#onlyoneof beyOnd

[andrhomeda]

Lyon Pride Flag! based on the colors of OnlyOneOf undergrOund idOl 'be' series

[listen here]

[peppertaemint]

Hi, Peppertaemint! I was wondering if you wanted to talk more in depth about OnlyOneOf's Begin and Be Free music videos. It would be interesting to read your perspective on how both music videos follow a storyline, the stylistic means through which they portray the beginning of a potential relationship, but most importantly, the impact they must have on current K-Pop and its audience.

Hi Anon. Sorry it's taken me so long to answer this one. I wanted to wait until I could do it justice.

OnlyOneOf has released five music videos in the "be" series: YooJung's Begin, KB's Be Free, JunJi's Be Mine, Rie's Because, and Mill's Beat. Nine, the sixth member of OOO, has dropped the teaser for the final video in the "be" series, Bey0nd.

These videos tell stories of LGBT+ romance. The first two, Begin and Be Free, follow a couple's hookup and more than allude to the physical side of that, while Be Mine and Because take things further with a couple's ups and downs, including attraction and desire. Beat focuses on school bullying, with a student crushing on a young man who then battles the bullies with him. The teaser for Bey0nd carries on from the last, showing the new couple playing music and celebrating together.

These works are undoubtedly LGBT+, not only in the narrative portrayal but in the messages posted with the videos themselves. Begin states this clearly with the beautiful passage posted under the MV on YouTube:

Among the countless lovers in the world, there are also lovers that couldn’t be blessed. For whatever reasons. Religious reasons, things like parents’ disapproval. I dedicate this song to all those lovers that couldn’t be blessed.

Each set of MVs focuses on a couple (the members "chop and change" to create different couples) and a stage in their relationship. Flirting, getting acquainted, intimacy, conflict, reunion, etc. Begin and Be Free focus on desire and a sense of the erotic in romance. I particularly like the fish tank scene that is reminiscent of the intoxicating party scene in Baz Lurhmann's Romeo+Juliet. Be Mine and Because are bolder, if less stylistically interesting, as they depict kisses and other physical encounters between their couple, including an underwater kiss. If we compare these to Holland's MVs, which were marked as "adult only" because of same-sex romantic content, OOO's videos are less raw and gritty and much more wholesome, constituting a kind of K-drama-esque homo-romance.

If I squint, I'm reminded of Jungkook and Jimin in the Dynamite Holiday Remix video, acting as the "Christmas couple" away from the other members. But there's one glaring difference here—homo-romance is not subtext for OnlyOneOf. It's the whole of the text and the message of the work.

When OOO released homoerotic/romantic work previously, many cried "queerbaiting" despite many of us pointing out how these videos weren't queerbaiting—they were LGBT+ stories being told with elements of eroticism and romance. What I notice now is how much warmer the response is. I think this has something to do with the theme being consistent so people understand it's not a stunt for views, but I also think it's because the erotic elements are lessened. Sadly, people still have strong, negative reactions to eroticism, especially if it's LGBT+. The history of fan service is partly a reason for this, though I still think fan service needs to be revisited and recontextualized (that's an opinion for a different day).

Nonetheless, I think these videos show how the young SK generation's attitude toward LGBT+ contrasts with older generations' attitudes. Polls show there is quite a difference in support for LGBT+ rights between generations, and I think the fact we're seeing more openly positive LGBT+ content coming out in SK is a product of this.

It will be interesting to watch their trajectory over the coming years. K-pop is less popular in SK right now than it used to be, judging by comments from the general public, and the music industry in general is seeing the "silo-ing" of artists, meaning it's much harder for artists to become known and followed by many because styles and genres have become niche by default. Audiences have almost infinite choices in terms of who they follow and listen to, so much like we see on social media, fandoms are becoming their own complete subcultures where values and ideas are reinforced instead of challenged. And I mention this to say that although I'm sure OOO are having a positive impact on LGBT+ youth and artists in SK, the East, and beyond, I'm not sure just how wide the impact is given that we can now easily ignore what is outside of our sphere, culturally speaking.

Countering this, I'm reminded how important music shows like Inkigayo and Mnet are because they put this content in the living rooms of a diverse set of people. And that is one way older generations can be reached.

[muselin]

Loved Nine's solo ❤️❤️ the video description was so sweet, I love his voice and everyone did so well. I loved this saga of solos, OOO makes such good projects

NINE Beyond (2023)

[cyanidecravings]

bump up business behind

[skinzchoerim]

I started working on this over a year ago but abandoned it when coloring the face turned out to be too difficult. Coming back to it and realizing I understand colors and values much better now has been really rewarding, and I had a lot of fun finishing it!

