#onlyoneof theory

[skinzchoerim]

OnlyOneOf's dOpamine concert in Warsaw - my experience (+sentimental musings about the lore and its messages)

The first thing I need to get out of the way is that their crowd interaction game is 1000/10. They went on stage already knowing at least two greetings in Polish, and then Kyubin and Nine did a whole pantomime to explain their understanding of them. They presented "elo" as being very casual, best done with a bro chest bump, and they were correct about that. The funniest thing was when Nine showed "siema" (a greeting that's basically just as casual as "elo") as being very polite and official with a bow of the head. And hey, if he thinks that's the most official greeting in Polish, who are we to argue?

The translator wasn't very good so a lot of the context got lost, but they said that while sightseeing they met an elderly lady who was a lyOn. Then they met an elderly man from Busan who they hoped to turn into a lyOn, but he wasn't interested, and Nine said that's just how people from Busan are lol. Junji talked about how much he loved the view and that it made him feel really sentimental, which somehow turned into JunRie doing a couple dance with a spin. I really wish I had a video of it, I also can't find any taken by other people 😔

When the time for seOul drift came they asked about a Polish car brand, and of course everyone yelled "MALUCH!!!", so it was hilarious when they asked us to do a Warsaw drift in a maluch with them.

At some point the audience started chanting "zajebiście" which basically means "fucking awesome", and they were very keen to learn how to pronounce it. I really hope they remember it cause that would be iconic.

Now let's do a time leap and go back to what happened before the concert.

I watched the fanchat from afar and had the best view of Yoojung who looked really invested in everyone he talked to. I was surprised to see how wide and baby-like Rie's face is, it's really cute. Everyone says they look even better in real life, and personally I don't find that to be true. I think they're exactly as beautiful as they appear on screen. I'll explain it in more detail later.

Now for the fansign, which... my god. My worst fear when I saw how little time was reserved for it came true, because it really went by at the speed of light. I'm really glad I brought the prints to give them, because there was no way they would have noticed the shirt. For reference, here is what I gave them (Yoojung got two):

Junji was first, he smiled and said a cheerful "Hi!", I handed him the album and then quickly gave him the print before having to move on to Rie who was already making eye contact. I don't remember his exact reaction to the print, but he seemed positively surprised. Yoojung was the one who had the biggest reaction, his mouth did the '0' he often does and he either gasped or said "wow", it was all genuinely too fast for me to process and file away every detail. I don't remember Nine's reaction well because I was still reeling from Yoojung's (also I was distracted by his scar makeup, cause damn, it looked realistic). I think he said "thank you", although I'm not sure if he even looked down at the print. Mill also seemed positively surprised. Kyubin was last, and thanks to that I got to watch his reaction for the longest, although it was still barely a second. He looked at the print and then made eye contact with me while he was handing me the signed album. There was something about the look on his face that made me wish I had a moment longer to ask what was going through his head, but unfortunately all I could do was smile, give him an awkward nod goodbye and walk off. Did he recognize that he's seen the drawing before? Was he just surprised? Did he like it? I have no idea.

The hi-touch went by even faster since the staff told us to run. The pictures were taken with about 10-13 lyOns each. After the whole thing was done, I knew that for the next concert (fingers crossed 🤞) I'll have to buy the VVIP+ benefits. To be fair to myself, there was already a lot going on in the days leading up to the concert and preparing for the fanchat would've only added unimaginable levels of stress, but I think that the second time around, I'd be able to approach it with more ease. More on that later as well.

While waiting for the concert to start, some of their songs were playing in the background. The volume was fairly low and the amount of noise in the hall made it impossible to hear anything beyond the bassline and percussion, but that just made me wish that they'd release their entire discography with only those two elements cause let me tell you, it sounded SICK.

I started to really regret not getting the VVIP+ benefit once the concert began and the people in front of me covered the view with not just their heads, but also phones and lightsticks. I was only in the third/fourth row, but everyone in front of me was taller so I couldn't see everything that was going on, and seeing the videos others shared on Twitter it does seem like I missed a lot. Still, it was the perfect spot to get sprayed with water which happened more times than I could count (mostly Kyubin's deed, thanks bro I needed it).

The performances were absolutely top tier, but did anyone expect otherwise? I need them to release the dOpamine remix, I'd listen to it way more than the original. I couldn't see Yoojung during begin at all because he performed a little further back, so I'm really glad that once the medley was done they all sang the choruses of the solos again with the audience. Did I cry? No, but very fucking nearly, especially when we all sang begin together. Another moment that nearly brought me to tears was when Nine finished performing beyOnd and the music cut one line into the second verse. Obviously part of the reason why it sounded so heartbreaking was how unexpected the ending was and how much I wanted it to go on for longer, but it also sounded like someone suddenly took away his voice, so it fit the theme of Things I Can't Say LOve perfectly.

Speaking of having his voice taken away, I'm happy to report mine wasn't. The concert experiences I ruined for myself by freezing up and not joining everyone else in having fun outnumber the ones I approached with ease and made great memories during. I was especially worried since the previous concert I've been to, Odd Eye Circle's, unfortunately fell into the former category. The English version of Loonatic was my skinz before skinz existed, and when they performed it, anxiety got the better of me. I couldn't even open my mouth to attempt to sing along, and I still have regrets about it, because I know it would have been a liberating experience.

But none of that happened this time. I sang every song along with them (was I feeling smug that I knew almost all of the lyrics when the people around me only knew the English bits? yes, sue me). I put my whole fucking soul into my favorite songs, especially mirage, seOul drift and skinz. I can't even begin to describe how special it felt. Yelling the lyrics to skinz with lyOns all around me and OnlyOneOf a few meters away felt like a full circle moment. skinz was the beginning of so many things for me, and it's such a therapeutic song that's been helping me express myself unapologetically slowly, bit by bit over the past two and a half years. It doesn't matter that I don't have as many vivid memories of the concert as I wish I had, because I know that those two hours on June 12th 2024 have been euphoric and liberating, and I will carry that feeling with me every day, getting a little taste of it each time I listen to these songs again.

