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staurora · 1 year

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onlyoneof please release dance practice videos of the solos i am ON MY KNEES

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staurora · 1 year

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babe wake up new onlyoneof maknae just dropped

#onlyoneof #shin kyubin

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staurora · 1 year

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#his voice rly has this depth to it which u can hear even in his really lovely high notes #it’s just so smooth and like. idk how to describe it #very light and floaty maybe #I’m deeply in love with shin kyubin

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staurora · 1 year

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KB WITH THE HOT GAY FLAG

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staurora · 1 year

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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.

#kpop #onlyoneof #kpop analysis #onlyoneof theory #OnlyOneOf analysis

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staurora · 1 year

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OH MY GODS?!?!

OOO x Holland collab?!?!?! YES PLEASE?!?!?!

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staurora · 1 year

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My OnlyOneOf Concert Experience!

On April 7th I was lucky enough to get a VVIP ticket to participate in OnlyOneOf’s Dallas fansign, hi-touch, and concert, and I want to share my thoughts on it! Naturally I will be biased as I’m a huge fan of them, but I hope this information can be informative or at least interesting.

The first thing that struck me was how socially comfortable the whole experience was. The only other groups I’ve seen in concert are Ateez two times and P1Harmony once. While I wasn’t uncomfortable at these concerts, I suffer greatly from social anxiety. Even when I’m handing out freebies I can’t look most people in the eye or start full conversations. Typically I go alone as well, so it tends to be a fun but lonely affair. However, the accepting and warm atmosphere as well as my own self improvement managed to pull me out of my shell this time and I conversed with many other attendees and even made friends with one!

I think too that the attitude of fans reflects qualities of the artist. Through the personas and values they portray in their music, including but not limited to some of the loudest queer acceptance in kpop right now, OnlyOneOf have crafted a space in which their fans can be comfortable dressing and acting the way they want to, enjoying the things they enjoy proudly and behaving kindly. Many of the attendees I talked to spoke of OnlyOneOf as a beacon of hope, comfort, and safety. I think this rings true for me as well.

The fansign was lovely, as I was able to give four of the members my art. Kyubin and Rie, I WILL draw you and give you that art as soon as I can. Unfortunately I was at a total loss of words and couldn’t express what I felt in my heart. I hope they can feel it when they look at my drawings. The group photo was extremely fun, simply because I got to make a heart with Kyubin… what a charismatic man. On the whole, this concert really made it impossible for me to have a bias. The members are so charismatic and lovely in real life.

The actual concert itself was amazing, my first time ever being so close to the stage. No one was pushing or being rude, and I actually had a bit of personal space! The performances were amazing of course, OnlyOneOf are true performers. Their choreography is artistic and beautiful and the way they move is surreal, even more so when you see it in real life. They’re great at interacting with the fans as well, coming up with fun stories and jokes between performances. None of it felt stale or forced which… unfortunately I felt Ateez was when I saw them the second time (a very small gripe for a great concert). Definitely a plus for them as a group.

Vocal-wise, the boys are great but it’s hard to distinguish between the guide and them when you’re so close to the loud ass speakers. Or they weren’t singing live very much. Or they’re so good you can’t tell them apart from a guide sometimes. It could be any of that. The moments where I could here their live vocals were beautiful though, very clean and stable.

Negatives of the experience… to be honest, there were very few. The biggest was the lack of seats. This is a personal issue for me to fix on my end as well, as I have hip problems when standing for long periods of time. Towards the end, I was in a ton of pain, having stood maybe four or five hours. Something to consider when buying something general admission. If you have difficulty standing, it will be hard for you to participate.

The only other negatives are slight annoyances. Typical fans yelling while members are talking because they want their main character moment (probably less than there were at Ateez? I could be wrong tho). Also I’ve heard some very negative things about the woman mainly in charge of this tour on Studio Pav’s side. I can’t verify much but it’s something I’ve been side eyeing. How the hell are you gonna be xenphobic and manage Kpop tours… but I don’t really know her so I can’t say much else for sure. The concert was well organized, the staff were slightly aggressive but that’s understandable considering how rowdy Kpop fans can get.

All in all, I would 100% buy the same ticket again. Only $205 and you get a truly healing concert experience and memories to cherish. I will definitely see OnlyOneOf in concert next time I’m able to, and I will be closely following their musical journey as it hopefully continues for much longer. They’re doing something very special, creating a truly safe space for queer people when it often feels like those are becoming fewer and fewer. I look forward to their continued growth.

#kpop #OnlyOneOf #kpop concert #kpop review #onlyoneof kyubin #onlyoneof junji #onlyoneof yoojung #OnlyOneOf Rie #onlyoneof mill #onlyoneof nine

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staurora · 1 year

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My Thoughts on Xikers debut!

(gif retrieved from @hunternity )

So Xikers recently debuted with the album House of Tricky: Doorbell Ringing and I wanted to share my thoughts! I’ve been keeping an eye on them as KQ has released more content to build hype and I think they were very easy for me to get interested in compared to many other groups. And their album did not disappoint!

I won’t go into my specific thoughts on every song but I think the entire album as a whole is very well done. Its cohesive and high energy in a way that doesn’t feel annoying or dull, due to the great musicality from the production team (Hongjoong, Edenary crew, ily). If I had to describe the concept, it’s a sort of trickster concept with a modern, youthful kind of twist. They play around a little bit with varying genres while keeping a distinct Kpop sound as the through-line. I enjoyed it very much and I’ve been listening to it often since release!

