#onlyoneof analysis

[junjiya]

chrOme hearts: choreography/starting position analysis

(A/N: hi! this is an older-ish analysis from when chrome hearts was first released. I originally uploaded this to my twitter, I’ve had this sitting in my drafts for a while to upload here and since I’m currently working on an updated be34 analysis I thought I’d finally post it here. this will basically just be a copy-pasted version of the analysis that you can find more easily here)

ok, so firstly, it’s essential to mention that this interpretation is inspired by @bearybluetea’s incredible analysis of the song and choreo. I’ll be taking inspiration from this part of the analysis specifically (x)

my interpretation is that the starting pose represents all the lovers that have been abused by the manipulative person referred to in the song.

the starting pose shows the lovers trying to hold back/save the current victim before they fall into chemical bath/chrome processing. other past lovers sit still as the metal has consumed them (abuse cycles, mental degradation) causing them to be frozen in place like statues

starting from the left side, kyubin and rie hold mill, the current lover/victim, by his hands to stop him from falling. mill is leaning forward as if he's been pushed or is on the very edge of the chemical bath, the only thing stopping him from falling is kyubin and rie

on the right we see nine, yoojung and junji. yoojung sits with his head lowered, defeated. nine is the only one who seems to be frozen in motion, his hand is extended out as if he is reaching for something. maybe he also tried to save someone but fell before he could save them

junji lies flat on his back, he is the one to break mill out of his submissive trance when he delicately waves his hand in front of his face. mill shakes his head violently, as if he's physically forcing his brain to "wake up" or shake off his state of mind/being

not central to the analysis, but i think it's nice to note the dramatic and dynamic posing of the beginning, it looks like it could be from painting depicting a tragedy. the staging even from the beginning really highlights onlyoneof and their team’s dedication to storytelling and attention to detail, especially through the medium of choreography

[staurora]

Skinz: One Year Later

It doesn’t matter who you are

It doesn’t matter whether you are black, white, Hispanic, Asian, male, or female.

I’m saying that your mere skin doesn’t matter.

All that matters is you.

Instinct Part.2 was released a little over a year ago, to a mixed reception. On the heels of a controversial Instinct Part.1 era, a steep climb in popularity, and then the sad and mysterious exit of leader and main vocalist Love, many fans were in a sensitive spot. The harsh, unforgiving soundscape of “Skinz” provoked mixed responses.

I’ll save my analysis of the Instinct albums for another day. For now, I want to analyze Skinz as a stand-alone entity.

The music video of Skinz tells a tale of obsession and delusion. A desperate and crude yet unapologetic kind of love and desire. Lyrically, it refers love as something parasitic, describing the intense desire to be as close to a loved one as possible, expressed in the lyrics:

“Face off. Show me what’s behind the mask, under skin”

“I can’t take it anymore

Dig deeper into my skin”

The music video seems to directly, purposefully contrast to the Libido video. Where Libido had a clear narrative with the members playing characters inside the story, Skinz steps out of it, going from a dreamlike fiction to something very close to reality. The members become more themselves. Idols, in their practice room, their van, their beach trip. Even the aspect ratio of the videos enforces this. Libido is cinematic, wide with black bars on the top and bottom. Skinz is full screen and opened up, a broader more lifelike perspective.

Additionally, the watcher is now given a perspective. You play a fan of OnlyOneOf. You watch their van. Your hands tweet about them.

The dark sound of the music video really struck me when I first watched. The English words like “parasite” and “delusion” and “underneath the skin” really popped out.

My immediate thought was a critique of obsessive fan culture, and I think that’s a large, important part of it for sure. The fan is watching OnlyOneOf from afar and desires to become closer, to know more, to see every little thing about their idols. It grows to a point of delusion, as referenced in the lyrics “Delusion in my head spread like a parasite”. The fan can barely tell reality from fiction, taking their joy from imagining themself being closer to OnlyOneOf, catching intimate moments they never would have seen before. Member A feeding member B! Member C being shirtless! And then they turn to the fan and pull them in to join the fun!

And the fan blinks back to reality, the bridge between these worlds always represented by the glitching of the music video and their phone screen. And they can feel satisfied having enjoyed time with the ones they love, as much as possible even if it’s only in their imagination.

Now, I use harsh language like delusion and obsession, but is it so severe? That’s… hard to say. I mean it must be right? How can you refer to this love as parasitic and delusional if it’s not a bad thing? But the description of the track, which I wrote at the top of the post, is so kind. The group is saying they love you, the fans, regardless of superficial things. Additionally, though the music is grating and dark, the moments imagined by the fan are not especially evil or invasive. It’s a vacation. Grilling outside and then walking and playing on the beach. The fan is watching OnlyOneOfs van in the beginning, but were they stalking it or did they happen across it?

I believe the morality of the fan is left intentionally vague because there are so many different fans with different beliefs and boundaries. There are fans who truly have problems with delusions or obsessiveness, and there are those who indulge a bit too much, and those who have the mental state to maintain well-drawn boundaries, and casual fans who would never think to cross any lines.

OnlyOneOf is acknowledging the state of Kpop fan culture, with little further commentary. Their clearest message is their description which I put at the very beginning of this analysis. To summarize it, “I love you, your mere skin doesn’t matter.”

That’s exactly what idols are for isn’t it? When someone is lonely, lacking friends or family or other relationships, when a kid needs someone to look up to, when someone’s life is stressful and their dreams seem unattainable, idols are meant to fill that gap.

(Well, they’re meant to make money for their company. But they wouldn’t make that money if they weren’t doing something beneficial for their fans.)