While after the fact I do wish the concert had gone on for longer, at the time it felt like the perfect length. The amount of songs in the encore was a genuinely nice gesture, because they were slowly getting people prepared for the end while constantly whipping out another performance, which is a really smart way to leave the audience in high spirits. I think they ended up performing four songs for the encore - OOO yOu, angel, lOve me and dOpamine (without choreo this time), and then the first verse and chorus of time leap right before they left the stage.

The acoustics in Progresja aren't the best, but it was an amazing experience to hear them sing live. I feel like in a lot of recordings it's kind of hard to tell if they're singing live or if it's playback because the vocal and music layers sort of merge into one. I might share the videos that my mom took with her phone, because hers actually captured that live quality of their singing.

I know me writing this here won't change anything, but I have to put I out there - these kinds of stages weren't made for K-pop acts. I can't imagine anyone aside from the people in the first row or someone very tall was able to see the elements of choreography that took part on the floor or the subtitles on videos (which come on, they at least could have had the foresight to place them on the upper part of the screen, not the bottom). K-pop groups - or anyone who doesn't just stand there holding a mic but has a visual side to their performance - should perform in buildings that are constructed like theaters, with the floor gradually rising so everyone can see the stage comfortably. It seems that the Madrid venue was exactly like that, so if anyone reading this was there or at a different concert in a similar venue I'd love to hear about your experience!

Now something that might cheer up anyone who hasn't seen them perform live - this concert made me very grateful that cameras exist and allow us to watch their performances filmed professionally. It's obvious that they're amazing performers from a distance, but only when a camera gets up close and captures the way they express every song and choreography with their faces does it actually hit. I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times, Yoojung is such an impressive and expressive performer, both in his body and face, and having close ups of his facial expressions is a gift from heaven.

As I laid down in bed and my emotions were cooling off, it dawned on me how many good things in my life I owe to them and how special it is to have this one artist I can point to and say "the time I spent with them changed me for the better". I think seeing them live isn't even the pinnacle of my experience as a fan, but everything I carry with me every day that I have thanks to them. That being said, I really want to see them again. Most of what I've written down here was right after the concert, but now I don't feel like I remember as much as I want to. Nonetheless, this was my favorite concert among the ones I've attended and the most special experience of my life so far. Next time I'm getting VVIP+ and getting closer to that stage so I can finally enjoy the view in peace. I'm not even taking the option that they won't return here into account. They will last forever and they will have an infinite number of world tours.

This is where this post stops being a concert review and becomes sentimental musings of an unhinged person, so strap in. I did my best to structure this section in a way that would clearly communicate my thoughts to someone who isn't the owner of my brain and therefore doesn't have the exact mind map of interpretations of the various elements of OnlyOneOf's lore. The things I say here might be something most of us have thought or felt at some point, so what I hope to achieve here is simply it put into words, because I don't think anyone else has done that in the context of OOO.

I have to start by defining what exactly I mean whenever I say “the lore” (please don't make a drinking game out of every time I say "lore" in this post, you will die). Just like with any other K-pop group who has a deeply thought out concept, “the lore” encapsulates everything related to their conceptual work - songs, music videos, lyrics, teasers, MV descriptions, symbolism, references etc. What makes my definition of OOO’s lore deviate from how I'd define other K-pop groups' lore is the elements that make OOO's lore itself different from any other. K-pop storylines are known to be complex, but the ones I’m familiar with can all be described in the form of a story with specific characters played by the members, various events, superpowers and plot twists. OOO’s lore is more focused on emotions - loneliness, desire, love, fear. Because of that, the facts of what happens in the work itself can take second place to the emotional value of it. Their story can't be analyzed like a book with a beginning, middle and end, because it's too ambiguous and multifaceted for that. We can instead discuss the themes and observe the emotional progression happening within the lore. I like to compare analyzing their lore to untangling the chord of your earphones, because when you start getting frustrated at yet another impossible knot, you can just give it a rest, put the earphones in and enjoy how their art makes you feel.

I think it was the youtuber LOU who first viewed something OOO had made through the lens of cubism in her video about dOra maar, but I'd take it a step further and say that OOO's art makes the most sense if you look at everything from a cubist perspective, i.e. there isn't a single perspective on anything, but multiple viewpoints that all work together to create what we could call "the lore". It becomes easier to take a look at the whole picture the lore paints if you keep that in mind.

We observe an internal journey across various songs that connect to each other in smaller or bigger ways. We can, but we don't have to view all of them as being one person's story. The lore contains a collection of themes that create an ambiguous, unnamed protagonist whom we see represented by the bOy wearing cOmme des garçOns or the characters in the be series. None of them are THE protagonist, but they all make up the protagonist, because they all offer different perspectives on the themes that drive OOO's art and have been building up the group's identity over the past five years.

All of what I've mentioned thus far is just creative fiction. There is another perspective on their art that has real life implications, because there are real people whose job it is to express the inner world of the protagonist through songs and performances. OOO's music videos acknowledge their status as idols in the same way other K-pop groups with a fictional narrative do - they break the fourth wall by showing snippets of choreo and lipsyncing in between storytelling. OOO could be written off as nothing more than actors in entirely fictional roles if it wasn't for how intertwined they are with the themes in their art, in no small part thanks to how active they are in the creative process, but even beyond that. Their job as idols is acknowledged within the narrative (skinz MV, beyOnd description, the name of undergrOund idOl). So, their life as idols with a fandom is yet another perspective through which we can view their themes.

Here is where our role as spectators becomes important, because this aspect of the lore couldn't exist without our input. The way we respond to it and the conversation we create around it is what gives it meaning.

