignorant, why should a person be punished and attacked if they didn’t know any better? People can learn from their mistakes, and something they said 5 years ago shouldn’t come back and haunt them, no matter how problematic the statement was. If your parents were racist and you lived in the south, you will probably be racist too! Is that an excuse for being racist? Hell no, but if you later become educated on the topic, you shouldn’t be punished.

Secondly, some of the things Social Justice Warriors advocate for are just plain ridiculous. Cultural appropriation happens to be one of them, a very controversial topic, mostly because it is taboo to the majority of the world. Cultural appropriation mostly started on the internet, which contributes to a lot of the reason why it is so clouded and no one knows what it is, people add many things that shouldn’t be dubbed as cultural appropriation into the mix. Appropriating items such as Native American headdresses and bindis are definitely a real form of cultural appropriation, because it goes to the extent of offending something sacred to them, culturally or relilgiously. Although, things such as “appropriating hair styles” such as cornrows or box braids, is where I draw the line. Is wearing cornrows, as a white person, actually offending people? Or are they just sensitive and looking for something to be livid about? The answer is the latter, cornrows don’t have any sacred values, they’re a hairstyle created by black people to help control the hair, but why can’t the hairstyle be embraced and used for fashion?

There are definitely Social Justice Warriors that are wholesome, fight for the right battles and are respectable, although I just can not ignore the growing amount of Social Justice Warriors that are making a muck of the community and defaming other Social Justice Warriors. I have read numerous “horror” stories about some people’s Social Justice Warriors experiences, to the extent of stalking and constantly harassing someone for something they said years ago! We definitely need people fighting to end social injustice in the world, but they can not be a nuisance like some of today’s “Social Justice Warriors”, and hopefully we will see even more respectable Social Justice Warriors grow from today’s youth. Just because some Social Justice Warriors are a nuisance does not mean we don’t need to abolish racism, homophobia, transphobia, along with many other problems in the world.

As with all pandemics, the virus started out small. In November 2011, Nickelback - the same band who has sold 50 million albums worldwide and whose single 'How You Remind Me' was listed as the fourth best selling single of the 2000s - was voted the "biggest musical turnoff" by Tastebuds.com, a music-oriented dating service. A fair enough result - the dulcet tones of 'Photograph' could hardly be considered an aphrodisiac - but the poll triggered a tidal wave of negativity that continued through the months and years to haunt the quartet. Later that month, a petition began to stop the band from performing at the Detroit Lions Thanksgiving football game half time show. Memes poking fun at lead singer Chad Kroeger's 2004 hairstyle popped up like weeds (just you try making one about Rihanna's weave - we'll see where the Navy leaves your body). And the bands Twitter became a hub of hatred for those who disliked them, with only 69% of their mentions being positive and 31% being negative in February of 2012. Even when they tried to get in on the joke themselves, making fun of the situation in a satirical Funny Or Die video, the perception of the group remained as lame dads who were trying too hard to be cool. The infection of criticism was well and truly established; but at least it was contained.

But it wasn't long before the virus began to spread. It's next target was Irish band U2, who faced scrutiny after Apple - you know, the company whose phone, tablet or computer you're probably reading this article on - added their latest album, 2014's Songs of Innocence to millions of iTunes libraries for free. Yes, people were complaining about free music. Many journalists jumped on the newly ongoing discourse of sexual abuse to vent their frustrations  - Bob Lefsetz was most straightforward said that the move was "no different from a rape or a murder, but with even less legs", but the fact that almost every article on the Internet about the release described it as a "violation of user consent" effectively painted the band as harassers who destroyed the virginal sanctity of millions of iTunes libraries. The same band who was instrumental in the organisation and promotion of the (RED) campaign, which raised over $350 million to combat the spread of AIDS; the same band who wrote 'Miss Sarajevo' to bring attention to the underreported Bosnian War in 1995; the same band who brought Mary J. Blige to international attention after collaborating with her on 'One'; was now being criticised for their presumably minuscule part in an Apple marketing campaign. The disease continued to take over.