For me personally, idols have held many different roles. An inspiration to work hard, a muse, a companion when I’ve had no friends, a depiction of healthy masculinity… there is something very meaningful hiding beneath the scary fan culture and the money hungry companies.

It’s the relationship between fan and artist. A relationship which I feel is so perfectly captured in this video. Honestly, I’m so impressed looking at it after so much thought. The fan can be read as completely respectful and innocent, or someone as deeply bad and unhealthy as a sasaeng with serious problems.

In fact, I don’t think it needs to be one or the other. I think many fans engage in many different kinds of fan culture of varying degrees of respectfulness. It’s all based upon personal values and the depths of obsessiveness. I think that’s what’s really at the core of this video. That’s why this was truly a fear of artistry once again from the creative team.

I would love to hear any disagreements or additional points from other fans though if anyone would like to add on! I think there’s plenty more that could be analyzed here down to the smallest details!

I mean I’ve been holding these thoughts for… well, since the music video released. OnlyOneOf really has so much depth to their releases. Maybe next I’ll over analyze seoul collection or the underground idol universe or something.

[skinzchoerim]

I've got some stuff to add about the bridge.

"Tasty like a raindrop" is likely a reference to savanna and getting drenched after a long drought. I think the allegory of sex is clear enough here that I can operate solely on metaphors to explain it. A raindrop isn't something tasty in and of itself, but it can seem that way to someone who has been thirsty for a long time and now finds relief. The next line, "I can't get used to it at all", is another one of those lines which could refer to enjoying the experience - it tastes fresh and provides a dopamine rush each time - but not being able to get used to the taste might imply that it's not actually that tasty to him. It's a good way to quench the thirst when he has no other options, but it never starts to feel natural.

I briefly mentioned the line about being afraid of her leaving and what it would imply in the reading of the song in which the narrator is gay, but I want to add more thoughts with the added context of the final line of the bridge, "Give me a chance to kill my doubt." It just reads like he sees her as his last chance at heterosexuality, and he really wants to make this work so he can prove to himself he's straight.

I keep wanting to rant about give me the lOve bitxx, because I can't be the only one who finds this song inherently contradictory, right? Everything is at odds with itself, including the actions and thoughts of the narrator. I can't put my finger on his motivations, on which lines are sincere and insincere, and it's giving me a headache.

I'm always conflicted whether I should approach their songs about women with a queer lense or not. It makes sense to dig deeper into angel and the instinct part 1 songs where religious guilt ties in nicely with the queer themes, but obviously they have plenty of songs about women that don't require a look into the subtext and can be taken as what they are on the surface, aka bi anthems. In the case of this song, I think it makes the most sense to approach it through the lense of what they can't say, and the amount of internal conflict here feels very queercoded to me. On the one hand, it seems like it's from the perspective of someone who cares about the person he's singing about and is aware he wouldn't be a good partner because of his emotional issues, so he warns her not to get too close. On the other hand, it feels like the narrator isn't sure he's attracted to women and he feels annoyed with this woman who keeps clinging to him, but he admits he doesn't actually want her to leave, likely because he wants to maintain a veneer of "normalcy".

The sound of the song itself is sweet and innocent, but the title is passive aggressive. He demands to be given love even though the majority of the song focuses on pushing her away, and calling her a bitch comes across as resentment. The lyric beginning the song and every chorus is "don't make me pull the trigger", which is a very manipulative threat - he puts the blame for wanting to hurt her on her. As @atozmoongazer kindly pointed out to me, the imagery in the chorus is that of a holdup - freeze, give me your treasure, don't make me pull the trigger. The treasure in this case would likely be the titular love, and taking into account the rest of the song, he's not very keen on reciprocating it or treating it gently.

Her covering his mouth when he's talking could be read in two ways (once again thank you @atozmoongazer for pointing out to me what I missed - it's a reference to Yoojung's mouth being covered in the teaser, therefore a pretty important line). One interpretation is more literal, that she interrupts him, makes him feel like his words don't matter, maybe she prefers to kiss him instead of having a conversation, and all of that on top of the fact that he doesn't like how clingy she is results in him feeling bad and resentful in this relationship. The other interpretation is that he feels silenced whenever he's around her, and he blames her for his own inability to express what's on his mind. She could just be the scapegoat for everything and everyone else that's making him feel this way.

Even the lyrics that mention constantly thinking about her face and feeling strange could be read in two ways. The obvious one is that you normally think a lot about the person you like, but I know from experience how confusing it can be when you constantly think about a person you know you're supposed to like, but aren't sure you do. I spent a lot of time in the past going back and forth between "If I actually liked this person, I would know it and be certain of it, and since I'm constantly questioning whether my feelings are real or not, that means I clearly don't like them" and "I'm constantly thinking about them and wondering whether I like them or not, therefore I must like them since I've got this weird obsession with them". When he talks about hiding his feelings, playing dumb and feeling numb because of it, on the surface it might refer to making sure his romantic feelings don't show, but to me it feels much more like a continuation of the lines about feeling broken when they're near each other and continuing to put up with it.

Basically, I think this internal conflict and confusion are an intentional feature of the song, similarly to skinz. The narrator wants to hide behind a veneer of a sweet-sounding boy group love song and make sure you don't understand him just as much as he doesn't understand himself, but lying to the listener about everything makes him feel too silenced. Since he can't hold back all the negative feelings he's bottling up, it's easy to look through the cracks and catch a glimpse of everything waiting to pour out of him, and end up feeling just as conflicted and confused as he does.