One side of the lore is the human side - the intimate and natural imagery of the libidO MV, the cozy warmth of cOy, the fun of blOssOm's choreography. On the other side, there are parts of the lore that feel emotionless and cold - MVs like sage, time leap, asOiaf, dOpamine, or graphics for Off angel and dOra maar. This dichotomy is something that can be used to discuss a lot of themes, like emotional distance in romantic relationships or a feeling of being ostracized by society. For the benefit of this post, I'll focus only on parasocial relationships between artists and fans.

Being a fan is both an experience of intense connection and distance that goes way beyond just oceans and borders. The one-sided nature of a parasocial relationship can be difficult to navigate for some people, but it seems to be something a lot of us need. It's comforting to know that you can develop a strong emotional bond with someone you're completely detached from and don't have to do any of the work a real interpersonal relationship needs; you just get to enjoy yourself as you receive art and entertainment. But that comfortable distance distorts the way we perceive the artist's personhood. We know and understand that they're a fellow human being, but we can't help that we never have an opportunity to experience them as such. They’re not people to us in the sense that they have no physical presence in our lives, they're just a series of recorded images projected onto a screen, filtered and airbrushed. We can watch them act like regular people on and off the stage, but whether we want to or not, we perceive them as more glamorous than anyone we meet on a daily basis. How could we not when part of their job is to tower over us while looking like a perfectly crafted illustration every time they get on stage?

This is where another theme present in OnlyOneOf’s art comes in, which is putting someone on a pedestal. In their songs, it's discussed in the context of romantic, artist/muse or God/follower relationships, but the part of the lore I'm talking about here is something that exists in the way we as spectators perceive them and their work.

Idols are human - I'm aware I'm not making an interesting point by acknowledging that. The reason I've been inspired to write about this in the first place is that I realized how being in physical proximity to someone you have a parasocial relationship with can shift your perception of their humanity.

I didn't buy the VVIP+ benefit because I knew I would be way too nervous about those six minutes and I'd probably spend most of that time awkwardly pretending I can hear what they're saying through the noise all around. Never meet your heroes, because you might make an idiot out of yourself, or however the saying goes. I thought I was in the vast minority who felt this way due to my anxiety while other lyOns would be ecstatic to get to meet them face to face. However, while I was standing in the queue I overheard a lot of people talking about how nervous they were, which is funny, because why the hell would any of us be nervous? They're the ones who are about to have a crowd of strangers observing their every move and recording every little mistake, they should be feeling the most nervous of us all! This got me thinking about why anyone would be nervous to meet their favorite artist, and the conclusion I came to is that it's intimidation. We're not wrong to feel intimidated; I think it's perfectly normal and natural in this scenario. I'd say it’s also quite healthy, because you’re not able to get too familiar with someone who intimidates you, which ensures the emotional distance required within a parasocial relationship is kept. As with everything, it's about balance. The problem appears when the emotional distance between a regular audience member and an idol grows so large that it becomes dehumanizing. Unfortunately, seeing how Korean netizens and international fans alike latch onto tiny things to criticize about what idols do and say, this is still a very relevant topic. A pedestal that's too high can result in an approach that's entitled, cold, and often cruel. An idol becomes an imitation of a person, someone untouchable and unshakeable. Any words thrown their way, especially online, feel insignificant in comparison to their towering presence. For the people with an especially cruel streak, finding out their actions have a psychological impact on a public figure probably makes them feel like they regained some power in this uneven relationship. To them, it's nearly impossible to perceive an idol as someone with a right to receive empathy, because in their mind, the idol is too far removed from the humanity they observe in people who exist around them.

What's important here is that the lore shows us the full spectrum of who OOO are - they're idols, singers, performers, actors; they're people with fears, desires, intimate stories and hidden sides; people who have dopamine running through their bodies, people who need connection with others and people who have things they can't say. These things can't be separated from the members, because they make sure to take this message beyond the art itself. They don't filter themselves nearly as much as most idols have to - they swear, make dirty jokes, write songs about sex, casually talk about kissing men and offhandedly mention having a romantic life without apologizing for it. They're underground idols, and they intentionally distance themselves from the unforgiving audience members who would have a heart attack if their faves acted one tenth as relaxed as OOO do on a daily basis.

What I'm trying to get at here is that OnlyOneOf's art is created with the intention to create more empathy - for queer people, for mistreated lovers, for discarded muses, for people reconciling their faith with their sexuality, for one's own self despite having a lot of internalized issues. Through doing that, they override the loneliness inherent to the stories their songs tell and create possibilities for connection. They give us art that makes us feel less lonely by being a reflection of our messiest, most intimate feelings and experiences, and in turn they ask us to recognize them as a reflection of us and to not isolate them from the full human experience just because of the job they chose and its restrictions. When Jaden Jeong said they're the future of boy groups, I think he hoped they could influence audiences to humanize the figure of the idol.

I watched them between the professionally executed performances as they riffed off of each other, laughed and zoned out while looking at the audience. There were no cuts to a different, more flattering angle, no hand in the editing room controlling what footage sees the light of day. They look more beautiful in real life not because anything about their features looks different, but because the reality of being in the same space with them and finally getting to experience them just as any other human being, even with some distance still present, is a very special experience that holds beauty of its own. At that moment, I couldn’t remember why I was nervous before, and I began to wish I had sat down with them and shared a short conversation about any random thing. It would have been imperfect, but there was no reason to be afraid of that. They're just six guys of flesh and blood who clearly love what they do and whose work has given me happiness and purpose over the past two and a half years, and I would have cherished those six minutes of interaction.

On the train home, I discovered a more sentimental feeling while listening to them, especially the songs they performed, but not exclusively. There was something more personal and artistic I heard in their voices that made each song feel like more than just a recording, but a special moment in time shared by people who created something they wanted to share with others. This feeling fades the more the time distance grows between the current me and the me that attended the concert. Two hours weren’t enough.

I don't know how to end this post other than to say how fascinating it is that including imagery of fan/idol culture and technology within the lore so it mixes with all these deeply intimate stories makes everything OOO do a living piece of art. Simply existing as idols and people fuels the reason for the existence of their concept in the way that it currently exists, and I just think it's incredible.