It's latest victim has been Coldplay, whose completely passable performance at last week's Super Bowl halftime show has received predictably vitriolic reception online. Despite the fact that they were humbly willing to take a back seat for a video tribute of past performers, shared the spotlight graciously with Beyoncé and Bruno Mars (thus including both women and people of colour in what was really a celebration of their own music), and alongside Lady Gaga were the only artists to actually sing live this year, the band was universally slammed for a performance considered "dull", "lame" and "middle-aged". Commenters disregarded the bands entire history of past success in order to call for another show with Beyoncé as the headliner. Ironically, they saw no sense of that elusive "edge" in Coldplay - the same edge they felt after watching Bey sing yet another percussive song about girl power and it's accompanying formulaic dance routine. Alongside the Super Bowl itself, the disease has gone global.

Of course, online vitriol is hardly a new occurrence, and is definitely not exclusive to white male performers - look at any speech by the Dalai Lama hard enough and I'm sure you'll find a troll if you try hard enough. But the bandwagon of hate afforded to white bands is harsher and more symptomatic of a wider trend in which visibly white celebrities are regularly ridiculed for little to no reason and with no consequence whatsoever. When Zendaya is told she smells like patchouli oil for sporting dreadlocks, Giuliana Rancic loses her job; when Snoop Dogg tells Iggy Azalea that she looks like a character from White Chicks, she is told to get over it. These were artists that we once loved, enough to produce spawns of #1 hits for each (see 'Far Away', 'Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For' and 'Viva La Vida' for just a few examples). These are artists that we shaped through our establishment of supply and demand. And yet now we shun them for failing to conform to the racially-specific standards we have introduced in just a couple of years, or sometimes just a couple of months.

When Lady Gaga tells her fans to spread online kindness, or Demi Lovato advocates against bullying, it is not simply to females or people of colour that they are referring to - it is to all people regardless of sex, race, age, class or even musical genre. In the endless search for tolerance of diversity, we have somehow lost the ability to tolerate the least diverse members of our society - white rock bands.

Let's all cross our fingers that The Beatles will reunite with Beyoncé as a lead singer - it looks like that's the only way to keep their good name untarnished.

2015 has been the best year for celebrity catfights that we've had in the past decade. Between Katy and Taylor, Taylor and Nicki and Nicki and Miley, we've seen our fair share of heated debates and nasty retorts; and while Zayn Malik and Louis Tomlinson may have switched things up somewhat, most of these tabloid trashings were between females.

Caitlyn Jenner and Rose McGowan are the participants in this week's celebrity catfight, which stems this time around a controversial speech that Jenner made at the Glamour Woman of the Year Awards last week, and which McGowan responded to yesterday via a Facebook post that she later deleted.

Speaking at the awards show which celebrates powerful women, Jenner made waves when she allegedly said that "the hardest part about being a woman is figuring out what to wear". It should be noted, however, that Jenner appeared to contradict herself in the very same speech, when she stated:

Quote

It’s more than that. I’m kind of at this point in my life where I’m trying to figure this womanhood thing out. It is more than hair, makeup, clothes, all that kind of stuff. There’s an element here, that I’m still kind of searching for. And I think that’ll take a while. Because I think as far as gender, we’re all on a journey. We’re all learning and growing about ourselves. And I feel the same way.

Perhaps McGowan only read the headline, or maybe she thought that Caitlyn was simply trying to backtrack - either way, the Charmed actress took to Facebook to post, and later delete, her own fiery reaction to the speech, which she found to belittle and diminish the hardships of the female experience.

