Still shocked that Minhwa's Troublemaker overshadowed Woosan's Mirotic so strongly haha
Not that it wasn't deserved! But Woosan is the most popular pair in Ateez, covering one of the most popular Kpop songs... and it got virtually 0 traction online FOR HOURS
Minhwa is virtually unknown as a ship and yet that's all the internet could talk about for almost 2 whole days! I woke up on Day1, checked my socials and it was all Minhwa, I didn't even KNOW Woosan did Mirotic until I went looking in their tags (on twitter, because on tumblr it was still ZERO, and pics and video only appeared on Day2)
And don't get me wrong, Seonghwa is my bias and I was so damn EXCITED!!! But it was still shocking haha
And yes it was a CHOICE to do that. Especially because Ateez is incredibly popular right now for a very Straight™ song and album singing about hot latinas. Minhwa was like don't get it twisted, some us might be straight but some of us definitely are not -- and all of us are allies lol
This also led me to reevaluate Mingi's part in Bad, still a dreadful song but I've seen so many takes in the past few days presenting Mingi as putting up a very CAMP performance, where he dances almost as one of the girls, in a sort of gender bending fashion because while he is one of them, the girls behave like male birds with him, dancing to seduce a mate. Really cool meta! And in that new video BBTrippin literally compares him to a bird leading his chicks so... yeah. On the western side of twitter Mingi is definitely being analyzed through a new lens and hailed as some sort of camp drag king/possibly queer. So many old clips are resurfacing of him dancing in a feminine way, being incredibly affectionate or sensual with Ateez (did you know he has a thing for kissing their necks?) and even the Princess/adorable agenda is being looked at through new eyes. Mingi is such a powerful rapper, dancer, performer, but the first thing BBT mention is that he's adorable and the biggest softie in the group? Ok! That's a nice rebrand that I'm on board for!
Btw speaking of twitter can you believe some people are MAD Mingi played the feminine part and Seonghwa the masculine part? "Seonghwa said his style is genderless!" ok excuse me, since when genderless = only doing feminine roles? isn't that a contradiction Lmao his style is genderless in the sense that he doesn't care about gendered clothes and what he should or shouldn't do/wear/behave like, but he's still a man 🤷🏻♀️ and Mingi was the perfect partner because he always lets the other person do their thing and just goes along with it; idk about the Mingi biases but lots of fellow Seonghwa biases think he has a monopoly on femininity and that everyone else looks "ridiculous" if they play feminine parts... Mingi was the furthest thing from ridiculous, he was iconic, and again Seonghwa suggested he play Hyuna's part because he knew he'd be 100% committed. Mingi took it SERIOUSLY, he clearly respects femininity and apparently grew up doing girl concepts. This whole thing really showed a new side of him to me and so much new (to me) info is coming up about him, I really appreciate it! I love when a group I think I know can surprise me and give me new things to analyze and think about :)
Hope you get better soon!
I am unfortunately not going to get better soon lol - I am not going to get into it but the various situations are kind of a long term thing with no cure per se, just managed symptoms that don't disrupt my life. But I appreciate the well wishes!
I really wish you could put your own name on this, because this was such a fun read. I don't even know if you want thoughts or this is an Atiny bulletinboard thing? But I encourage you to make your own posts and maybe tag me or something next time - you should get credit for your work.
I am very surprised that Mingi was being read as so straight before Troublemaker, but maybe this has to do with my own particular idiosyncratic introduction to Ateez in general.
I think Minhwa having such blisteringly hot chemistry must have come as a surprise to even them. During Night 1, Wooyoung in particular seemed extremely taken aback at the way it went over so well with a live audience. Like, that's the high risk fun of a live performance, you know? You don't actually know what's going to happen until you're doing it. Some people do better in rehearsal and then seize up during the actual show - and something may come off as unpersuasive during practice and then go off like fireworks in front of an audience.
But also, I do think that the... what's the word - the ummm - the rabid fujoshi contingent (affectionate) (no really - I don't always understand or agree with y'all but you really fuel a fandom) are overly represented and overly loud in the Ateez fandom online discourse spaces. When people asked me at my buttoned up job full of proper snobby people what I saw over the weekend I showed them ONLY the footage of the Mirotic performance, for example.
But also, the angles - as in the angles presented by the choreography to the projection screen - that Minhwa worked out for their number were EXTREMELY well calculated to appeal not just to the rabid fujoshi contingent but also to Mingtis who want to see what it looks like when Mingi angles his head to kiss someone on the mouth and Tteongbyuls who want to see what it looks like when Seonghwa cracks on stage a little bit and gives a genuine, real person grin and in addition managed to catch the eye of general Atiny who were presented with a new aspect of familiar, loved performers - a Mingi making feminine angles with his wrists and pelvis and a Seonghwa who was all old fashioned manly power ordering people around. Plus - and most importantly - they apparently both made the other one feel sexy while doing the number, and also at the same time had a lot of fun doing it, and that's kind of what we all want from Idols, right? A sexy fun time.
The other reason for Troublemaker taking it over the top is that it was actually sincerely well done. Technically well done. Tastefully trashy. Sincere commitment by the performers. Because like, so much of it could've gone very wrong, you know? Mingi is bigger than Seonghwa, so Seonghwa standing behind Mingi and embracing him like that could have looked really silly. Mingi sang the girl part in the lowest, most growliest part of his register, and it actually ended up being quite thrilling but that also could've been a disaster - grotesquely comical rather than refreshingly subversive. Either one of them could've totally gotten the ick or the giggles in the wrong way in the middle of it and marred the chemistry. In a very controlled genre that is generally very terrified of offending a very touchy, frequently unreasonable, and definitely extremely diverse audience, it's a very rare thing for any Idol performer to swing really big, take big risks, and then stick the landing in a satisfying way. It makes sense that it would set an Idol fandom on fire.
titsay
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