tagged by nini (@tanqram) to share the story of how i biased yanjun!
before i start, i want to say THANK YOU ♡ to nini ! i’m really, really glad i did this ! — it reminded me of all the moments that made me fall for yanjun, and gave me the freedom to address even the littlest details that i’ve come to learn & love about him :’)
Idol Producer Era
to be completely honest, looking back on when i first started watching idol producer, i would have never ever ever expected yanjun to become my bias. but alas... he not only became my bias, but skyrocketed up my entire bias list and became my ultimate bias.
i distinctly remember that the first video i watched of yanjun was his Upward! Challenge, and my first impressions were:
cute taiwanese accent
beanie man
the guy who told a cold joke instead of using the allotted time to promote himself (reflecting on this, it was actually a very tactful way of promoting himself because it made him memorable ! moreover, cold jokes are such a large part of yanjun, so he was really just being himself :’> )
this video was enough to leave an impression of yanjun on me from the beginning, but it wasn’t enough for me to remember his name. i also didn’t watch his introduction video until waaay after i was into the show, when i really started noticing him. so at this point in my mind, he was really just the ‘cute taiwanese boy with the beanie’.
it’s such a shame that i didn’t notice yanjun all that much in the beginning. perhaps this was because of the lack of screen time he had, but because i didn’t see ‘cute taiwanese boy with the beanie’ again that much in the first few episodes of IP, he was quickly pushed back into the corner of my mind by the many many other trainees on the show.
then came the first evaluation in episode 4, and yanjun was in codename contra team a. when yanjun introduced himself on stage, he kept it super brief and cool, only saying, “hello everyone, i’m rapper lin yanjun” and i thought, woah what a stoic guy...giving off such a strong aura despite such a quick and short introduction...and what enhanced his ‘高冷’ aura was of course his handsome face. i feel like the vibe he gave off here (cold yanjun) was so different than the vibe he gave off in the Upward! challenge (soft yanjun), that i literally didnt even acknowledge that this man in codename contra was the same ‘cute taiwanese boy with the beanie’. so i thought i was basically watching a new trainee that i havent noticed before. when the voting results came out for the members, yanjun had suuuch a high number of votes that i was like woooow this guy is really popular, and no wonder, because he’s so handsome :0 its all visuals man. boy was i wrong
i continued to watch the rest of the team evaluations, and yanjun basically didn’t pop back up again until AI NI TEAM in ep 7. and boy oh boy was my world turned upside down.
if i remember correctly, i watched the clip of the ai ni performance video on youtube before i watched the full episode 7 on iqiyi, and let me just say that tHE MOMENT YANJUN STARTED HARMONIZING TO JEFFERY AND DINGHAO’S FIRST LINES, I WAS JUST LIKE. WHO. IS. THAT MAN. and WHY HAVE I NOT NOTICED HIM BEFORE???? (clearly, yanjun’s image changed so much that i could not link him back to the same rapper guy in codename contra, nor his upward challenge video) and then yanjun’s first line in ai ni just threw me out of the window and like i was sQUEALING the entire time. i’m rewatching it as i am writing this and I still get the butterflies in my stomach....because the concept is so fluffy and cute and i am weak to vocal yanjun. the whole time i was just asking myself who yanjun was, and his voice suited the song so much and i was just practically melting the whole time. (i still am every time i rewatch this performance tbh)
thanks to the ai ni performance, the rest of my idol producer journey was basically a scavenger hunt for every single yanjun moment i could find. i went to finally watch the entire ep 7, and found out how dorky and funny and playful yanjun really is during the training clips of ai ni team, went back to watch his introduction video, and like scrambled to find him in the first evaluation, where I finally realized that THIS IS THE SAME RAPPER MAN IN CODENAME CONTRA, AND HE’S THE CUTE TAIWANESE BEANIE GUY. i basically had an epiphany and was like WOW cute beanie guy is now my BIAS.
so after ep 7 was when i REALLY really really really REALLY focused on yanjun. i was sososososo happy he and nongnong were both placed in firewalking, 1. bc it was my fave song from the concept song demos, and 2. he and nongnong are so compatible and i love seeing them together.
in ep 9, a really memorable clip was when dinghao was feeling down and the rest of the banana boys sat down with him to talk it out and comfort him. here, a lot of yanjun’s individual commentary was shown and i think this was when i first started to learn about his mature side that was really genuine, reflective, and empathetic to others. around this time was also when i watched the videos of yanjun reading fan letters, and i found how the fans and him communicated with each other was so cute, and how he smiled and laughed as he read the letters was so endearing.... it really showed how much he loved his fans, and how he thought about showing more of himself through the show. theres one part in the video where the fan wrote, “i wish you to fight for more screen time so more people can know about you!” and yanjun just laughed and replied, “omg sorry...i really don’t know how to...*nervously laughs* ok-no-nvm-i WILL TRY MY BEST” and IDK WHY but my heart kinda broke at this moment because i could relate???? like, he obviously wanted to try his best and have more screen time so more people would notice him, but at the same time he’s really not the type to show off, but rather, he’s the type to quietly work hard by himself to be acknowledged, and akrjhgkjhgjkhjjh i kinda had a moment of reflection that i didn’t notice him much in the beginning either because of the lack of screen time, so ;___; this moment really made me realize how he’s always quietly working hard and will show his efforts and thoughts in a more hidden and private manner, but once his efforts reach you, it’ll impact you so much stronger than if he went and announced his efforts publicly. (did this even make sense... do u know what i mean dkjhkhg)
fast forward to it’s okay - i’m still sosoossooso happy yanjun got to be the center. i think it definitely contributed to him rising in ranking and finally placing #5, which no one expected. i’ll never forget the moment he bent down on his knees and kissed the stage, it was really a life changing moment for him.
Post Idol Producer
after IP ended and yanjun finally becoming a confirmed member, i wanted to keep up with his and 9%’s activities so i started a tumblr. hmmmm... this was when i started actively stalking following yanjun on weibo, and found quirks about him through his posts, and through other fans’ posts about him. for example, he always keeps the messages in his posts short, will express his thoughts in hashtags (much like tumblr, but he’s so much more poetic about it lol), will share songs with fans frequently, will share the books and movies he enjoys, will always wear the gifts that his fansites gift him to confirm that he’s received them, loves art&literature, is quiet and reserved so he may come off as cold but is actually very thoughtful and warm and always thinking about those around him, always tries to read his fans letters because they energize him, loves taking long baths to destress.....
and the more i found out, the more i realized that other evanisms also love the same things about yanjun - that he’s so much more than just a pretty face. he’s introverted, which makes his actions more complex as they are motivated by a deeper meaning he wishes to express. he prefers staying at home and engaging in activities alone rather than going outside, which makes fans more intrigued in what types types of books and movies and music he likes, all the more to better understand him. evanisms all really empathize with yanjun because of his sincerity and transparency with his words. what he says hold so much truth, and it’s hard to stop yourself from dissecting it sometimes.
even though now i’m not as caught up with his activities as before, i still really really love and respect yanjun as both a person and an artist :) i really look forward to his future, i’m sure big things are in store for him.
- miki