[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.

[oneiricgarden]

zurui onna, hidoi otoko and the like crazy cover are connected to underground idol, specifically junrie HEAR ME OUT

zurui onna is sung from the perspective of junji. some verses are about rie and others are about another woman who junji is involved with. this would make sense with the dialogue that they have in because (source: because behind the scenes)

after junji and rie fight, junji goes to his other lover's house (like crazy cover) one last time. this especially fits with the opening lines - "she's saying, 'baby, come and follow me, there's not a bad thing here tonight ... stay with me a little while'". he tells her that while he does like her, he can't sustain a relationship where they're both being unfaithful (zurui onna), and contemplates how he should have just stayed with rie all the time. i feel like the ending shot of like crazy is him leaving for the last time, after having a parting kiss with his other lover. he feels ashamed that even after his fight with rie and the realization that he should be with rie instead, he still was intimate with her. that's why he wipes his lips in an attempt to wipe away her kiss.

ooo's work is not very chronological at all so i also think that this scene, and the scenes of him in the denim jacket in general, have to do with rie. here he's standing outside his doorstep, contemplating if he should knock.

he doesn't knock. him and rie smooth things over later on instead, at the pool scene in because. this is also reminiscent of seoul drift, and how throughout ui junji the one approaching rie and initiating things with him, and rie finally reciprocated in seoul drift.

and finally, a note on hidoi otoko. i think it's their first and only (so far) song to explicitly refer to their lover as male, and it definitely feels sung from the perspective of rie. lyrically it describes being in an on-and-off relationship with someone, and wanting to stay with them forever instead of the instability they have now. the lover doesn't listen - reminds me of this line in the because mv

rie wants to talk about the issues in their relationship so that it can last longer, but junji is impulsive and only wants things to be perfect now. (he realizes this was a mistake after the fight).

also it wld make sense for a jp release specifically to be from their povs bc their stage names are japanese

anyway lyOns (and orbits) (and the other 2,000,000 fandoms im in) pls follow me i wanna get on ooo tumblr 🫡 thank you for reading my silly rant

[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

[atozmoongazer]

not literature class reminding me of ooo.

[bengiyo]

BL 2023 Review

I wasn’t sure how I wanted to write about BL for this year. I was originally going to do a The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly framework for it, but that feels meaner than I actually am about it. Instead, I think I’ll just write out some sections and unpack some things I felt along the way.

I Watched Too Much Again

Last year I engaged with about 92 productions around the world. This year it was 99 (I tracked stuff I completed here). Sure I dropped 18 of them this year, but goddamn. The problem with watching as much as I did this year is that I worked full time this year and also maintained a separate hobby. I also continued my twice-weekly watch sessions with my friend Emily, so there are an additional 100-ish watch sessions in here of rewatching, plus a few other rewatches (Theory of Love and My Ride most notably).

One of my struggles at this point is I’m far too familiar with the genre, and find myself feeling impatient and irritable with shows that aren’t to my taste the way I used to. Throughout the late summer and fall I found myself increasingly grumpier about the genre, and it didn’t get better until I had a holiday and basically slept a day to get some energy back. I also found myself growing apart from fans I’ve known and followed a long time. It’s been a difficult year for me as a long-time fan because my tastes, habits, and friendships in the genre have changed even if the amount I watch hasn’t really.

I Wrote a Lot This Year

I recently converted my watch tag away from my gaming internet persona to just my shortname, so all near-1000 of my Stray Thoughts posts can be found under #ben watches now. I’ve also been going back and adding #ben writes to some of the standalone pieces that I really liked. In reviewing them, the pieces I’m happiest about are my ode to Framboise from Kabe Koji Nekoyashiki-kun Desires to Be Recognized, my post begging everyone to watch La Pluie, my post about what it means to actually like queer men, my SBS ep 10 post that ended up being wrong, my post about the Lavender Scare and Be My Favorite, my Tokyo in April is… post about the breaking of the BL line,

However, the two posts I am most proud of is my half-joking response about why I think tagging each other back and forth across Tumblr in our writing is so important. and The Knowing: Being Queer in BL because I had so much great conversations with folks as a result of both of these posts.

Looking back at my own blog, this is probably the most active I’ve been in my entire time on this website, so thank you to everyone who interacted with me this year, because it really is people talking to me that gets me most inspired to write things down. Big shout out to @lurkingshan who will bug me repeatedly until I blog something that I said in passing.

We Started a Podcast!

After hanging out with @shortpplfedup since Bad Buddy, she got inspired and really wanted to bring something different to the BL podcasting sphere. I had time, and liked talking with her enough, so we started @the-conversation-pod. Now we’re a full year into it and planning out future stuff. It’s been so much fun being able to get things off my soul and break poor NiNi in our recording sessions.

From this year, I think my favorite episodes we did were The Moonlight Chicken Episode, the Eighth Sense episode, the ITSAY Anniversary Episodes,  The Wedding Plan episode, , and The Holiday Clip Show. Huge shout out to @ginnymoonbeam for anchoring the transcription process, and @lurkingshan for editing.

The VIIB Awards will begin airing soontm so look forward to that.

Favorite New Term: Business Gay Performance

Let’s be clear, Bump Up Business is not good. It is an obvious BL cash grab from OnlyOneOf that seeks to comment on the fake nature of BL while doing everything it can to trick the audience into believing that the BL pair is real.

Before we got deeper into this year, I was a big fan of a certain pairing, and then their fans took it too far and it affected the way I engaged with their performances and their work. I like that we have a new term for “fanservice” that communicates that you understand that this is for work. (thanks to NiNi for this comparison) I can look at the latest behind the scenes video from Last Twilight and say that I think Sea really understands the work they’re doing, and he and Jimmy have a very relaxed and mature version of BGP without feeling like I’m feeding into shipping.

Do I think they’re dating? No. Do I like the way they fake it? Absolutely!

