late to my own show @storkmuffin - Tumblr Blog

Posts

You can find the master list of YEAR ONE of my kpop musings here.

It got too long, so I began a Year Two Masterlist because that is a totally sane and normal way to live in fandom.

Please block #storkhousekeeping so as to not have my updates clog your Tumblr scroll

#ateez meta #storkmuffin masterlist hyperlink

slutdge

girl youre not better than everyone just because you dont use tiktok

yes i am

hi! i wanted to ask… was there a yungi divorce era during contract renegotiation? my impression is that yunho saw how mingi was moving and teamed up with him, and they very much navigated the whole ordeal together. whatever the case, i’m convinced mingi signed last. he has shown again and again that he’s very loyal to ateez but i think he also wanted to see how much he could push the company. i don’t think he asked for a lot, necessarily, just a sense of autonomy that he didn’t have before (which can be a lot depending on how you look at it)

I think there was a Yungi divorce era, and you disagree, and I think the most either of us can really say is, We don't know.

We agree that Mingi signed last, but we disagree again on what Mingi asked for - I think he asked for the Sun and Moon and Stars and was really bloody insistent about it, to the point of possibly breaking up the group, and got most of what he demanded. I'm basing this on how I interpret his verse in Dinero, and you probably have your own reasons for your reading. I think Mingi separates business and personal relationships in a strict fashion (he's very perfectionist, actually, Mingi, and very extremely a LOT interested in money).

Since we're doing fanfic anyway: in my personal made-up fictional headcanon, these are the sons of Daddy KQ: Seonghwa, Wooyoung, Yunho and San. On the other hand, Hongjoong, Jongho, Yeosang and Mingi, most of all, are very much in the Fuck you, you're not my real dad camp.

Oh god I think tumblr ate (??) a paragraph from the last ask! I also meant to say:

“I really wanted to convince myself that it can’t be about the money since KQ seems to be doing pretty good? Not big-label-good maybe, but I never had the feeling they were struggling financially per se. (Although a personal experience is not a good point of reference) But ofc, production also costs a lot of money and it IS a business, so at the end of the day it is about making money. I still lament how better visual production could bring them financial gain and make the fans happy and proud. “

(Could be that I accidentally edited it out? So weirded out by that lol)

I completely agree with you on that KQ staff wants to do a good job! The end of the year shows are really good and well made, I frequently go back to look at them because they are such a blast. And the music videos have been well made and thought out on the grand scheme. I think this shows how the creatives in the team do know how to make amazing stuff, so it is not about the lack of know-how, but maybe indeed a structural and internal company problem. I think the same phenomenon can also be seen in many other industries, for example animation and videogame. The creatives in these studios are passionate and want to give their best, but then usually there is an excec who decides something regarding the big picture that takes so much away from the end product that the creatives worked so hard on. I am kinda feeling the same vibe here, but to what extent I can’t say. And this is all based on vibes so not maybe the most solid take. And also it gives a feeling that the staff is juggling many things at once for extended periods of time and that easily leads to mishaps of all kind. (But that’s the k-pop industry for us)

This is probably why I feel the internal tug-of-war between understanding a difficult situation and really wishing to they could be, as you said, consistent with the work they put out.

I guess I might as well say a public announcement in line with your ask: If you're going to write a whole long something on tumblr, in whatever format, try to do it on a different drafting app because the posting results on this platform are a touch unpredictable, fyi.

The reason I think it's about profitability for KQ (as in, they need positive numerals on their RETURN on investment rather than trying to maximize reach) is because of this article:

Basically- KQ wants to do an IPO because Daddy KQ wants to be JYP and Bang Sihyuk and so on. He wants to be a peer with those people.

Daddy KQ announced that he's going for an IPO 5 days ago, you see.

There's a little line in there that says operating profit (영업이익) exceeds 100억 (10 billion) Won which I think is about USD$ 6.5M (I am dyscalculaic so all these numbers are likely entirely wrong). Not an IPO lawyer or anything but there is a baseline capital amount that you need in order to actually get your company to go public on the KOSDAQ or wherever, you know, and in order to do that you need to both rake in the cash and also KEEP it.

Daddy KQ candidly says he's directly doing it off of Ateez's backs, that it's because KQ has managed to raise its concert revenue by 200% (compared to what, I'm not sure).

