☆ DASH 24 she/they
☆ ABOUT THE BLOG: this is my personal blog! i just use it to reblog my interests and, more recently, to write a little about my life and my fandom experiences, here n there!!
☆ ABOUT ME: i love to chat and make friends, so if you wanna drop in and talk about our shared interests, this is ur sign to go for it! my ask box and dms are always open! i'd love to have more mutuals to interact with :D
☆ INTERESTS: current hfx is ATEEZ, so expect a lot of posting about kpop for the time being! my other interests include transformers, genshin/star rail, hannibal, yellowjackets, and an assortment of anime/manga too (one piece, haikyuu, JJBA, FMAB, + some more)
☆ HOBBIES: caring for my venus flytraps, playing D&D (currently in one homebrew campaign and one curse of strahd group), making cosplays & attending cons, playing co-op games with my friends, drawing, collaborative writing (literate rp), and I'm trying to get back into reading for fun more too!
Being a notorious robotlover in the current state of "AI" is the worst. I love robots discovering how they process their feelings in fiction, but when a chatbot pretends it knows how to love it feels like an insult to the craft
I Went to the Stray Kids: The DominATE Experience in IMAX 2/4!
(Contains some SKZ movie content spoilers and discussion of the member interviews! If you want to go in totally blind, best to read my recap afterwards!)
PRE-MOVIE ADVENTURES: MAKING FRIENDS!
Being an Atiny who was fiercely adopted by a group of Stays last summer has left me with some very sweet friends who I've stayed in contact with over the last few months! We exchange Instagram reels in a groupchat of the 4 of us who really hit it off, keep each other in the loop about cupsleeve events happening in our region of the US, and even send each other little merch care packages in the mail!
When the news dropped of a Stray Kids movie, we all hurried to check who lived closest to an IMAX theater. As luck would have it, the IMAX near me was holding an early showing of the movie, meaning we'd all be able to see the SKZ movie before most other Stays do! Plans were made, and 3/4 of us were able to travel out to see the movie together! The last member of our groupchat who couldn't travel out to meet with the rest of us went to see the movie locally, so she didn't miss out! For the three of us able to meet up though, the Stray Kids movie was going to be a 3racha bias hangout!
Of course, we had to hit the same Gong Cha shop that we all had met in! We even recreated the boba pictures we had taken last August with our assorted Skzoo and Aniteez plushies--except this time, I had brought Wooyonyang along (since Wooyoung is friends with Changbin, of course!).
Funny enough, while we were all excitedly chattering about meeting other Stays at the movie theater, our chatter piqued the interest of the barista working on our drinks. She called over the counter to ask us what we were talking about, and when we told her we were seeing the SKZ movie, she lit up and announced that she was also a Stay! She was a bigger TXT fan (aren't they MOAs or something?), but affirmed that she was a Hyunjin bias as far as SKZ was concerned.
This absolutely delighted us because a running joke in our Strayteez friend group has been that we are on a mission to collect new friends who bias every member of the group. We asked our new Hyunjin bias friend if she had any interest in being a part of our local groupchat since we attend kpop in-person events together, and she eagerly agreed! Turns out she had just moved to the area two months ago from a faraway state, so she was still getting her bearings in a new city and was hungry for new friends as well!
How cool is it that just being kpop fans is enough of a social gateway to make new friends who go with you to movies and cupsleeve events?
We spoiled Hyunjin Bias Barista with a handful of Hyunjin-themed freebies before we left. A shame! She couldn't join us on our movie night because of her Gong Cha shift! But we left her with a promise to keep in touch and a promise to send her the Instagram accounts of local fan organizers who frequently threw kpop-themed events in the area! That way, she could come with us to upcoming stuff instead!
(Author's Note: Since meeting her the first week of Feb, Hyunjin Barista and I have made plans to hang out 2/20 at an Ateez Comeback-themed party hosted by a new kpop store in our city! Excited that I have a friend to go with, since I probably wouldn't have gone alone!)
MOVIE EXPERIENCE, AS AN ATINY WHO KNEW ZERO ABOUT THE DOMINATE TOUR OR ITS SETLIST
Unlike Ateez, where I actively love and enjoy a good 85-90% of their discography, I'm both more unfamiliar and more picky when it comes to the Stray Kids songs I enjoy. In the weeks leading up to the movie, I intentionally steered clear of any setlist spoilers or info about the DominATE Tour that would give me an idea of what songs to expect for the movie. Without any expectations, I was able to enjoy the movie for what it was: A solid reliving of the concert that many didn't get to experience IRL.