(I hear they also have lore. I’m not gonna dive into that until like. Next comeback. It looks complicated and I don’t have enough material to judge yet lol)

When you look for negative opinions of them so far, the biggest thing I’ve seen is that people think they’re too much like Ateez, that KQ is just making them Ateez junior, etc. I can see why they feel like it sounds a bit similar, but at the same time, Ateez has a particular sound that I just… don’t really hear in these tracks? Idk how to describe it, like Ateez songs tend to have a more cinematic feeling most of the time I think? I could see a comparison between this album and maybe Fever part 2, but even then its a very vague similarity and I’ve always felt that particular album kind of stuck out of Ateez’s music. I think if Xikers were under JYP, everyone would compare them to Stray Kids in the same way, right? They just sound like a kpop boy group.

Also… yeah I’m sure KQ is trying to make a follow up to Ateez, one of their most profitable business moves to date (come on, KQ fellaz and then KQ fellaz 2? It’s pretty clear). But the members of Xikers are distinct individuals, and their personalities will naturally influence the direction of their music and performances. They will eventually move out from the shadows of senior performers. Hopefully they can bring something very new or innovative to their second comeback, make a wave like hala hala did but in a whole new way.

Anyway, to close on a positive note, here are some of my favorite things I’ve noticed from Xikers thus far!

Sumin! He’s probably my bias, along with Hunter? Hunter’s dance skills are CRAZY (and he did that one performance to all time hit Juggernaut by my fav Tyler the Creator so I’m. Biased.) Sumin kinda snuck up on me tho, for some reason he reminded me a bit of Changbin? But distinctly different, he has this particular kind of coolness yknow? I’m always rapper biased😔.

In Xikey, Minjae’s shout of “Xikers” rly gave me goosebumps! So powerful, he went all in and it paid off!

Edenary, HJ i am Kissing u deeply for Dynamic, that track fucks severely

Yechan… that kid has some crazy potential and I think everyone knows it. With him as well as the other members, I look forward to learning more about them as individuals and seeing those traits shine through in their music.

#kpop #xikers #minjae #Sumin #kpop boys #kpop opinions #review #new release #kpop review #kq entertainment #yechan #hunter

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staurora · 2 years

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HJ 🌠 [220806] Instagram Update [#Hong_stagram] “Show show show 🎤"

#HONGJOONG #THE MAN YOU ARR #hongjoong #ateez

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staurora · 2 years

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begin

Something that OOO (’s production team) really get about queer desire is how it’s communicated through gaze and (non-sexual) touch. Especially in the world that OOO expresses in their MVs, where queer desire exists within a homophobic society, catching the right gaze and signalling intent with a plausibly deniable touch is how you survive: you need to be able to no-homo your way out of a situation where you’ve been caught by a homophobe, but you also want to be caught by other queer people…so you have to look just enough and touch just enough.

In libidO, we got so many close ups of hands almost touching, of eyes resting on bodies momentarily – it tells the story of the space between desire and action in these different relationships. In begin, we get a much more targeted story, and so we get more targeted looks. This MV really does show us the beginning (god I hope we get continue from KB) as desire and intent are communicated.

In this MV, though, we see a Yoojung who, while he knows he can’t look as freely as he wants, at least knows he wants. In contrast, KB wants to look, but definitely isn’t comfortable with that wanting.

Before KB shows up in the music video, we see a pretty carefree Yoojung. He’s popping bubblegum, singing along, playing with the fan, and otherwise just lazing about. His body is loose; he’s tension-free and bored.

The first gaze

As soon as he sees KB, though, everything changes. There’s just a flash of KB walking outside, and Yoojung’s shot angle shifts so that we see the direction of his gaze. His shoulders raise, his fingers extending just a little bit, as if he can’t help but reach out to try to touch. In short, he’s no longer looking around for something to be interested in, Yoojung is interested.

We don’t yet know if KB, who takes up much less space in this shot compared to Yoojung, is interested (lol of course he is). He’s distracted by (from) his phone call, and he’s obscured by both shadow and window hangings, so he’s more feeling than person. What does he look like? What is he looking at? Could he be looking at Yoojung? How does he feel about queers? All unknown and at this point unknowable. He’s a safe fantasy for a bored Yoojung.

And then KB opens the door and he becomes not just someone to be looked at, but someone who can see.

Keep reading

#this this a million times this #onlyoneof

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staurora · 2 years

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begin & chungking express

some thoughts as a long-time queer chungking express enjoyer

while chungking express isn’t queer cinema (happy together is & shows up in other ooo work!) it explores failure and longing and alternative, socially “strange” forms of love that are familiar to queer people. in the second half of the movie, which is what begin adapts, faye wong’s character breaks into her love interest’s house and cleans his things for him, which we in a practical lens consider an invasion of privacy and stalking behavior, but in the world of heightened emotions we see it as her illicit expression of care and love for him, which he sees for what she intended it to be. they don’t “love” each other but he carries her basket of onions to work; they don’t “love” each other but she cleans his floors and replaces the broken and worn-out things in his life. she is committed to another dream; he is mired in his own post-breakup loneliness; they want to be with each other in an ill-defined way that is intimate but intentionally coy and uncertain because of other things left unfinished, other what-ifs and things that should be right.

Seguir leyendo

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staurora · 2 years

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