What's more saddening is the fact that McGowan's post sparked a string of transphobic comments online. Missy Fields stated that "All I have to say is a lot more people deserved this award than Bruce, Caitlin Jenner. He makes me sick," while Mary Dodge said "I think it's insulting to all women especially to the hero in New York. Come on he is a man not a woman and never will be...he should return the award!" Dodge was referring here to the NYPD police officer Moira Smith, who was posthumously given the same award way back in 2001 for helping evacuate people from the World Trade Center during 9/11. Her husband at the time, James Smith, returned the award to Glamour this week, saying that choosing Jenner as the latest recipient of the award was insulting to his wife's memory. "Was there no woman in America, or the rest of the world, more deserving than this man?" Smith asked in a public Facebook post alongside an image of the trophy. It's interesting that when Britney Spears earned the same award in 2003, Smith was content, even though to my knowledge Spears has never worked as a volunteer firegither.

Admittedly, Jenner's comments may have been poorly thought out or expressed badly - although without a video of the speech, we still don't really know if what she said was in jest, which sounds plausible given her later remarks. But McGowan's post it itself is hugely insensitive to the plights of Jenner and the trans community in general. Her claim that Jenner only "wants to be a woman", when the reality star has made it clear that she in fact is a woman and prefers to be referred to as such, reeks of transphobic nonsense; and her claim that Jenner, who has struggled with presenting as a different gender to the world than she truly is for several decades, is a beneficiary of "male privilege" seems in itself hugely dismissive of how difficult that must have been for Jenner. She also completely overlooks the fact that Jenner has been very open in both her public interviews and reality show about her own sexual awakening and that she is still figuring out what being a woman truly means to her; as well as that she's still learning about how to be a responsible member of the feminist and trans communities.

At this point, we really expect transphobic abuse to be hurled at public figures like Jenner when it comes to online comment sections on Entertainment Weekly. But it's disappointing to see such a high-profile entertainer like McGowan, who has claimed time and time again that she is an ally of the LGBT community, to stoop to almost the same level. That said, only a few months ago McGowan announced that she would quit acting to focus on her new music career. Maybe all this feud means is that a McGowan and Jenner-helmed sequel to 'Bad Blood' is dropping next week.

Everyone loves Downton Abbey’s best character, the Dowager Countess Lady Violet Crawley (aka Professor McGonagall, aka Dame Maggie Smith, aka Queen of the Universe).

But with all those crazy hats, amazing outfits and ridiculous burns (remember when she said that a true Englishman would never have dreamed of dying in someone else’s house? ) you might not have realised that she’s just like the average college student.

Need proof? Read on to find out how!

1. When you have a 9am tutorial.
   
   
    
2. When you realise you have an assignment due on Monday…
   
   
    
3. But your course co-ordinator won’t approve an extension.
   
   
   
   Is that even legal?
    
4. When Turnitin decides not to accept your assignment with one minute to go.
   
   
    
5. When you've come up with a ridiculous thesis statement, but you're studying Visual Arts so it doesn't even matter.
   
   

   Literally, there are no wrong answers for that subject.

6. When you're paired up with your friend for a group assignment...
   
   
    
7. But the school stoner is in your group as well...
   
   
    
8. So you take their name off the assignment before you hand it in.
   
   
    
9. When that one student tries to argue that everything you're saying is racist...
   
   
   
   Can’t we just move on so I can get home quicker?
    
10. And then homophobic...
    
    
     
11. And then sexist...
    
    
     
12. Until your tutor sticks up for you.
    
    
     
13. When it's finally time to go home...
    
    
     
14. But there's still time for a late afternoon turn up.
    
    
    
    Or, you know, whatever else you can get up to with a wild man inside you.

Pop icon Madonna's thirteenth studio album, and best project in a decade, Rebel Heart is officially out in just four days now, and it's safe to say that we're all pretty overwhelmed with not only the quality, but also the quantity, of tracks she recorded this time around. Along with the twenty-eight songs the album boasts on its various incarnations, over fifty demos - some of which have ended up on the final cut, some of which haven't - have leaked over the past few months, pushing Madonna fans into pandemonium mode and providing for some of the most interesting, if not entirely consistent, listening from the past couple of years in music.