(and for the DC Stays who survived the heatstroke nightmare that was Washington DC concert, hopefully a bit of closure and a peek into the encore part of the show that they missed out on)
Seeing a filmed version of SKZ in their element, up on stage performing live really affirms something I already had concluded about K-pop: the fullest experience is not ever going to be listening to the songs on Spotify, but seeing them performed live in front of your eyes (or on a jumbo IMAX movie screen, as the second best thing).
Bonus points for the addition of a live band, which really adds some instrumental fullness to the songs that sometimes lack it on digital streaming!
We were given 3d glasses (IMAX glasses?) to wear for the entire movie. I'm not entirely sure what they were for, since there weren't exactly effects popping out at us in our seats. My friends and I did lift our glasses up at a few points to see the difference, and there WAS a fuzzier look to the screen without them, so...I suppose the glasses helped make the movie crisper and brighter? I dunno.
Before the movie, I hadn't watched enough Stray Kids performances to fully grasp just how electric it is when Han and Changbin have a chance to rap back and forth at each other. Seeing it in the movie not only solidified Han as my bias but also bumped Changbin right up to biaswrecker spot. These two were on FIRE during their live performances!!! Anytime Changbin started off another song, I was locked in.
Speaking of fire...Burnin' Tires. BURNIN' TIRES!! Easily my favorite of the duo songs, hands down. The outfits (Plaid pantskirt with crop top IN plus muscle tank Changbin?? KILLING ITTT), the atmosphere, the playfulness in how they bounced around stage and danced together? All of it was right up my alley and I adored every second of it. When the backup dancers turned into a giant motorcycle for IN to ride atop of, I was both impressed and amused because it's so silly yet so perfect for the mood of the performance! And then add some physical comedy at the end of the song with Binnie and IN trying to get the big red button to work (and Changbin going "wake up, my baby!" at the button box), and the entire thing was golden.
Han's "BIG BOYYYY" shout before Changbin kicks off God's Menu made it into the movie. Everybody wins. No notes.
I'd never listened to Cinema before, but I really enjoyed it. There's something fitting about hearing Cinema at the cinema, hehe.
Lee Know is such an intense stage presence during songs! I feel like live performances really help characterize which members command the most attention during various parts of a given song, and there were multiple times where Lee Know absolutely held all of my attention during the performances.
In between every few songs, the movie would freeze-frame and pick out a specific member to feature for a 4-5 min interview. I know a lot of Stays were very emotionally moved by the hardships and vulnerabilities the guys shared during each of their turns in the interview seat, but I lacked the same emotional investment so the interviews didn't do that much for me. As in, I wasn't crying in my seat or anything. Maybe it's because I was hoping the interviews would put more insight into the behind-the-scenes of the world tour? I want to hear about an interesting story of something funny that happened at a specific tour stop, or hear 3racha talk about their music-writing process, or learn which city left a big impression on each member! More tour-specific insights would have been nice.
I think my aversion to the more vulnerable-styled interviews is just that the time allotted to each member was so brief that they didn't leave a lot of time to really elaborate on the emotionally heavy subjects they clearly wanted to bring up. You end up with interviews where the members are talking about their struggles and then hastily concluding with "but thanks to the other members and all of YOU, we were able to overcome these struggles!" while the Stay audience is still dabbing away the tears from their eyes and trying to recover from the unexpected shift in mood. And then before you know it, you're back to concert mode.
I feel far more emotionally compelled by Stray Kids opening up about their grievances and concerns in video content like their 2 Kids Room series--which I haven't fully watched yet, but have seen partial episodes here and there. Since the series isn't trying to juggle "get hype and party with us!" concert vibes with "now sit back down and listen to us talk about our low points" interview vulnerability, there is far more space for the guys to take their time with talking through their troubles alongside expressing their appreciation for one another. I definitely prefer this longer video format then the rushed 5 minutes of the movie interviews!
With that said, I still found plenty of meaningful takeaways from the movie interviews! Han's discussion of making peace with the imperfection of live performance and embracing that about himself was refreshing to hear (to no surprise, I resonated with my bias's talking points). Being the opposite of a perfectionist...I wonder what that's like?