[booskwan]

sooooo insane

[hhhoneyed]

about me

welcome to my blog hhhoneyed !!

my names sam. im 19 and use he/they pronouns. ive had this blog since 2017, but i recently realised i find tumblr makes me more creative?? so im hoping by being more active here ill be able to draw more :)

im currently studying concept design at university, and my main interest is kpop !! more specifically i currently have extreme zb1 tunnelvision, though i stan many other groups too. some of these include shinee, seventeen, enhypen, onlyoneof, nct, txt, xh, atz, piwon and many more. i also really love nature !!

im hoping to eventually post things i create at university, kpop analysis and thoughts, art, and possibly sometimes gardening photos and my kpop collection. i may also on occasion rb posts of my other interests ♡

my art is under #my art, my posts will be under #textpost

lets be moots !!

[emojackolantern]

intro<3

about me:

endymion. 22. he/him. us american. nonbinary mlm. audhd. chronically ill/disabled. white.

editor, spreadsheet maker, shitposter. occasional artist, former fic writer. phannie since 2015.

semi-inactive at the moment? currently hyperfixating on kpop boys on twt. will still respond to messages/asks/tags dw

my dnp notice!!

my second dnp notice??

posts about:

dan and phil, hozier, fall out boy, ofmd, pompompurin, leanna firestone, idkhow, the arcana, onlyoneof, stray kids, enhypen, other kpop boy groups maybe, tarot, astrology, poetry, kink positivity, queer identity, disability, intersectionality

phannie resources:

titt trailer analysis (spreadsheet)

phedroom analysis

phan fragrances masterpost

phan fragrances spreadsheet

tags:

endymion speaks - original posts

1k - iconic posts

my edit and my art - cool things i made

more from me here !!

last updated: 01/16/25

[faceglitchsworld]

Wookjin and curls? Seriously?

Author's note: since for many of you this might be the first time ever you'll read something about The Floof I highly recommend to check this masterlist and read the other posts I made about it so you'll get an idea of what I'm going to say here. If you don't, well, long story short, I'm just talking about curly haircuts so my opinion is not objective like no. If I mentioned other idols I just used them as examples, not for comparisons or other stuff. The analysis are inspired by Michaela Diana's works on Instagram. The pics are taken from OnlyOneOf's official accounts, no fantaken pics.

This post is dedicated to...me, myself and I. It's my birthday...and this is my self-made present. Yeah

Hello everyone, welcome back into these posts were I talk about my favourite haircut ever, the curly/perm hair also known as The Floof here.

This time we're going to talk about my ults of all ults in OnlyOneOf. I'm not kidding, he's literally the member who stood out to me since the exact moment I started searching OOO pics.

Sooooo

My dear readers, I present to you...

Jung Wookjin!

Ladies, gentlemen and non-binary pals I swear that I struggled a lot while searching the pics... Please don't go crazy while watching them. He's beautiful, I know, I know. But have some demeanour, please 👉👈

Oh Wookjin, beloved, my Fuji Kaze fanboy and full time kisser. Now, since I love him with my entire heart of course I can't think about him with The Floof. It's obvious.

But can he actually have The Floof? Like really have it, can he have it? Well, let's find out then.

Calm down everyone, calm down, just focus on the face pls

Ok, I must admit that this man over here made my analysis very difficult. And no, it's not just because he's flirty every single time in every single photo, I'm saying the truth.

But still, here's what I think about his pretty pretty face. So, his face shape seems to be heart/slightly oval shaped, which is perfect for The Floof. Must admit, the chin caught me a little off guard. I really thought that he had a sharp jawline but... it's not? I think it's slightly blunt, which is a very good feature for The Floof.

His eyes are monolid, which are another good feature, even tho I think they're a bit little/downturned. About the full cheeks...maybe it's the makeup that is tricking me but it seems he has full cheeks too. Not too much full tho.

Soooo, it's seems that, despite some little details, Wookjin has the perfect shape for The Floof.

Let's celebrate everyone!

Ok, now that we figured out that he has a perfect shape for The Floof, we should choose what is the perfect haircut and hair colour. Must admit, I'm a little nervous with this part of the post. I'm gonna be honest with you, Wookjin seems to be that one idol who can experiment with almost every haircut for me. There have been moments where I even imagined him with long hair for example, and he looked perfect in my eyes. But maybe is my unconditional love for him who's speaking right now 🤭🫣

Alright, let's start searching the perfect haircut for floofy Wookjin by using the power of imagination and some pics as examples.

Let's start with a short haircut.

I know, I know, not all the pics are floofy enough, my bad. But now you understand what short cut means to me here. Again, don't go crazy please.

As you notice here, short hair is probably one of the best haircuts for him. But what happens when you adds The Floof on it? Well, for me, he turns into a beautiful creature BUT, as always, I need to clarify some things.

If you're new here, probably you don't know that I have a pet peeve regarding bangs and their lengths. Well, long story short, if the bangs are too much longer and they cover someone's eyes, I might dislike the haircut. There are exceptions of course, but this is not the case. If Wookjin is gonna have short, curly hair with bangs, then the bangs should have a good length and not almost cover his eyes. Or maybe he can have short hair and showing his forehead. I've noticed that the more time passes, the more he uses this haircut more soooo, maybe this one suits him better.

But what if we make his hair a little longer? Like the mullet he had during nolo era? :3

Isn't that haircut with straight hair? You're right, random user, but I need an example of what I'm talking about so, have nolo Nine.