I can look at one of @respectthepetty posts about Yin and War having personalized, color-coded mics, and we can talk about the next level BGP between the two and both communicate that we know that this is a performance.

It actually makes the extra PR work fun for me again, because now I can just shout “BGP! BGP! BGP!” and it not feel like I’m giving myself brainrot.

Thai BL Needs to Finish Stronger Next Year

Let’s get into some of the show stuff. This year was defined for me by Thai BL starting strong with good premises and then squandering them by not focusing on the details that mattered or leaning into baseless melodrama. Time for some reads. Some of these shows were generally good, but they failed at these things:

609 Bedtime Story: The world building crumpled in the back half and both endings are flat.

A Boss and a Babe: Cher is a pro gamer who worked for a gaming company and there was no plot point about this at all, or collaboration between the two groups.

Bake Me Please: Why was a show about cake so lacking in flavor?

Be Mine SuperStar: You had a real opportunity to explore a fan and idol romance and had Punn show so little growth. I hope the footage of First’s range is helpful now that Ja is out of BL.

Be My Favorite: You redid that whole amusement park date and muddled so much of what the hell happened on that day.

Between Us: You had years to make this interesting. Why are there five pairs and why is the end of this a JC Penny catalog photoshoot?

Dangerous Romance: What the fuck happened to the Sailom we had in episode 1 and 2 before that gun incident?

Hidden Agenda: Tee, what the hell was this? Twelve weeks of this?

I Feel You Linger in the Air: You may be the most beautiful show, with some of the most impressive performances of the year, but you absolutely botched this ending. Finish the goddamn season next time.

Love in Translation: I love you, but that whole kidnapping plot was so stupid at the end.

Low Frequency: I like your OST. That's about it.

My Dear Gangster Oppa: No examination about how gaming friendships become close quickly because of the combination of anonymity and teamwork (shout out to @twig-tea for this excellent summation).

My School President: Saving your gay commentary for the final episode felt like a conservative choice. I want more from you next time.

Naughty Babe: You retconned your own characters to tell a worse story. Unforgiveable.

Never Let Me Go: You didn’t know if you wanted to be a high school BL or a mafia story. It was difficult to watch.

Only Friends: I cannot believe you did Boston like that at the end. Either give Force’s character a clear personality next time, or keep him enigmatic; half measures make him and Book look worse. Sand was absolutely embarrassing. Boeing was a waste. Ending on all of them paired like that felt so unearned.

Step By Step: You forgot to ground Jeng’s external dreams at the end, so the final two episodes are just frustrating.

I’m glad I got that off my chest. We can go into the next year now.

Korea Put in the Work This Year

I really like the efforts from the various Korean studios this year. I really hope we get a Strongberry joint next year, but I want to acknowledge that we had 18 Korean BL dramas I watched this year, and at least three of them I think are must watches: Our Dating Sim, Sing My Crush, and The Eighth Sense. Beyond that, I think Love Tractor, Unintentional Love Story, and A Breeze of Love are easy recommendations.

It’s really impressive how the complaint for me this year with Korean BL is not about them using their time poorly. It’s more about normal drama concerns, where I think characterization is a little weak, or a theme doesn’t land squarely. This rapid iteration from the Korean studios is really impressive to watch, and I’m excited to see what some of the recognized players do next year.

Taiwan and The Philippines Have Been Quiet for Me

I wasn’t really able to connect with much from the Philippines this year except for The Day I Loved You. I never wrote about The Day I Loved You, but this beautiful and heart wrenching show is one of my favorites from this year. I wasn’t too keen on the Oxin Films offerings of this year, and I’m still chasing down the ones from The IdeaFirst Company.

As for Taiwan, this new BL project from the end of the year just isn’t hitting. Kiseki: Dear to Me also ended up really hurting me with the way they used Wayne Song and Huang Chun Chih. I love that angry little man with the white hair, but I’m still salty about Wayne and the general mess of that show.

Japan was Busy This Year

I watched 16 new shows, a few older ones, and a few movies this year from Japan. We haven’t gotten this much from them ever. I continue to love the Drama Shower project from MBS, and my beloved What Did You Eat Yesterday? returned this year. We had pretty stellar outings with Our Dining Table, If It’s With You, and I Cannot Reach You.

I think a third of the Japanese BL I’ve tracked on MDL actually released this year. That’s huge.

Still, I am going to side eye Minato’s Laundromat 2. You were the show that let me down the most this entire year. More than Only Friends, more than Step By Step, and even more than Kiseki. You absolutely blew it. You were telling a great story about a man with an acute case of internalized homophobia coming out of his shell and learning to love his younger partner and you blew it for stupid amnesia nonsense. I will never forgive you for this.

Where Were All the Uncles This Year?

Really, without Jim from Moonlight Chicken, and without the men from What Did You Eat Yesterday? we had an alarming dearth of older gay characters passing on knowledge and wisdom to the youngsters this year. What the hell happened?

Rare Dynamics Won: Second Chance Romance and Friends to Lovers!

We had so much second chance romance this year. It’s really my favorite version of gay romance because gays don’t always have ideal settings when they’re young. We had Our Dating Sim, Individual Circumstances, Jun & Jun, The End of the World With You, Tokyo in April is…, Be My Favorite, Love Class Season 2, and A Breeze of Love. I am satisfied.

Friends to Lovers is actually so rare in romance and we have so many to choose from this year! The best examples are I Cannot Reach You and Sing My Crush, but we also have one of the pairs in Love Class Season 2.

Gay Thoughts

I had a couple of ongoing thoughts this year about queerness in BL.

First, I want to return to my post about Sing My Crush and La Pluie, and how I assert that Men Need to Be Angry Sometimes. More than giving men grace to be righteously angry or upset about things, along with letting them express it in ugly ways, I really want to get into how we engage with these shows. I will stop engaging with moralistic reads on characters in 2024. I will no longer engage with asks, reblogs, or meta gripping the fandom where we're judging the moral fiber of the character.