[ambivartence]

My top songs (of the first half) of 2023 ✦ Boys Planet edition ✦

tagged by @lunetual @jikyu @leewonseo @lee-minhoe ty 💕

I've listened to over 300 new releases from over 100 different kpop artists this year so picking my top songs felt like an mnet-level survival show 😭 the irony that i never watched Boys Planet AND one of the songs is literally a Peak Time song is not lost on me ! 🙃 but i wanted to pick a trendy format so here we are 😈 anyways i included albums instead of songs that didn't make the cut since there's too many honorable mention songs that i have had on repeat this year 😭 but most of them are in these 22 albums (oo-li is on here twice and istj isn't out yet !)

if u like my gif template, here's the link ! pls credit me ty <3

tagging (no obligation ofc and if you've already posted will u tag/send me so i can see 🥺): @bahngentertainment @chrisbangs @coupsnim @dakbees @dive-in-the-blue @hannahbahng @hyunfelix @ingblr-s @jinniebit @kyubins @losergirlz @quokki @shorelinnes @starcatching @userjiung @userwoodz @wabisaba @woodziecup @yohanblr + anyone else who wants to share just say that i tagged u <3

[limitless-rose]

I haven't even watched the MV yet but as I was scrolling I caught a glimpse of Yoojung and I paused and hyperventilated and screamed because OnlyOneOf?! On my recommended?! Alright, guess it's a sign for me to go check out beyond now, lol

’beyond’ mv behind

[id: 8 gifs from onlyoneof nine’s ‘beyond’ mv behind the scenes. 1. nine leaning into mill, making exaggerated kissy faces then leaning back. the captions read: [terrible slurping noises] and (Nom nom nom). 2. nine standing surrounded by actors playing bullies, looking into the camera and then away again. 3. mill trying to give nine a piggyback ride as nine nearly falls. 4. mill leaning on nine’s shoulders as he looks up lovingly and the captions show the pleading face emoji. 5. nine and mill looking into each other’s eyes as nine makes a kissy face and the captions show said emoji. 6. nine laughing, endeared and exasperated. 7. nine and mill leaning in for the kiss scene. 8. yoojung reacting to the kiss scene with first an excited face and then a disappointed and pouty one. the captions read: Did they do it for real?! No?, Can’t they just do it please? [Please just do it.], and I really want them to do it for real. (Pretty please.) the colored caption reads: ‘beyond’ mv behind /end id]

[dzdzem]

OnlyOneOf / God's Own Country parallels

Okay so, yesterday I watched "God's Own Country" because this is probably the film that KB recommended to the rest of OnlyOneOf, that inspired the "libidO" mv

Well, at least that's what people have been saying cause they noticed a bunch of similarities between them

So I wanted to check it out myself and see if I spot anything

I know that there's a thread somewhere on twitter pointing them out, I think? But I haven't looked at it cause i wanted to spot the similarities myself... So here's what I ended up with haha

(i took some screenshots from the mv behinds cause they offered a better picture of the scenes)

First, the bike riding scene;

The hand holding scene:

The bathtub scene:

The lake scene:

BUT, that's not all!

There was another scene that reminded me of OnlyOneOf, but this time I got reminded of Junji's "be mine" / Rie's "because" mvs! And it was this:

like THE POSITION OF THE HANDSSS

Also, way less likely to be a reference but here I got reminded of Nine's "beyOnd" mv:

And that's it folks! It's probably just me being delusional but I think it's pretty likely that they were inspired by this film when making "libidO" and maybe even some of their solo stuff

[prettythingsforyou]

nine ‘beyond’ movie concept poster

[save-the-data]

OnlyOneOf ~ Nine “Beyond” | Official Music Video

[loossemble]

Mill & Nine - Frozen

[ihessiot]

I started listening to onlyoneof and boygroups in general... I love men

[ennuijpg]

NINE ♥ 240118 'dopamine' for m countdown

[id: 6 gifs of nine from kpop group onlyoneof. he is performing the choreography for 'dopamine' with the 5 other members on a stage lit in blue, purple, and red lights. he is wearing a black blazer with a deep v-neckline, black slacks, and a silver chain necklace. the colored caption reads: nine — 240118 'dopamine' for m countdown /end id]

[cyanidecravings]

nine - “beyOnd” (be #6)

[many-gay-magpies]

you ever have disproportionately large feelings about something that seems comparatively very small and you feel like if you don't articulate them all perfectly youll explode and die