But how do we make sense of what can often be a rather confusing batch of leaks? Some songs have up to five different demos attributed to them available on the web (we're looking at you, 'Wash All Over Me'), while some are only available in demo form. Some have undergone massive transformations from their leaked demo form to their album version, not that these transformations are always for the best; and yet others are nowhere to be found on the album at all (like the impeccably shady '2 Steps Behind Me' - didn't this deserve a spot as at least a Japanese bonus track, Madge?). That's why we've created this list. Think of it as a fast ticket to the leaks that have been pouring out of Camp Madonna lately - you can skip the incredibly dodgy demo vocals on 'Holy Water' and the redundant vibe of the Pharrell-produced 'Back That Up', and jump right into the good stuff. You're gonna love this.

12. Living For Love

(Album Version)

I'll be the first to say it - 'Living For Love' is nowhere near my favourite song from the Rebel Heart sessions. It's definitely not the strongest on the album, and nor is it the best representation of the project overall. That said, it did make a good comeback single with it's predictably uplifting message of self-belief (who's reductive now, Madge?), danceable beat and catchy, sing-along ad-libs. It also lends itself to some great choreography which is basically Madonna's greatest strength at this point, and which she served us with not only in the song's music video but also during her Grammy's performance (let's ignore that tragic BRITS showing, shall we?). At last sight, however, the song was only at #108 on the Billboard Hot 100 - a somewhat disappointing feat given how much promo and work went into the single release. Let's hope the weeks to come will see it's chart position improve.

11. Bitch I'm Madonna (Feat. Nicki Minaj)

(Album Version)

Listen: Madonna - Bitch I'm Madonna (Feat. Nicki Minaj)

The title alone will probably betray the fact that this is the album's most irreverent, ridiculous song, but in case you needed more proof, see what items in the following criteria you can check off:

Are we done here?

10. Hold Tight

(Album Version)

Listen: Madonna - Hold Tight

This album is really at it's best when Madge is working in the realm of the high-energy, powerful and lyrically superior mid-tempo, as proven by exhibit #1, 'Hold Tight'. Singing along to mid-tempo tracks keeps the high pace of the album out while still providing for an interesting and unique listen, and showing that Madge doesn't have to buy into the up-tempo craze that's infecting radio stations at the moment. 'Hold Tight' has a vaguely reggae, slightly tribal feel, but it's kept modern by a nice post-chorus in which the queen stutters "Everything's gonna..." interspersed with sound effects of some African man screaming. Is this how Akon makes money nowadays?

10. Rebel Heart (Feat. Avicii)

(Demo Version)

Listen: Madonna - Rebel Heart (Demo) (Feat. Avicii)

As the title track from the album, 'Rebel Heart' was always going to have a lot to live up to, and for the most part it succeeded - at least in demo form. Our guts tell us that the demo version of this song was originally meant to be the opening track on the album, given the atmospheric vocoder during it's intro and the slow build-up into amazingness which we've come to associate exclusively with Avicii (keep reading for more on this). Bizarrely, though, Madonna ended up scrapping the incredible production from the DJ to make way for a newer, more acoustically-based version of the song on the final album. The lyrics are just as introspective and nostalgic on the final version, but the excitement just isn't quite there.

9. 2 Steps Behind Me

(Demo Version)

Listen: Madonna - Two Steps Behind Me

We first heard about '2 Steps Behind Me' way back in early 2014 when it was listed by an insider source as a Lady Gaga diss track, and one of the first recorded for the album. Madonna may deny the fact that the song is aimed at her fellow pop princess, but the lyrics don't lie: check out lines like "Did you study way hard enough, trying to be a bust?/Yeah that's cool and all now get in line/Tickets are gonna cost". Sis has clearly done her research on those Born This Way Ball tour deals. Despite that, the song is actually pretty great; there's not too much sonical development throughout the whole thing, with just one simple relenting beat keeping the whole thing going, but the melody is super catchy and the synths are giving us disco realness. In a weird way, though, we're actually kind of happy it didn't make the album. Madge seemed to put an end to the infamous Gaga feud early this year when she praised an Instagram photo of her peer, and officially releasing the song on an album would definitely have started up another round of endless shade throwing between the artists and their fanbases. Somehow, this song was released in just the way it was meant to be.