KQ wants to be a role model for independent Kpop companies. And they're kind of fluffing it with this article: KQ ensured continuity of its core IP by entering into a new contract with all 8 members of Ateez "early."

Errrr, no, they didn't. The impression that me and mine have had the whole time during the negotiation process for renewal was that there was a LOT of fighting (there was a Yungi divorce era, even) and the sheer length of the thing (a 7 year second contract!) was surprising to people to boot.

Word-vomiting Anon here (god what a nickname I can only blame myself)

This is purely my opinion but if I would prefer KQ to make one stellar concept per comeback and use that as the material, than make 3 bad/mediocre different ones (if that would be better for their budget.) But I also realise many fans are already SO BORED and used to getting something new all the time, so they cannot entertain themselves for long. So I presume KQ is appeasing the fans by giving them lots of new and mediocre stuff to look at instead of one good thing. I get certain things are an industry standard but Ateez has done things their way before too, so why not with this? And I honestly can’t see the benefits of releasing half baked visuals, it just creates a bad impression

I really struggle sometimes with the balance of being understanding of KQ’s situation and just purely being fed up. Unfortunately Ateez is my hyper focus so my suffering persists

I mean, I understand where you're coming from, i really do. Also I don't know how long you've been in kpop fandom (my own engagement with it is VERY short) and how widely you cast your net - but my lasting impression is that KQ isn't actually trying to do a bad or mediocre job. Most of the people involved in most of the steps have appeared to me to be trying in earnest to actually do a good job, and maybe even come up with something great, it's just that they don't... actually... get there when it's something that requires forethought, planning, a decent budget. Things like, I don't know - booking the most skilled Idol photographer or getting in line early enough to get the better studio or the best make up team, you know?

Because for certain things, like their participation in the end of year televised Kpop shows, they DO book the talented designers to embroider the intricate silver dragons and stuff onto black velvet jackets and so on, you know? My frustration has been that they don't seem to do this consistently. Is the cash flow a problem? Do they not reward the workers who land the deals? What gives??

I just felt a word-voit coming when I saw the ask about the recent concept photos:

The new concept photos have been a hot topic since the first batch dropped and Ateez sadly DOES have a bit poor track record with their quality of imagery in general. It annoys me how some atinys think that pointing it out means being ungrateful, mean and hating the members themselves, when it’s more like people criticise the pictures because they deeply care about Ateez and think they deserve way better. It is the team that is dropping the ball, again and again. I would and could understand if it was a one-time thing, with busy schedules and all, but alas it is clearly not that. Even then that would not be ideal and would deserve criticism.

Some people try to explain the new concept photos away with “it makes sense with the lore” but I don’t care about the lore and I think someone has done a bad job if I have to do homework to understand the new visuals, quite simply put. It is possible to produce well made, lore-accurate visuals and make them enjoyable even to the people don’t know the lore. Hell, they could even SPARK INTEREST in getting to know it!

This is especially frustrating when the members have expressed their want to grow and achieve even more: if the visuals were well made and interesting, even more people could be intrigued by the visual quality/interesting concept and then get to know Ateez!

If the level of photography and concept work are most of the time “okay” it is subconsciously creating a certain image of the quality of the group, which imho in general doesn’t do Ateez justice.

When looking at other k-pop groups it seems like most of the time there is a solid concept and a vision that is being utilised in creative ways. Just to mention one example, take a look at the concept photos of Aespa’s WDA. I feel like crying because the imagery so good: the composition, editing, vision, ART. (And in this case even the visual language of the concept could work well with Ateez in general. I would personally love that)

If I had to describe the quality of Ateez’s photography and imagery in general, I would describe them as “airbrushed host club images that don’t even tie visually to the main concept that well”. They often carry the feeling of “we had to come up with something quickly so we took the photos in a MV set or against a flat background that feels a bit like a school photo”. I know this will ruffle some feathers and I don’t intend to be unnecessarily mean. I am just fed up with the situation because Ateez deserves better.

Even when talking about the better imagery of Ateez (IOMT and Lemon drop coming to mind) even then the photos tend to be “hot guy posing” type of images, which is FINE, but. I would personally love something with a bit more storytelling and having a more artistic take with the visuals. It feels like the team is playing it super safe and being very commercial with their model of doing things. But it is art that makes people FEEL and ADVOCATE. I could go on a tangent about the value of art in commercial spaces but I will spare everyone reading since this ask is already SO LONG.