Please don't go crazy pt. I don't know how many times I said it already at this point

Mind that this is not the only length he should have for me. He can even have a much more longer mullet for me, even a wolf cut. I don't know if he can have long, wavy hair tho. I'm trying to figure out how he might look but, I don't know, I always figure a weird image of him with long, curly/wavy hair (let me know if you have the same feeling or not, I'm curious).

Now that we figured out the haircut, you might wonder which kind of hair colour fits him best. Well, in my opinion he should try some colours but I noticed that he didn't changed that much during these years, which makes me wonder if he can't dye his hair because of his hair condition or just because 8D loves "torturing" two members' scalps especially and that's it.

So, since I don't know exactly how his hair can handle a long time hair dying, I think he should just stick to his natural hair colour/darker colours and using colored strands instead. So let me bring back the nolo era once again so you'll understand.

I don't know if you see the strands here, but there's some green shades here. And I love them so much. Also, I think that this is the most "innocent" photo you'll see here on this post 🤣

Now you wonder which colour fits perfectly for him...well, it depends.

If we want to be realistic then it's pretty obvious that he'll have colour with a dark shade on them such as carmine red, magenta, violet, gold maybe. These colours fit perfectly with OOOs recent cbs and concept in my opinion.

But if we play with imagination then, in my opinion, he should have soft pink or sky blue strands. Soft colours are his thing for him. Sure, OOOs should literally doing an entire turntable concept wise but I can dream after all.

And if he can dye his hair completely then, well, you don't even have to ask me. He should have sky blue hair. I can clearly see him being floofy and blue. My eyes are already having little hearts and I'm daydreaming 🥴

This photo has nothing to do with the post. I just wanted to put it here. I know, I know, he's a cutie lovey dovey here. It's my ult of the Ults after all, I'm used to him... actually I'm not

And that's it, we finally reached the end of this post, let me know if you agree with me or not or if you just started to like The Floof a little more. Have Floofy Nine as a reward too.

These are my screenshots...yeah I'm this dedicated. I've gone through every frame of the video. Every frame of him. Yup :]

Have a great day everyone and may The Floof be with you ❤️

[evermintgreen]

suddenly remembered that while i was so invested in onlyoneof's libido mv back then, i searched theories/analysis on the internet and stunbled on one tumblr post that explained it so well but i can't find it now ugh

[married-2-the-music]

Super interesting analysis! Bump Up Business isn't as good as it should be, but I agree that OnlyOneOf could've definitely related to aspects of it.

Why BUB actually fits into OOO's catalogue

Bump Up Business has been criticised for many things, and don’t get me wrong, it’s far from perfect, but there is one question I have heard a lot: “Why did OnlyOneOf of all people choose to do this? Doesn’t this show play exactly into the thing we have been defending them of?”

My own answer to this is yes and no. But let me explain. 

In this I will not be discussing what the writers had in mind, because I don’t know them. But I’ll talk about why I think it makes sense OnlyOneOf would tell this kind of story, whether they actually had any say in choosing this drama or not.

The main argument for most peoples' criticism I’ve seen is “This show is about/glorifying queerbaiting.” But is it really? Both of the characters are already queer. Jihoon has dated at least one man and is very aware of his own sexuality. Eden is quickly established as being very insecure in his own sexuality, not because he’s straight, but because he’s queer and finds that hard to accept. So the show is about queer characters. 

Okay, so how does the queerbaiting fall into this? Obviously there is queerbaiting present. Their company practically forces them to do it. Eden is very reluctant, but agrees after the company gives him an ultimatum. Jihoon is less reluctant, but also in a tight spot. He has fallen off and this is seemingly his last chance to save his career, something he wouldn’t give up even for the man he loved. So the characters take no pleasure in the queerbaiting, but is it a problem to them? Yes, actually. It is made clear that they have trouble telling apart what is real feelings and what’s just work. In episode 4 for example Jihoon asks Eden if he is struggling with their concept after Eden revealed how insecure he is in his sexuality. The question comes from a place of caring and honesty. Eden then answers that he is okay because it’s "just work". Since emotions and their hidden identities are now part of their work it gets all muddled and confusing for them. 

You might say now “But that’s not the problem with queerbaiting! They’re leading their fans on!” And from a fan’s perspective I agree. They are leading them on. But this isn’t about fans, this show is about idols. What would it be like for a queer idol to work in an industry where you are urged to act queer but to never be queer? How would that affect your personal life?

In the drama the queer characters hide their identity. Even after Hyunbin spread these awful rumours about Jihoon, they don’t reveal their relationship. Evidently having rumours about being with women is still better than revealing that you’re gay. The entire time they keep any real relationships under wraps. 

On top of that, in a way Eden has to out himself for his job. Even though he of course isn’t allowed to be actually queer, acting this lovey-dovey with another man in public sure must feel like he’s coming out and he is clearly uncomfortable with that. Interviewers and netizens are constantly questioning their relationship as well. Are they gay? Are they straight? Do they naturally act that way? Is the company forcing them? Having all your actions be scrutinised and dissected like this, especially as a closeted queer person is terrifying. 

Once again I’m not claiming that the writers wanted to represent queer idols’ struggles, but I think you can understand how this might be able to be read that way, especially by idols themselves. 

Now how does this fit in with OnlyOneOf’s usual work, besides the obvious queer element? For that I’d like to remind you of June 2022. That is the month we started off the undergrOund idOl project. If you’re like me, then that name probably made you question it. What does it mean? I remember theories about it being about struggling as a relatively unknown group and things along those lines. Luckily they gave us hints in several articles by letting us know that the series is about “the inner side of idols who shine on stage”. Okay, cool! So is it about struggles with fame? Like a glimpse behind the mask? Let’s look at the videos! Hm… Not much about idol life here actually… They’re all just.. queer? How curious. Almost as if they want to highlight the queerness so many idols or celebrities have to hide?