8. Addicted (The One That Got Away)

(Demo Version)

Listen: Madonna - Addicted

It was a close call between the album and demo version of 'Addicted', and to be fair they're pretty similar for the most part. The only noticeable differences come in the hazy, echoey synths present in the demo version which are quite a bit sharper in the album version (somewhat of a mistake given how tinny they sound), and the glorious quasi-disco vocoder in the chorus of the demo you don't get in the final song. Really though, any version of this track is bound to impress, with both featuring the same punchy chorus, electric guitars, and dance break. It may not be quite on par with the Avicii productions, but it's definitely not far from them either.

7. Body Shop

(Album Version)

Listen: Madonna - Body Shop

Remember that scene in 'Big Girls Don't Cry' where Fergie is prancing around a car in a barn and wearing only a cowboy hat, a tied up flannel and daisy dukes? Well, 'Body Shop' successfully manages to take that one scene and make a song out of it. Basing an entire song around car metaphors may seem kind of overdone, but the production manages to make the somewhat cliched, kitschy lyrics less Rihanna's 'Shut Up And Drive' and more Shakira's 'Gypsy'. Out of all the slower, folky songs on the album, this one has to be our favourite; there's a simplistic sweetness and tenderness to it that's hard to dislike. And for once, Madge's admittedly thin vocals aren't actually ill-suited to one of her slower songs. We're officially in love.

6. Joan of Arc

(Album Version)

Listen: Madonna - Joan of Arc

'Joan of Arc' is probably the best down-tempo song Madonna has recorded in years - yards better than 'Miles Away' and worth much more than 'Masterpiece'. She's always been at her best when exploring and subverting religious imagery, and she's at her best here with lyrics dedicated to the world's foremost feminist icon such as "I don't wanna talk about it right now/Even hearts made out of steel can break down./I'm not Joan of Arc, not yet/I'm only human, oh yeah." 'Joan of Arc' keeps up the bass-heavy gypsy pop we heard in 'Body Shop' but with a slightly more defined beat, matching perfectly with the themes of soldiering on heard in the lyrics. For an even slower change of pace, try the leaked acoustic version - you won't regret it.

5. Holy Water

(Album Version)

Listen: Madonna - Holy Water

It's safe to say that 'Holy Water' had a lot to live up to, after Q.O.P.'s (that's Queen Of Pop for the uneducated peasants among you) continuous teasing of the track on Instagram, often accompanied by a provocative picture of herself and her modern day narcissistic, attention grabbing counterpart, Natalia Kills. It's even more well established that the first leaked demo of the song disappointed somewhat, with incredibly weak vocals and a very Kills-esque refrain of the tacky and tryhard "bitch, get off my pole". Luckily, the song had much more to give than this lackluster first attempt, and the album version improved on the demo in every way possible. Importantly, there's an impressive middle eight built up to throughout the whole song in which Q.O.P. self references with a sample of the perpetually danceable 'Vogue' - a little cocky, sure, but who's complaining about an excuse to hear that jam again? It's the kind of narcissism that's good for a glass of wine, a snigger, and a whole lot of dancing.

4. Illuminati

(Album Version)

Listen: Madonna - Illuminati

Even in it's first admittedly messy inclusion in the first batch of leaks a few months ago, 'Illuminati' always stood out as a total jam. Influenced by those ridiculous comments you see on YouTube which call everyone with a nose a devil worshipper ("Noses are shaped like triangles! Triangles are similar to pyramids! Aliens created pyramids! Aliens are evil! The devil is evil! Everyone with noses is a devil worshipper!"), Madonna channels her 'Erotica' incarnation here with a serve of some tongue in cheek spoken word realness that simultaneously mocks and educates said YouTube trolls. The only thing that could ever have improved the song was some cleaner vocals and a harder beat, both of which were brought to the table in the final album version with a restructured production courtesy of Kanye West and long-time collaborator Mike Dean. What more could you want?