It feels like there are good creative ideas and passionate people working at KQ, truly! You can see glimpses of it here and there: GH pt 4 promo visuals were so good and visually interesting, although the final product felt a bit watered down for me. It kinda feels like someone higher up is hitting the brakes on the creatives.

It also seems like the team is able to do more interesting visuals with solo activities! I have to admit I am not sure if the same people are working on the solo projects, that’s on me, but the visual quality IS better. And if they ARE made with different teams, that is also saying something.

The possible reasons why I think the imagery is the way it is:

1. The team and the photographer is good, but someone on the higher level is meddling in the creative process, either by forcing their own tastes (super common in the creative field) or not giving enough resources like time and money to the team.

2. The team simply doesn’t understand or care about the value of the imagery or the very least the added value of art in commercial spaces.

Could be something else as well, but these seem plausible to me.

I am so sorry that I word-vomited in your ask box like this, I really tried to edit the length as much as possible! I am super interested to know if you have more insight or opinions into this matter, your writing and thoughts are always a treat!

I work in the creative field and I just CRAVE discussion surrounding this matter because it tends to get shot down pretty quickly. Any thoughts are more than welcome!

In terms of production, KQ often looks like they're doing everything hand to mouth, right up against deadline, and as a result leave themselves with no choice but to cut corners. There's stuff that the fans demand as a matter of course because all other Kpop companies provide them, such as concept photos ahead of album release, and in more than one theme, for example, but the company appears to struggle to meet the deadlines.

I say this because there's often a Rushed Homework feeling about much of what they turn in to us.

Sort of like, for a bring-from-home art homework, let's compare two situations: If you have rich parents and you planned ahead, you could go to the proper art supply store and get the materials and make something that looks good just because of the money put into it and you having enough time to tweak it, even if you're not that talented or your idea isn't that fresh. But if you lack the funds, so you yourself were running around trying to earn money to buy the stuff, and then one job falls through or they don't pay you on time - by the time you have the money, the store is closed, so then you have to just grab whatever stuff is at hand at home and cobble something together, you know? In this second case, your idea might be better and you might be more talented but your final product isn't going to look as good.

I'm thinking back on how they completely changed both who does what in terms of MCing the show and on the who-goes-where routes on-stage between night 1 and night 2 of the finale concert for Towards the Light, when Ateez made it into KSpo Dome for the first time. Night 1 didn't work, where the elder Atiny were so angry about how messy the show was (it was my very very first Kpop show so I just had a blast lol - ignorance is bliss), so overnight they were like, Fuck, this didn't work!! and changed SO MUCH of it, for Day 2. But like, if you had even just a little bit of a proper rehearsal, Day 1 could've gotten the better run Day 2 show, you know? Compare/contrast to the better funded Enhypen's 3 nights of First Outing as Enhypen 6 - the performers were nervous about the reception, visibly, on Day 1, but the SHOW itself had been properly 'fitted' to the space, so the show running itself didn't have to change much at all between opening and final night.

This is what is very 'sticky' to me about Ateez fandom - I keep being convinced that they're all trying so damn hard, everyone involved in making the stuff. They all - the band themselves and I also suspect, the people on the creative side - are talented and have eyes to see so they know what the high watermarks are and want to meet them, but they just don't, even though they seem capable. So I am still here, even though I'm so mad at the company all the time, and I can easily just jump ship to any of the other lovely boys housed in richer companies. LOL.

#the joy and heartbreak of atinydom

a different perspective, but the second set of concept photos is exactly the kind of fun, camp aesthetic that i’ve been looking for and it would’ve been better executed if the members leaned into it more. as it stands, only hwa yunho and mingi were willing to play

i’m utterly sick of the minimalism of the mafia concept and even more horrified that it’s been the most popular set every. single. comeback. i’m in a bunch of group order chats and everyone’s been freaking out about men in suits as if we haven’t gotten the same set of photos since IOMT /shrug

Maybe they're trying to ease the girlies out of it, by giving them the serious suit stuff first, as a peace offering?

#functioning as the atiny bulletin board #if people get mean about the opinions i might have to stop but #i like hearing what atiny on here think