it is crazy to me that i'm nearly a year into this shit and i'm still finding woosan moments that make me look around my empty apartment like "are y'all seeing this shit"
Okay, I'm so so glad that one anon convinced you to watch the fake dating show Wanteez parody. Anon, you are a goddamn hero.
I was hoping we'd get your thoughts and you did not disappoint. Jongho was absolutely the hero and I think what cemented it even more so (other than his charm, his aura, his outdoing Yunho at the BL stuff) was the fact that it was UNEXPECTED. I typically assume he'll sort of shut down or try to keep as much distance as possible when doing content like this. But no, he interrupted the Steve of the group (in-fandom joke about how Yunho is seemingly always there whenever other members are BL-ing), had me laughing my literal ass off at the end when he came out for each rose ceremony, and was so disarmingly charming. I find him cute and funny on an average day but don't typically pay a ton of attention to him, BUT holy shit. I want him to flirt with me. And the other thing is - throughout it all, I never did a double take or a side glance like I delusionally do with some of the other members when they are acting out like this. Because Jongho still came off as FOR THE GIRLS. And I surprisingly really appreciated that about him.
I also need San (and Mingi) but mostly San to workout in tight button-up shirts for content. Atinys have been wanting to see gym content for years and he will never do what Bang Chan does because he is a Good Boy™ but I feel like this is a happy medium where we (I) get to see him workout and strain his muscles under the tight white shirt but he also gets to retain some modesty and sense of decorum. PLEASE SAN/KQ/KPOP GODS IF YOU'RE LISTENING.
Final thought: I was also charmed when San and Mingi were working out on their little gym date and they both just started giggling. Like they understood the ridiculousness of what they were doing. It was so disarmingly boyish of them. They have taken over as one of my favorite duos of the group and I think it's because they have an ease with each other that I appreciate in other duos.
sent 2026.05.04
Further thoughts on Jongho and a whole separate thing on Mingi and San
Jongho
Jongho is actually an expert on What The Girls Want. Now that I think about it, Jongho has a lot in common with Han of SKZ! By the way -Han in Kingdom (from ages ago) knows of and loves Jongho's talent enough to like, worry on camera about his throat when he did his hit-super-high-notes-at-max-volume demonstrations. Han of SKZ also is an expert on what the girls want, in a super subtle way, if you watch closely - the setup of his persona, the way he's willing to be cute, soft and meek in one instance and then turn it around and be the smart one, the kind one, the one with a sharp and witty turn of phrase - CATNIP FOR THE LADIEESSS. (Oh, before we go further - this is all my headcanon). ANYWAY- Jongho knows all the lines, all the characters and all the plots from all the K-dramas. He actually can deliver those lines that are honestly, generally kind of vomit inducing for me, but that sort of thing is What the Girls (International) Want (which is why K drama is exportable globally).
The problem I have with Ateez stuff is that the performers are just as, if not more, gifted and talented, with as much good looks and sex appeal as any other top tier Idol group, but their scripts are HORRIBLE, and though Hongjoong does a terrific job as a leader in so many other areas of Idoldom, play-acting just isn't his thing (pls don't kill me). So in order for a Wanteez episode to be successful, someone needs to decide to take on some archetypal parts.
And Jongho decided to shoulder the burden of being The Man, who does all the things that The Girls want men to do and find that um, well, guys in their 20s kind of suck at such as:
making the first move, in a gentle and articulate way
making his intentions really clear
thinking long term with you, and about you
taking the lead in the conversation so you don't have to be the one to constantly come up with something to talk about
taking rejection really well - expressing sadness, but not anger or resentment
recovering from rejection really well
being flirty by being over the top but with a twinkle in his eye so you know that he knows that you know this is all a bit silly
All Hail.
San and Mingi
San is an openly tender person. That's a big part of his appeal, you know? His being able to be unabashedly tender comes from his upbringing. He's got this adored-baby-of-the-family vibe even as he has that face and that body and those moves. He tells on his bros to the older women present, fully expecting everyone to be on his side, because women older than him (his grandma, his mom, his sister) have always been on his side. (Example: In the dating parody Wanteez episodes, there's a portion where Yeosang is using a kitchen knife like he got off the spaceship from Jupiter yesterday morning, and San goes, "He's doing the cutting wrooong!!" in this sing-song appeal to the crew, as in, he tattled, because he wanted Yeosang to not cut himself but didn't want to do the telling off or correcting himself.) He consistently self-reports that he grew up in a super-stable, exceptionally harmonious family. And who knows about other people's families, but I actually believe him: There's that footage where San's mom starts crying about what a joy he was to raise, and he starts crying while telling her to not cry, when he was a tall 20 something year old already. He says he learned how to be a loving man from how his grandparents treated each other. San knows he was adored and celebrates this about himself.
Mingi is a covertly tender person. I suspect it's became he came from a through-the-looking-glass version of San's super stable, super connected family. His seems to have blown up. Like, as a minor, he was wandering around at all hours with what sound like rowdy hiphop all-boy dance crews that dragged this sensitive, easily scared kid to horror movies and stuff, and his dad never called him to check up on why he wasn't at home. Mingi started laughing once when he told a story about his dad nagging him to 'go home early,' chiding him publicly by saying, "You didn't say anything like that when I was in middle school, but you're saying it now?" I kind of suspect Paterfamilias Song of being a bit of a FailDad, which might be why Mater Song is the most important person ever to Mingi. And Mingi's mom is a super factual and logical lady and I dunno, maybe if you're a pretty, energetic little woman who had two giant sons with a FailDad, you just get much tougher and less emotional? The very brutal way that Mingi worded things in early days when he gave feedback to other members to me sounded like a kid who'd had things put brutally to him by adults. But everything Mingi does demonstrates that he's TERRIFIED of breaking things (from being big and also, uh, not being in very good control of his body somehow, when he's not dancing - which HOW DOES THAT WORK but ok), terrified of hurting people's feelings, and wanting to be treated gently and sweetly (I'm a princess, I'm cute, I'm a little baby chick).
San keeps looking for ways to rope in members to be his foils so he can show is protector-caregiver self that he wants to explore. He's taken on Yeosang as a target for this, with - let's just say - mixed results, but I know why he did it: Visually San's leanness and sharpness of face looks good with Yeosang's unusual combination of being very cute and very mystical. But in fact, just in terms of orientation, Mingi is probably the right one for San's Faithful Knight skills. It's just that they don't really look right doing that, together. That's too bad.
So instead, I have fun imagining that there's an almost girlish friendship that exists between San and Mingi that we don't see very much, where the overt and covert tendernesses meet. And Mingi shows it more about San than San does about Mingi. Mingi's voice changes entirely when he says Sannie's name, when he's doing 1:1 interviews. I always notice those moments. And in these Wanteez episodes, the bit when Mingi goes, "Oh I can't do this" about one of the weights levels and San immediately being so conciliatory and encouraging was really fun to see.
kianamaiart
discoholicmusic
dailybridgerton
prguitarman
theartofmadeline
dededos
annaxmalina
jacobvanloon
gummygunk