The question that really only matters for me at this point is: Is this act from the character justified from their characterization, the narrative, or genre conventions; and is it interesting? Whether or not the character is good or bad reeks of the lame arguments about good and bad representation, and I am not watching BL like I’m being graded in Sunday school.

The second thing I really want to acknowledge at the end of the year is that the gay sex is finally getting better again. I watched The Novelist this year, and we have taken so long to get back to the space that show took us on the portrayal of male-male intimacy. We are in the genre about people with dicks. It should feel like it. There should be a masculine component there that feels specific to queer intimacy.

I will acknowledge 2 Cutie 2 Pie, A Boss and a Babe, Be Mine SuperStar, Bed Friend, Candy Color Paradox, For Him, I Cannot Reach You, Kiseki: Dear to Me, La Pluie, Love Class 2, Love in Translation, Love Mate, Middleman’s Love, Naughty Babe, Only Friends, The End of the World With You, Tokyo in April is…, and Wedding Plan for your contributions.

Final Thoughts

I like how broad the genre felt this year, and I enjoyed how much speculative fiction is entering into the conversation. I don’t know how I feel about there being five vampire stories in the works next year, but overall I’m glad that we’re getting more experimental concepts. I’m burnt out on the college engineering BL, and would like to see more shows about working adults.

Despite how grumpy I was for at least three months, I think this has genuinely been one of the best years we’ve ever had in the genre. I made a lot of new friends in BL this year, and I’m excited to see what comes next. Thank you all for spending some of your time with me this year and I’ll see you in the next one.

[onlyoneofyongsoo]

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

[seokmatthewz]

mutuals appreciation! write heart-felt messages to some of your mutuals (or even ones you haven't talked to yet!) and tag them, BUT don't tell them which message is their, let them guess! after you're done, send this to 1 mutual you want to get a message from!

oh god okay this is very nice and sweet in theory KLDSLD but tragically i am perhaps the person with the most anxiety in the world ever and not telling people which message is for who for whatever reason feels like it would probably kill me so i think instead i will write some silly little notes for my mutuals but tag them directly or else i may die KLFCDSL sorry i cannot play the game properly i am not built like that kldskddsfkl but thank u nonetheless!!!! <3<3

@berryjaellie millie my lovely dearest fairytual who i adore and keep in my pocket it has been a joy interacting with u more thru twt these days be it to bicker or yell loudly or pester u abt matthew or hanbin as always i perpetually hope we can continue to interact more ily mwah!! thank u so much for sending me random little raccoon vids and associating me with cute things that i do not deserve u r so dear 2 me <3

@winxys paula my fucked up little meow meow there is nobody on this website who i would enjoy being the mortal enemy of more (even though with every passing day it seems like we are becoming 🤢friends🤢) as we continue to lose our minds over bbangiz crumbs and whatever onlyoneof are doing at most points in time. i know things have been rough for you lately and i really do hope they get better! here's to hoping zb1 don't debut with noise !!

@chwejongho i am not sure if u use tumblr at all lately (i believe u dont much) but it wld feel deeply wrong and incorrect to leave u off of one of these kaz dearest my boy my best friend my platonic soulmate u have put up with so much from me in these past few months (not to mention these past few years we've been friends) because i am a nuisance who never shuts up so thank you so much for putting up with my hours worth of instagram voice messages about how i was worried about matthew during boys planet even though you didn't watch the show i very much appreciate that you are always a shoulder to cry on for me no matter what the circumstance, be it me being overdramatic about a man i don't know personally or something much more serious. i appreciate you so much no matter how much or little we are talking at any given moment and i am forever wishing you the best no matter what. i love you so much!!

@hyvnsuk gabi my fellow haotual i do not have a ton to say here but i am incredibly amused every single time we have a same brain moment these days it's so fun and cute dslsdfk you're always a joy to have on the dash and your content is so pretty!! i hope ur always doing well mwah!!

@jjanguri rin dearest!! i hope the air quality has improved where u are !! u r so sweet and wonderful and i hope we can interact more soon!!! mwah!!

@haob1n lovely maria!! thank u for all the sweet comments you leave in the tags of my gifsets i do not deserve ur kindness and i am so incredibly overjoyed every time u call me a matthew stan pillar (or something along those lines) KDSSKLD mwah i hope u are always well!!

@zeroze hope!!!! ik we have not interacted much but it is always so fun to briefly goof around w u in the replies of an ask u are so sweet and funny!!! i rlly hope we can talk more soon <3<3

also to all my zerosetuals in general pls feel free 2 chat with me!! i wld love 2 make some zerose friends hehe

[jinisnuggets]

𝕀𝕟𝕥𝕣𝕠𝕕𝕦𝕔𝕚𝕟𝕘....

Tᖇᗩᗪᗴᗪ!

Genre: Crossover, Idol AU, Introductions

Warnings: none

Word Count: 0.5k

Traded

RBW Entertainment

Fandom Name: Traitors

Official Colors: Black and Red

Dorm Arrangement:

Dorm 1: Ciel ; Hanako

Dorm 2: Tanjiro ; Mikey ; Toge

Dorm 3: Kenma ; Killua

All members have individual dorms too

Extra Info:

Traded debuted on November 16th, 2017. The group consist of 7 members

Debut Song: OnlyOneOf, Seoul Drift

I think Traded goes well with Ateez voices, so I make them sing Ateez songs.

They are arranged in age order based on their real birth date and the time the anime takes place.

ℂ𝕚𝕖𝕝

Anime: Black Butler

Positions: Producer, Lead Vocalist, Lead Dancer, Visual

Ateez Member: Seonghwa & Wooyoung

Voice Alike Idol: P1Harmony, Theo

Extra Info:

-Real Birthday: December 14th, 1875

-AU Birthday: December 14th, 1998

-At first, Ciel was meant to be a Main Vocalist, because of Toge joining the agency later on, he became a lead.

-His dance style is like Enhypen Sunghoon.