Hyunjin's mantra of "The wounded blade of grass smells sweeter" that he mentioned in his own interview was really insightful and kind to himself. Whatever baggage he still carries, it does not stain him as much as he might fear it does, and I'm glad that the reassurance of his members and the fans has helped him to believe that more. If anything, the humanness of his public persona is even sweeter, and definitely makes me more fond of him (and have more respect for just how much willpower it has taken for him to keep believing in himself).
My Bangchan Bias friend (who went to the DC concert that was ended early due to summer heat) was really happy that she got a chance to see what a proper SKZ concert encore is supposed to look like, with the members out on the rolling carts interacting with the audience. It looks like a lot of fun, and I'm sorry that the summer weather made her miss out!
Glad the movie was indeed good closure for her. My Binnie Bias friend was satisfied with all of the screentime for her boy, and I was just happy to be along for the ride! What a fun night out! <3
STAYS IN THE WILD: HOW ROWDY WAS IT?
In the days leading up to my early viewing of the movie (and especially afterwards), I was seeing SO many videos on social media complaining about Stays and their lack of decorum in movie theaters--I saw footage of people dancing out of their seats, lightsticks a'blazing as everybody sings along. I watched younger fans (because I certainly wasn't seeing older adult fans care enough to fuss) insist that they were embarrassed of their own fandom and ashamed about their desire to see the movie as a result. Just a TON of infighting and finger-pointing to determine who the most cringe fans out there were!
So far in my own kpop experiences, my golden rule has always been to assume IRL kpop events will be kinder and more normal than whatever the hell the online fandom spaces have going on. So even as the infighting raged on online, I held onto hope that my Stay friends and I were going to be perfectly fine out there. And you know what? I was right!
Our theater laughed at funny moments, danced along courteously in our seats as the songs got good, and did not shriek or scream disruptively. The one Stay who brought her lightstick only switched it on for a picture during the end credits, and kept it off otherwise. The kind Stays in the row in front of us even turned around to ask us if their quiet commentary to one another was too disruptive (it wasn't at all!)
Our movie theater was so friendly and courteous that I was able to leave my work briefcase and purse on my movie seat unattended with full trust that nobody in the theater was going to mess with my things. And I was right! Instead, Stays dropped off their things at their own seats in the theater and then moved outside to the hallway to talk properly and exchange freebies while we waited for the movie to start.
I got gifted the cutest set of bracelets by a Stay who insisted that the final three bracelets from their freebie bag must stay together. I assured them that I didn't mind wearing so many bracelets, and I was rewarded with a very funny trio of bracelets, pictured below.
As more Stays approached the entrance of our theater room, we waved them over to hand out more freebies and grew our little huddle of loiterers out in the hallway. We were a diverse group! People of all genders and races, both adult Stays and a few teen Stays who had persuaded their parents to take them to the movies that evening. There were longtime Stays and even some new baby Stays who, without anybody asking, shyly admitted they didn't know much of the group yet.
As if the rest of us would have anything bad to say! Leave that judgmental BS online where it belongs!
If you've read all the way down here, then check out the freebie haul! My Binnie Bias friend made the Joonggrami vs Hanquokka drawing for me, to call me out on all the ways my biases parallel each other LOL
Now after the GHp4 comeback, I’ve updated the following:
Every song tier list
Albums tier list
Lyrics and translations master doc
Random song wheel
Visual discography guide
Check them out if you haven’t already :)
And give this a reblog if you’re so inclined! I’d love for these resources, althoug they aren’t all very serious, to be seen by more atiny :)
Game started by @hils79! 🫶 Rankings can be by any metric: personal faves, your opinion on best quality songs/albums, etc. I'm ranking mine by current personal favorites!
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What are your:
Top 5 Ateez Albums
Golden Hour Part 3: In Your Fantasy Edition
The World EP Fin: Will
The World EP 2: OUTLAW
Golden Hour Part 2
ZERO: FEVER Part 1
Top 5 Ateez Title Tracks
Halazia
In Your Fantasy
Wonderland
Inception
Answer
Top 5 Ateez B-sides
Take Me Home
Blind
Utopia
Silver Light
Man on Fire
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Happy Ateez Comeback, everybodyyy! 💙
Tagging some people to keep the game going (no pressure!)
@noctilucentminki @ehfemmeral @thirstkanaphan