3. Devil Pray

(Album Version)

Listen: Madonna - Devil Pray

Here's one Avicii collaboration that actually did make the album, and we're incredibly glad it did. 'Devil Pray' is a nice meeting point between the irreverent, mindless dance tunes on the album; the rebellious, often religious, gypsy-like slow jams; and the uplifting acoustics that have all fused together here to form Chemical X. The song begins with some chilled-out, percussive guitar strumming, before a surprise twist in the form of one of the most random lines on the album, "We could do drugs and we could smoke weed and we could drink whiskey". But it's not until the pre-chorus beat that things start getting really interesting, and it's not until the chorus that nirvana is achieved. It starts with a simplistic beat overlaid with a pitched refrain of "Oooh, save my soul" which is then again layered with some extra atmospheric beats and Madonna's own vocals. We dare you not to grind to this.

2. Wash All Over Me (Feat. Avicii)

(Demo Version)

Listen: Madonna - Wash All Over Me (Demo) (Feat. Avicii)

As our first unofficial taste of the album when it became the first track to leak, 'Wash All Over Me' was always in prime position to impress - and that it did. Offering us a brand new sound from the Queen, totally detached from the repetitive trance beats of 'Celebration' or the rather irritating, tinny synths present throughout much of MDNA, the song instead serves us with great production courtesy of Avicii and a surprisingly deep message about submitting to whatever life has in store for you. By now, I think we've established that Avicii is basically the master of a perfect build-up and an epic post-chorus breakdown, and he proves it here with an impeccable post-chorus that consists of Madonna repeating "let it wash all over me" and an ultimate moody yet movable dance break that is bound to get your heart racing. It's pretty close to pop perfection.

1. Borrowed Time (Feat. Avicii)

(Demo Version)

Listen: Madonna - Borrowed Time (Demo) (Feat. Avicii)

Here's another scrapped Avicii collaboration whose ultimate rejection on the album broke everyone's heart. Despite positive fan reaction to the tune, Madge decided to opt once again for a more acoustic version of the track on the final release, a choice we can't help but think of as a mistake. Remember how we said that Avicii was king of the breakdown? Well, he's in fine form here with a break that sounds like the best summers of your life distilled into musical form. The synths are fun and airy, the lyrics are just deep enough to believe in and yet not too deep as to be depressing, and queen's vocals have never sounded better. Are Avicii's publishing fees just too high, or what? We honestly can't think of any other reason as to why this total jam would be left off the album.

What's your favourite song on Rebel Heart? Are there any standout tracks you think we missed? Let us know in the comments below or over at the forum!

So, I wanted to make my first blog something personal. Knowing me, it'll be a hot mess of emotions, flash backs in my time lime, confusing, and a big rant. I'm kind of an emotional wreck right now, so I just need to let some things out.  My family & I aren't on good terms right now and Gaga is the only thing helping, so it'll probably end up an appreciation towards her while ranting about my family. Bare with me. I'm a hot mess right now.

I promise my future blogs won't be as emotional as this one and they will be wonderful filled with music and love and laughter and happiness.

To be honest, I'll always be bitter towards the fact that I didn't have Gaga growing up. I know it wasn't her fault, but to know all these kids have her to look up to, yet are completely ungrateful and blind to her message really pisses me off. To have songs like Hair, Born This Way, Bad Kids, No Floods, & The Queen in my life during middle/high school would have been revolutionary. To have someone tell me I'm not a freak, that I was born this way would've really helped out my confidence and my identity. Instead, I was mocked for my sexuality and my beliefs- or lack of beliefs, on a daily basis. I didn't have anyone tell me it was okay. I didn't have anyone tell me they believed in me. I didn't have much of an inspiration. At the time, I looked up to Judy Garland, but she never really talked about sexuality since it wasn't really 'ok' to do at the time. I mainly looked up to her because she was as depressed and fucked up as I was. To have one person for one second tell me that I'm not plagued with some demon or some mental disorder... It would have saved my life.