So OnlyOneOf, a group whose behaviours and sexualities are constantly being dissected and who is famous for telling and highlighting genuine queer stories, even connecting those stories to what idols have to hide, choose a drama that is about queer idols who have to navigate their queerness in an industry that demands “fake queerness” but has no room for real queer people. This doesn’t actually seem that surprising to me. Does it to you?

Last comments:

I don’t think that BUB is a critical masterpiece tastefully portraying the harsh reality of queer celebrities. I think that the producers and writers did not do a good job and that OnlyOneOf’s own work is a lot better. But I can absolutely see how this story fits into the larger picture and why this could be appealing to them. I don’t know if they even had any say in doing the drama to begin with. But I just wanted to provide a different point of view. Maybe someone found this interesting at least <3

[binniesoob]

Considering yoojung's photo caption, it could be that the goal is someone or the reciprocation of the feeling they feel for that someone, and then they start "going around in circles", maybe this is part of their punishment for having each other surrendered to libido ???? ANALYSIS

WE LOVE AN ANALYSIS TIME

Excellent observation 👀👌

Instinct pt1 focused on exploring and surrendering to our own desires (libidO, instinct, byredO) while at the same time feeling guilty and scared (instinct, tear of gOd)

Now, coming to the quote

"I know you're lonely. I think you need someone to want you. I do want you. So be brave and want me back."

it could be that through Instinct pt2 the characters (or Yoojung's specific character) look for and/or find someone struggling like them asking them to love and support eachother through what they are feeling and experiencing -> if in Instinct pt1 we explore, in Instinct pt2 we look for support, someone to share these burdensome feelings with.

The fact that the couple from skins with this quote doesn't have a happy ending could also be a clue of what's going to happen to them, together with Freud theories.

(Ofc, all of this assuming that this teaser is for Instinct pt2)

[qazastra]

possible timeline for be mine/because, onlyoneof

so at this point we’ve all noticed that the because mv is not in chronological order! and so i have taken it upon myself to try and make sense of the timeline!

someone probably did this before me and we will def get more clarification in the bts video when that comes out, but in the meantime this is me asking for peer review (feedback from lyonblr). since the characters aren’t named i’m just gonna use stage names.

[reasoning, screenshots, alternative theories, and caveats under the readmore!]

my general hypothesis:

junji is hanging out at a cafe and rie walks in. they start hanging out a lot after junji asks rie out. one day they make paper cranes how cute and symbolic, they hang out at the pool, it’s a whole thing! very fun and exciting 4 them i love that

junji comes to rie’s place to hang out and they run around in the backyard with a garden hose to cool off, then make food. they go take a nap afterwards, rie plays photographer, and then there may be a vague fade-to-black.

the next time we see them they’re on the couch again having a conversation and rie says something that unexpectedly upsets junji, who spills the box of cranes. he doesn’t look so much angry as hurt and rushes out immediately after rie tries to comfort him.

one evening, junji runs into rie at the phone booth and interrupts his call with a knock on the glass. rie looks surprised at first, bashful next, but they are both glad to see each other.

another night, rie meets junji at the same pool where they previously shared that underwater kiss. this time rie doesn’t join junji in the pool. they go together to the cafe, junji holds rie’s hands and kisses him there instead, the end! 

ALTERNATIVELY TO ALL OF THAT. perhaps junji’s solo simply progresses forward in time and rie’s moves backwards, ruminating on what led them to the breakup. but i don’t want love to lose this time!!! so, let’s start at the start. or is it?

junji and rie notice each other at the cafe. 

junji sees rie walking away after ordering coffee and runs after him to ask him out, rie says yeah, and junji is very excited about it! (side note i do NOT know korean so it is impossible for me to lip read what it actually is that they say to each other... we might find out in the bts video but if anyone knows now pls lmk! i think i saw someone suggest that junji asked ‘can i see you again’ but idr where)

ANOTHER THEORY! **if that’s true, if he says ‘will i see you again,’ then it’s possible the pool kiss when rie was wearing (and took off lol) that green patterned shirt was their first meeting! no real evidence for this, and not a whisper of it in the be mine mv, so for my hypothesis i’m deferring to the lowest common denominator, but i think it’s veeeeery possible. could explain that ‘again’ and why rie was at the cafe in the first place when he clearly does laundry at home haha, maybe junji mentioned it and he wanted to see him again too who knows. changes the first sentence of my hypothesis to “junji spots a cutie alone at the pool and introduces himself. they hit it off very well, well enough to kiss underwater.”**

ok now the complicated part that ive hinged my theories on. i counted seven different outfits for each of them across the two music videos; that’s how i organized the scenes to start puzzling out the timeline in the 1st place. so there’s a shot that shows up in both vids, them eating ramen on the balcony with a clothesline above. i was able to identify where 2 out of the 4 shirts were worn in the music videos. the white shirts im unsure of. both characters wear white tees at some point but the print doesn’t match either as far as i can tell and i didnt see the striped white button-down either (it isn’t the one that junji wore during the argument, the stripes are too wide)... hjaelp

i think maybe its just more of rie’s laundry and there’s no use thinking any harder.