𝕋𝕒𝕟𝕛𝕚𝕣𝕠

Anime: Demon Slayer

Positions: Leader, Main Vocalist, Main Dancer

Ateez Member: San & Seonghwa

Voice Alike Idol: NCT, Ten & Oneus, Seoho

Extra Info:

-Real Birthday: July 14th, 1900

-AU Birthday: July 14th, 1999

-Tanjiro is normally considered the best vocalist of the group because he can do all sorts of tones and pitches, he's stable, and flexible.

-Tanjiro is the all rounder of the group, being number 1 on vocals, 1 on dance, and 5 on rap.

-His dance style is like San, Seonghwa

ℍ𝕒𝕟𝕒𝕜𝕠

Anime: TBHK

Positions: Sub Vocalist, FOTG (Potential Lead Dancer)

Ateez Member: Yunho & Yeosang

Voice Alike Idol: TXT, Huening Kai & Ateez, Yeosang

Extra Info:

-Real Birthday: November 25th, 1955

-AU Birthday: November 25th, 1999

-Hanako debuted as a visual along with Ciel and Toge, but he was switched for Face as the group debuted without one.

-Hanako is also an actor!

-His dance style is like TXT Huening Kai.

𝕂𝕚𝕝𝕝𝕦𝕒

Anime: Hunter X Hunter

Positions: Lead Rapper, Lead Dancer, Sub Vocalist

Ateez Member: Hongjoong & Yeosang

Voice Alike Idol: Oneus, Ravn

Extra Info:

-Real Birthday: July 7th, 1987

-AU Birthday: July 7th, 2000

-Sometimes Killua Is considered the 2nd Main Rapper of the group.

-He was about to debut with Dreamers.

-His dance style is like Oneus Hwanwoong No Diggity style :)

𝕄𝕚𝕜𝕖𝕪

Anime: Tokyo Revengers

Positions: Lead Rapper, Sub Vocalist, Center

Ateez Member: Mingi

Voice Alike Idol: NCT, Winwin

Extra Info:

-Real Birthday: August 20th, 1990

-AU Birthday: August 20th, 2000

-He is the deep voice of the group, although his normal voice is soft.

-His dance style is like Treasure Junkyu

𝕂𝕖𝕟𝕞𝕒

Anime: Haikyuu

Positions: Main Rapper, Main Dancer, Sub Vocalist (Potential Lead Vocalist)

Ateez Member: Hongjoong & Wooyoung

Voice Alike Idol: The Boyz, Sunwoo & NCT, YangYang

Extra Info:

-Real Birthday: October 16th, 1995

-AU Birthday: October 16th, 2000

-Kenma didn't want to become an idol he wanted to be a producer for the company.

-Kenma gets a lot of vocal lines and is treated like a lead vocalist.

-He doesn't have good stamina but is a part of the all rounder line, being the 1st in rap, 2nd in dance, 4th in vocals.

-His dance style is like The Boyz Sunwoo & NCT YangYang.

𝕋𝕠𝕘𝕖

Anime: Jujutsu Kaisen

Positions: Main Vocalist, Visual, Maknae

Ateez Member: Jongho

Voice Alike Idol: Ateez, Jongho

Extra Info:

-Real Birthday: October 23rd, ??? (Theory: 1999-2001)

-AU Birthday: October 23rd, 2001

-He joined the agency when the group already had a line up, but only had few training months.

-He was supposed to debut in another group as Traded was already getting a line up, but since the line up wasn't official, he became the 7th member.

-His dance style is like Oneus Xion and Ateez Jongho.

[skinzchoerim]

Some quick thoughts about the teaser pics I didn't wanna spam anyone in the tags with:

So we didn't get any unit pics this time around, but in the group photo, which they usually stand pretty randomly for, all the units are side by side. The one phrase that comes to my mind when I look at that photo is that they look like a united front. In seOul drift, the only person they met was from their unit, and the only time they've all been together on screen were the choreography scenes. That's the first and only group MV in which this has happened, and it came right after a project in which they were in three different universes. If the comeback MV is a spiritual successor to the previous ones, I think we might see them all together again, and it will have a deeper meaning.

[redeim]

Examining the part right before the fight, it looks like Rie might be saying “공개하자 (gonggae haja),” or just “공개 (gonggae),” which means, “let’s go public,” so I think shadowetienne is on to something about it being a fight about going public/showing PDA.

[junjiya]

be free: ending interpretation + analysis

so!! be free was completely brilliant (obvs), so I wanted to give my analysis of it!

so firstly, it tells the rest of begin’s story from kyubin’s perspective. from begin’s rather ambiguous ending of not knowing where the relationship would go, the mv shows the deeper bond the two have with each other. this ultimately culminates at the end (coincidentally also the crescendo of the song, nice one guys) where it’s revealed that they slept together.

this is a big step in how the relationship is portrayed. begin focused more on longing and fear due to personal prejudice and a conservative society. when yoojung takes a drunken kyubin home, we don’t know weather anything happened between them. I find begin to be very bittersweet; it has this incredible cathartic energy to it yet there’s still that lingering feeling of hesitation shown through its ambiguity. explicitly showing a naked yoojung in kyubin’s bed as he redresses himself shows how they overcame this fear.

ok! I wanna talk about that ending now. I’ve seen a lot of interpretations that say that kyubin actually left yoojung alone after sleeping with him (get that head get that bread then leave ig)

my interpretation of the ending is that those final shots are hopeful and joyful. the contrast between kyubin’s final shots and yoojung’s also show different outlooks on queerness

-> yoojung

yoojung’s final shots are melancholy, he is shown looking down possibly lost in thought, coated with a cold blue light as he wraps himself in the blanket from kyubin’s bed.

rather than these shots showing his sadness after kyubin leaves, I think it shows him contemplating what he has done, his relationship with kyubin as well as the consequences that could follow. the consequences either being the judgement/fear from society or the unsureness of where he and kyubin’s relationship might go. for me, I see a definite anxiety as he pulls the blanket closer to him. through this action he is wrapping himself in a symbol of love (kyubin, sex). He almost hides himself inside it, protecting him from the cold (colour pallete) and making that experience, that love, last a little longer.

as pointed out by @/prodbymill on twt, these shots could also represent yoojung’s fear, not of society, but of kyubin’s reaction/what will happen next

this ties to the mv description, specifically the line “…I didn’t want to get hurt…the moment of hesitation.”