I can't listen to Hair without breaking down, ever. I know a lot of people hate on it and think it's cheesy, but the 15 year old in me needs it.

"In the morning, I'm short of my identity, I scream mom and dad why can't I be who I wanna be? I just wanna be myself, and I want you to love me for who I am, I just wanna be myself and I want you to know, I am my hair."

"I've had enough, I'm not a freak," - "Don't wanna change, and I don't wanna be ashamed, I'm the spirit of my hair, it's all the glory that I bare."

A big part of what I did at the time was experimenting with myself. The way I looked, the way I acted, how I dressed, I tried to make suttle changes everyday. It could be as simple as wearing a certain pair of socks certain shirt, or, if I felt extremely empowered (aka extremely pissed off at my parents), I'd dye my hair or cut it. I needed to express myself somehow, no matter how small it was. I was always true to myself, but I wasn't to find my identity, you know?

My parents were never super super religious. We had to go to church every Sunday, but honestly, it was more so they could go fuck off rather than them caring about religion. Plus, if we went to church, the church would help them out. My parents weren't too hard on me. My mom didn't really care what I did, but she wasn't really a lot, she felt bad about not being in our lives every day, so I think that's mostly why she tried not to pick fights. My father... that's a whole other story in itself. I hate referring to him by the f word, he never was one. He abused and neglected us. He was a fucked up person who did a lot of fucked up things to us. He would mock me on a daily basis. It wasn't the fun kind of joking, it was cruel, and he knew it was. Nicole, his wife, was even worse, but this is straying off topic. I could talk about them for days. Fucking ass holes.

Anyway, I love my mom, she's a decent person now, and we're kind of close, but she wasn't there. She never told me it was ok to be myself, never said she loved me, never encouraged me. I think I would rather have had her disapproval than her not speak at all.

So, when I was at church, I was always ignored by most people. The kids didn't like me because I was weird, and the Sunday school teacher, though nice, didn't really know 'how to handle me'. I always questioned everything they taught, always wanted to know why God did something, why this happened etc etc. When I got older, I started going to church just to get away from myself. School was hell. I was outed by someone I had been with for 4 years. We kept our relationship between us out of fear. Her parents were, well are, extremely homophobic. Mine aren't really, my brother is gay and he's 100% accepted, but my sister is bi and they used to make remarks behind her back about how she needed to pick a team or she only said she was bi because she was a slut & shit like that. I wasn't a slut, I wasn't confused, and I didn't want to pick a team. I knew I liked girls years before I knew I liked guys, I hated the part of me that liked guys. I knew they'd accept me more if I were lesbian than bi.

Back to the outing. This girl denied our entire relationship. She said she only pretended to go out with me as a joke. Her & her boyfriend made a bet that I was a lesbian and she wanted to see how long it would go... Yet we had messed around 100s of times, I knew more about her than her boyfriend did, we helped each other through a lot of shit, had snuck over to each others house in the middle of the night just to hold hands... yet she was straight... and it was a joke.... riiiiiiiight. The only reason she outed me was because she wanted to run away and get married. Hell yeah I wanted to get away from that town, I wanted to marry her one day, I wanted to be able to tell everyone that we were together, but there was no way I was moving 5 states away without a job, license or any direction. I wasn't going to move there just end up homeless. I wanted to give her a good future.

I don't regret it though. I know I was the smart one, I know everything I left behind with her was for the better. I'm not happy, in love, engaged to a wonderful man, and in a better place in life than I could have ever dreamed of.

My thoughts are a mess right now. Half of this probably doesn't make sense, oh well. I just need to release it & rant shit out that I've been holding in for years. I'm so thankful to have Gaga in my life, even if it wasn't during my darkest days. I'm glad to have her on days like today where I can look back, know I'm stronger, and not regret anything in life.