regardless. while they are in the tank top outfits with their hair still damp from the backyard date, we can see these on the clothesline:

a) rie’s green button-down from the pool scene that ends in a kiss

b) rie’s yellow button-down from them hanging out on the couch doing origami,  listening to music, n dancing on the balcony

IF we take this to mean that these things have already happened (big if. maybe it’s just random set dressing there is no way to be sure), THEN (**let’s note that i think it’s possible the pool kiss was their first meeting, as i said above!**) before their backyard date/mini photoshoot, they have:

- met at the cafe when junji ran after rie (because it is necessary for them to start actually dating),

- kissed in the pool (shirt is on clothesline), and

- made the paper cranes (shirt also on clothesline).

unsure of what order those things happened in except i think the paper cranes must have come last because of their sheer numbers. there’s so many of them they must have been hanging out for a while to make all those lil guys.

that leaves three more outfits/scenes to be slotted in somewhere, and those are:

- rie’s fuzzy shirt that he wears during the argument and after junji leaves

- junji’s red button-down that he wears when he interrupts rie’s phone call in the booth at sundown, and

- rie’s checked blue sweater that he wears when he meets junji at the pool (separate time from the underwater kiss) and during the cafe kiss. this one’s important because it tells me that these two things happened on the same day, and i’ve thus inferred that the pool could be a special place precisely because it was where they first kissed/first met.

as i see it, junji happened to run into rie (or maybe he was looking for him there) at the phone booth, maybe as he was leaving a message for junji, trying to explain and apologize, and took the opportunity to reconnect. they agreed to meet later and properly sort things out.

rie meets junji at the pool (where they maybe first met), but this time, they don’t kiss underwater in an empty pool where nobody can see them. they go together to the cafe, both a little nervous, and junji kisses rie. 

if, as i’ve seen people speculate (and as i think makes perfect sense! see etienne’s musings here and here, evidence here, and another similar interpretation here), the cafe kiss is a sort of make-up kiss where they re-commit to their relationship, it would make sense for it to be after the fight and the last chronological scene of their story, slightly wary but hopeful and very in love as their relationship evolves!

all that is to say that none of this could be correct in terms of ‘canon’ but it’s what i came up with from what they gave us! thanks for reading :-) what are your thoughts??

[junjiya]

undergrOund idOl: the symbolism behind the phone booths

since the beginning of the underground idol series, there has been once piece of symbolism that has been used consistently, from begin to because. that symbol being the use of phone booths. my theory is that phone booths are meant to symbolise unsureness and confinement. the phone booths are used to represent each characters journey and state of mind in relation to their relationship

I’d like to thank @designeryeob coming up with the initial interpretation and helping me flesh it out!! <33

#1: begin

there are two uses of the phone booth in begin, one where yoojung is alone, and the other where kyubin joins him

when yoojung is alone at the phone booth, he is shown loitering in and out of it almost casually, playing with the cranes he has folded for kyubin. the casual nature of yoojung’s solo phone booth shots suggests that he could be thinking of this “relationship” as a game, something fun and flirty. he goes in and out of the booth suggesting his undecidedness, he doesn’t know if he should continue this relationship as something fun or if he should commit to it. him playing with the crane is also significant, as the paper cranes have been shown to represent a wish or desire for love. he is also shown examining it and toying with it in his hands, through this action he is metaphorically “toying” with the idea of a relationship, occasionally inspecting it to properly consider what committing would mean.

the context of the phone booth changes when a drunken kyubin stumbles into it. the significance of kyubin being drunk is also important, him stumbling into the phone booth also shows his unsureness about the relationship. this drunken action shows a thoughtless impulsiveness, the desire to be with yoojung but not fully thought through, it comes out of nowhere and we can see this through yoojung’s startled body language

the final shot of kyubin and yoojung in the phone booth shows the moment yoojung decides to help kyubin back to his apartment.

he holds kyubin in his arms and looks off into the distance after taking one last look at the sight before him. he almost has this “oh fuck” look on his face, he realises his feelings and the gravity of them. maybe through this he also sees kyubin’s feelings?

I think it’s important to point out that the phone booth symbol is only used in begin, and not in be free when the relationship has started. the contrast of only having this symbol of unsureness in one mv as opposed to be mine + because shows the stability and confidence in yoojung and kyubin’s relationship rather than junji and rie’s.

#2: be mine

the use of the phone booth is continued into be mine, but with a different result

we first see the phone booth in the scene where junji initiates a relationship with rie. right off the bat, junji runs straight past the booth to talk to rie. he barely acknowledges it’s pressence. this shows how immediately confident and sure he is of himself and his feelings for rie. the concept of uncertainty isn’t even an option for him

the crescendo of the song also takes place in front of a phone booth. junji triumphantly belts his high note as he throws his body back, clenching his fists proudly as if he has finally won at something. this is such a proud moment and junji expresses so much emotion here. the booth is also out of focus in the background. this could be reading into it a bit too much but even the way junji faces the booth as he sings, it’s almost like he’s laughing in the face of the concept of unsureness

the last time we see the phone booth in be mine is when junji surprises rie as he’s inside. junji smiles at rie from the outside, once again he is seen completely separate from the booth. he knocks on the window coyly to catch rie’s attention. rie on the other hand, is completely inside the booth. rie being on the phone could also be seen as him being so wrapped up in his unsureness that the outside world, the world that is free from this fear, becomes drowned out

this is the only time someone is shown inside a phone booth during be mine, the fact that it’s rie is definitely foreshadowing for his continued indecision in because

—

so yea! those are my thoughts. the only time the booth appears again in because is during rie’s solo singing shots. I don’t think this has much significance as we’re seeing rie the idol confidently singing these lyrics rather than rie the character. I think it’s also an interesting detail that during his solo singing shots in the booth we can see junji in the background through the window of the café. I don’t think that means anything but I thought it was cute

hope you enjoyed!