-> kyubin

I love these final shots so much ;;

these last shots are so joyous. kyubin is shown smiling nonstop, triumphantly belting the lyrics as he holds a paper crane. the paper crane is symbol of how their relationship began, as well as desire - a desire finally achieved as he has now picked up the crane yoojung has been leaving for him all this time.

the very last shot shows kyubin turning to the camera and smiling, before throwing his arms up and falling back onto the bed before the title is shown again.

this ending is triumphant, he throws his hands up in the air as if he has overcame a great battle, that battle being a conservative society and fear of one’s true feelings, even one’s personal prejudice

him smiling back at the camera could also be interpreted as him smiling back at yoojung (yj’s POV), or as a 4th wall break to the auidence (society), as a way of saying “see? I’m not scared anymore. you don’t scare me anymore.”. It could also be, as stated by @/prodbymill that this is kyubin accepting himself, finding freedom in his sexuality and letting himself fall (in love)

and lastly, the title appearing after he falls back solidifies this joy he feels. after all the fear and hesitation, he is finally free - “when you’re free from any prejudice…freedom will begin”

this ending shows the contrasts between the characters as they reach this point in their relationship/queerness; kyubin is free. while yoojung doesn’t know if he is truly free, the shackles of societal judgements and personal anxiety prevents him from freedom

[atozmoongazer]

Happy birthday, Yoojung! And happy 4th anniversary, OnlyOneOf! Being a lyon has made my life considerably brighter, and I am excited to continue following ooo's artistic journey with this beautiful community.

There are many creatives in our fandom, from the artists that sketch to the gifmakers and the theory writers. Then there are the equally lovely people who repost all the nice photos of ooo for us. I really appreciate everyone's dedication, but I can't contribute in that way. The only fandom skillset I have is some basic knowledge of video editing, so I was thinking of doing something cringy- making youtube shorts.

I know, the concept is laughable. If you asked me about this a year ago, I would have been quite annoyed at the tiktokification of the video platform. However, I see one big potential.

Mainly, these shorts can reach a wider audience than the dedicated, but small lyon youtube community. Therefore, they could function both as advertising (8D could really improve in this department) and videos that I enjoy making. I'm thinking my shorts should be aimed towards a more general kpop audience.

I've noticed that most of the popular shorts pertaining to OnlyOneOf usually emphasize their skinship, pairings, or supportiveness for queer communities. And while I am all for it and consume the same content like everyone else, I would also love to highlight their music and vocals. Their dancing and stage presence. The beautiful messages woven into the stories they tell. Anything and everything that we love about ooo.

I have many things to do over summer break, so even shorts might take a while to complete. And I don't expect any of them to go viral either. But if I can find more potential lyons out there while being creative in my own way, why not do it?

Anyways, thank you to anyone who read this far. If you ever see a random youtube short floating around the onlyoneof tag, it's probably mine lol.

[juliettejgu]

HELLO! Help me w/my theory!

Hi there~

I was wondering if someone had the pictures from the Dot Point Jump photobook??

I have a theory, but I need a couple of them to confirm it. If there's anyone out there who has:

Love's photos where he's holding a flask over his right eye? And the one where he's sitting between bottles/flasks and a book, a window behind him.

Also, Yoojung's where he's covering his left eye, and the one with the magnifying glass

Kyubin's with the flasks and the white and ask discs on the table

Nine's infront of that window in color and grey scale

Rie's looking at that grey disc on the table

As for the black version:

Rie's with the two candles, covering his right eye with them

Junji's with the deer skull. All of them, if possible.

Love's holding the lamp and pointing it at him. And the ones where he isn't holding it

Yoojung's. All of them with the suit with the red armbands

Kyubin's with the mirror behind him and the chandelier right above his head. The one were the window is behind him and he's in the shadows. The one were he's slightly covering his left eye.

And those are the ones I need.

If you have them please send them to me, that you very much.

I'll be posting what I have discovered until now so please look forward to that too!

[bloodstainedsarsaparilla]

Me watching terribly shot gaslighting performances

[absolutebl]

The titles for @notyourginn-blog

NAME: Absolute BL (the JBL)

SIGN: Until We Meet Again

HEIGHT: Cherry Blossoms After Winter

TIME: Triage

BIRTHDAY: Don't Say No

FAVOURITE ARTIST/BAND: Devil Judge

LAST MOVIE: Restart After Come Back Home

LAST SHOW: Theory of Love

WHEN I CREATED THIS BLOG: Seven Days

WHAT I POST: Absolute BL (again)

OTHER BLOGS: We Best Love

DO I GET ASKS: Love By Chance 2

AVERAGE HOURS OF SLEEP: To My Star

WHAT I’M WEARING: That's Chimon of Dangerous Romance in an advert.

DREAM JOB: Manner of Death

DREAM TRIP: KinnPorsche

FAVOURITE SONGS: OnlyOneOf

Tagged by @gillianthecat (thanks darlin’) 

I actual did this one a bit ago so I’m going to answer these with BL images! And you can guess what they mean. 

Ready? 

NAME: 

SIGN: 

HEIGHT: 

TIME: 

BIRTHDAY: 

FAVOURITE ARTIST/BAND: 

LAST MOVIE: 

LAST SHOW: 

WHEN I CREATED THIS BLOG: 

WHAT I POST: 

OTHER BLOGS: 

DO I GET ASKS: 

AVERAGE HOURS OF SLEEP: 

WHAT I’M WEARING: 

DREAM JOB: 

DREAM TRIP: 

FAVOURITE SONGS: 

Anyone who wants to play, consider yourself tagged.