[skinzchoerim]

My Obsession With OnlyOneOf Knows No Bounds - The Sequel

Yes, this time it's even longer. The first chapter is an analysis of the Structural Universe graph, the second points out some of the connections between seOul cOllectiOn and their previous songs, the third dives into seOul drift, the fourth is a theory on how the updated Structural Universe graph would look like, and the fifth is about the units, very broadly speaking.

I hope I managed to communicate all of my ideas clearly. My mind was a little all over the place while making this and I kept noticing little things even in the final stage of editing. My confidence in these theories goes up and down constantly, but I've had enough of it to find decent proof and put it out into the world.

All I hope is that it helps people get a broader picture of what OOO are trying to do and maybe sparks some new ideas!

[sanstropfremir]

Okay I’ve gotta stop bothering you with all these questions but I don’t have anyone to talk with about kpop and you seem like someone who *knows* their shit about performance arts and I love reading your stuff so I’m going to keep asking questions. I was recently very obsessed with OnlyOneOf’s most recent comeback, Libido. Like from the song to the music video (my god did that make my queer little heart happy), to the DANCE. Like I’ve had dreams about this comeback (and I don’t usually even remember my dreams). So I was wondering how you felt about it cause there was a lot of backlash (though almost entirely undeserved from any angle people tried to take it from).

frankly i’m so surprised these boys are out there promoting with a fucking dick grab. actually i think its been censored but i definitely remember watching at least two music show stages with the full grab. i think the choreo is fun and doesn't at all deserve the backlash that's been leveled at it. regardless of if it is actually intended to be gay, this softer, more explicit take on adolescent male sexuality is nice to see and deserves to be seen as much any other aggressive red-blooded boy group concept. do i think it's outrage marketing or they're being forced to be overly skinshippy or whatever people are complaining about (i don't actually know the specifics i very carefully curate my online experiences)? no, not really. everything kpop is already optimized for marketability anyways so i don’t think it's that much of an issue if they want to put out something that’s aimed at a deliberately specific audience. if they were willing to take the risk with something like this it means they were probably pretty set on the idea regardless of what the backlash was going to be. i've watched a couple of their behind the scenes clips and they all look pretty chill about it; tbh my opinion is the artists should be allowed to do whatever they want (as long as they’re not being exploited, obviously), and it's the fans’ responsibility to respect artists’  boundaries between their public and private lives.

artistically, although i think the choreo is fun, it's a bit messy for me. there's a couple of transitions that could have been done better but eh. i think retconning tape measures and hiding them in their gloves is ingenious and I'm absolutely stealing that idea for reference. obviously this has big chained up vibes, so I'm not sure why people are so pressed about this because it's not like this is the first bdsm-y choreo kpop has ever seen (I know why people are pressed about this, vixx got shit for chained up and like every other comeback they did lmao). i LOVE the mv though, i think it's really beautifully shot and a lot more cinematic than we normally see from kpop group mvs. visually it's got the same feel as troye sivan’s blue neighbourhood trilogy, this soft-blue-filter-close-up-hands aesthetic that we’ve seen a lot of in younger generation lgbt content, so i have to assume its at least not an accidental reference? (it's common in holland’s mvs).

like i said, this soft-explicit adolescent male sexuality is a nice change from the more aggressive takes we’ve seen come before and these boys have stones of fucking steel to be promoting with this choreo, so they’ve got all the respect from me.

[elilirose]

I made a full analysis on OnlyOneOf's LibidO mv a few weeks ago, here's the link if you want to check it out:

Honestly I'm not super satisfied by it but i was told to post it somewhere so here we are. Hope you enjoy it.

[weuschoiceheart]

Stan OnlyOneOf ya cowards (Long Post - Dance & Song Analysis)

Woah....wow....just WOW

I just watched the 1theK dance mirrored video for OnlyOneOf’s “Savanna” (the one for the dance cover contest, and can I just say, W O W.

I remembered watching this last year (It was the very first video of OnlyOneOf I watched) and I was like, yeah, this song sounds pretty good. But now, after rewatching it, I’m amazed at the amount of imagery they put into the dance. By no means am I a pro dancer or something, but I’ve been dancing to Kpop for a few years now, so I got used to pretty much how the dances are like. Nowadays, most boy group dances are pretty hip-hop / popping / maybe some contemporary dance mixed in for some of the slower parts in songs, so I pretty much know what to expect. There would be some crazy choreo, fast paced tempo you need to follow, etc., etc. Yeah, 4th gen is starting to become some sort of dance competition.

But...THIS. THIS GODDAMN CHOREO SHOOKED ME. I already love how different OnlyOneOf’s songs are from the generic mainstream songs, instead of going for some hardcore rap or edm songs, they always go for mellow tunes and beautiful melodies mixed with entrancing vocals (YES YES YES VOCALS, THERE ARE ACTUALLY V O C A L S IN THEIR SONGS, NOT SOME SORT OF WEIRD NOISE INSTRUMENTAL. I CAN GO ON A WHOLE RANT ABOUT THEIR VOCALS). Anyways, I might make a whole other post for their songs, but right now, let’s focus on their choreography, specifically this one.

It’s strange, in a way. I got into OnlyOneOf because of the dance for “_Sage.” I saw it in a random play dance video, and it was my first time seeing OnlyOneOf in one of these videos, actually. I remembered seeing the dance and got shocked when they yeeted to the ground during Mill’s part in the chorus. Idk the name for the move, but it caught me offguard on how smoothly they did it. After the random play dance ended, I immediately went to watch their dance practice for “_Sage” and decided to learn the move, bc, you know, it looks cool (and I want my awkward self to show a different, cooler side of me on stage). I only wanted to just learn the chorus, but I ended up learning the whole choreo. And it literally started with “i just wanna learn their names so I can tell them apart during the dance” to finally “Ok, I’m gonna stan.”

“_Sage” has a pretty intense choreo, compared to their other songs, but I feel like, with OnlyOneOf’s choreos, you need to properly EXPRESS the song’s meaning. Ofc, it’s always important to convey the meaning of a song, since dance IS a form of art and expression (as a very smart Hwanwoong said, it’s not just about the performance, it’s whether you can convey the emotions well or not). 

With OnlyOneOf though, each of their song has a special meaning, all linked to a storyline (I’m probably gonna go on a whole other rant when I piece together the theories), and their songs are so different as well, they don’t talk about the topics that most groups today usually explore with their discography, instead going to a different route and just listening to their songs and watching them dance makes me feel like I’m in a different dimension.They’re just...UNIQUE. I don’t know any other way to say it. Y’all are probably like “how about Group X, they always talk about blah, blah, blah” and I am NOT dragging down other groups, but smth abt OnlyOneOf really stands out to me. I listened to their song “dOra Maar” this morning and got emotional after finding out the meaning behind the song. Even though I finished learning “_Sage” yesterday, I still feel like I need to practice more to make sure the emotions and meaning of the song is properly conveyed through the dance, bc the meaning behind “_Sage” is just so complex. And now, let’s actually go into the semi-analysis I did for “Savanna” so you guys will understand what I’m talking about.

THE ACTUAL ANALYSIS

Imagery is used by many groups today to give choreography a deeper meaning, or in some cases, like a signature move (SKZ “God’s Menu” uses many cooking references, for example). With “Savanna,” I was amazed by the amount of imagery they use. As I mentioned before, groups these days are more into difficult hiphop dances, so I feel like imagery is being used less and less and choreos are just a bunch of difficult moves strung together to look powerful and difficult and...yeah, 4th gen is really turning into a dance competition. Anyways, i DIGRESS ONCE AGAIN (I can complain for hours about 4th gen music and dancing but let’s save that for some other time).

I will say this again: I am NOT a professional dancer, I only had a few years of ballet + Kpop, and is self-learning popping and hiphop right now. This is only based on what I observe and how I interpret the dance.

Ok, let’s start at the beginning of the choreo. All the members form a ring around one member (KB) and waved their arms to enclose a circle, trapping him, before moving apart. Next, the members seemed to form a path for KB to walk on, with Yoojung and Junji at the end, arms forming a line that KB ducked under and passed through. Right off the bat, we have a beautiful imagery. I think it portrays time travel (since the song seems to hint towards that subject). The four members forming the path that KB walks on, are frozen like statues, like time just froze. KB is the person that wants to break out (he was trapped within a circle in the beginning) and seems to find a loophole through time that he manages to walk through.

Now, onto my favorite imagery for the choreo that really surprised me. At 0:33 in the video, When they formed lines by Nine’s side and opened their arms in sync, creating almost like an illusion. It might be to match the lyrics about “dry, chapped lips,” but that part mesmerized me, and drew me in to continue watching.

The next key point of imagery, is at 0:47, when they formed a line and stood in alternating positions, moving their arms in an alternating pattern as well. It really matches with the lyrics “among the intertwined people, I hide myself again” and creates another illusion that’s JUST. SO. CAPTIVATING. I might be a tad bit overdramatic abt this, but really, I LOVE LOVE LOVE how they put so much imagery and meaning into the choreo.

Another piece of imagery is Love’s and Nine’s solo portion after the chorus, when they mirrored each other with their bodies and made a drinking motion with their hands. Might seem small, but it emphasizes the lyrics “Watchin’ all your silhouette / Drink one more time, Sweepin’ huh.” The lyrics might not make sense, but this part is just so mysterious and mesmerizing.

They did another beautiful imagery for the start of the second prechorus for the same lyrics (”Among the intertwined people, I hide myself again”), but this time, forming a V formation around Nine. They also formed the same ring around Junji when he sang, “I feel like I’m locked in” but with some floorwork this time. I love how they tried variations of the moves, so the image is still there but switched up to keep it engaging.

These are the key details of the dance I’m going to write about here, there are many other parts and some imagery I probably missed, but if I’m going to actually analyze every single move along with the song lyrics, you guys are probably gonna get bored XD. So to wrap this up, I think the important factor about the dance that really draws me in is that, unlike choreos nowadays, the dance is composed of smooth movements and transitions, like contemporary but keeping that Kpop feel, ya know? The song itself is already mellow and vocal-centered, so ofc the dance has to match it, but I wasn’t ready for the imagery (i dare you to count the amount of times I used this word lol) they used. Watching this is like a breath of fresh air, listening to this song is so refreshing. I strongly recommend you guys check it out!

This is the longest post I ever wrote lmao, and if you read all the way to the end, congrats! Anyways, I might learn this after I polish up “_Sage.” Hmm....should I also do vocal covers for the songs too? I was actually thinking of remixing “Savanna” into a diss track because of the misheard lyrics (”i don’t give a shit what they think abt us / you’re like a bitch from Savanna”). Who knows?

Thank you for taking your time to read this!