my two favorite dynamics in ateez belong to mingi:
mingi and yeosang - the princess takes care of the dog
mingi and jongho - the bear takes care of the princess
neither of these dynamics are as simple as they seem though.
before i elaborate know that this is about both shipping AND the actual friendships that we get to peer into while engaging with ateez content as fans. also, mandatory disclaimer: i'm still less than a year old atiny, an ateez exclusive fan who hasn't watched everything, and i'm probably wrong about everything all the time forever.
also, there a few clips im struggling to find because youtube's search is fuckin' useless so if you see moments that seem like they SHOULD be linked but aren't or that are linked incorrectly, please forgive me. i'll try to get them later. now, lets go!
minsang - my second favorite
minsang is very 'two flavors of neurodivergent that overlap but dont match" vibe. even in princess mode mingi seems to take care of yeosang in a very specific way: less pressure to be affectionate and similar styles of thinking that play well together without being perfectly matched. this can be seen in how mingi seemingly gives yeosang autonomy that the other's don't (see the marshmellow incident) and he isn't as blinded by finding yeosang cute nearly as often as the other members (see wanteez episode 27). he trusts yeosang to be his own person even when he shouldn't. which not only allows us as fans to see sides of yeosang he doesn't usually get to display, but it allows yeosang the dignity of making bad decisions. this feels like a big deal to me. idols, especially yeosang, have so many demands put on them by the nature of their career. getting to fuck up is a luxury once you become an idol. this is also an important concept to disabled adults of various stripes (not that yeosang is, to my knowledge, but its important to ME so it's getting brought up).
when a person is disabled in some way, people often treat them as fragile and unable to make choices for themselves. 'this is for your own good' even if it makes them miserable. it feels like a scold, a punishment for the 'crime' of being ill or neurodivergent, rather than actual care. i personally have about 5 prescriptions assigned to me and i take two at most. i drink alcohol. i'm awake at night and sleep through my days.
i'm also married to a person whose opinion i love and respect. he could force me to take better care of myself. he could make sure i eat healthier and never drink and always go to bed on time. but he doesn't because he respects my autonomy. he brings his concerns to my attention and we discuss what i'm willing to change in response. he trusts me to respect his opinion on my choices and i trust him to not force me to only make The Correct Choices™ all the time forever.
why is this relevant to minsang? well, if you haven't noticed, ateez loves yeosang. they love him so much that, while i don't think they disrespect his autonomy and personhood, the way they treat him reminds me a LOT of people who override ill people's autonomy 'for their own good' and it makes me uncomfortable at times. while jongho is one of the few members i don't see doing this often or at all, even he feels protective of yeosang in a way that COULD get overbearing for them both if not kept in check. ending up with jongho feeling like he MUST be protective over yeosang with no room for flexibility in that role and yeosang feeling watched under jongho's care rather than standing on equal footing in the dynamic. while it's clear that's not the case it wouldn't take much for that kind of dynamic to develop from the relationship they already have which means i find their dynamic somewhat uncomfortable and mildly uninteresting.
i've never felt this way when watching mingi and yeosang interact. mingi is a very free person with a lot of, what seems like, contradictions. while he is a very blunt person who needs things explained to him more than others, he is also very receptive to non verbal cues (such as when only some of the members of ateez fulfilled his wish to be sung to). mingi can take no for an answer and more than that, he doesn't need that no to be verbal or obvious. he knows his members, he knows what 'no' sounds AND looks like and doesn't take it personally.
but that sounds wrong, doesn't it? our princess get confused easily! he pouts and whines and throws tantrums, right? mingi asks to be celebrated when he succeeds, looks for reassurance when his jokes don't land, gives seonghwa puppy dog eyes for answers. but that only happens when it isn't important. when ateez is playing games, when he wants food, when he wants attention from fans. but when its important? that no, spoken or not, is accepted. sometimes it isn't but even then that is only when the situation or established dynamic allows for it.
mingi's 'free use' status in both body and personality makes him putty that all of ateez members can form to fit themselves.
this affects his relationship with yeosang, of course. yeosang seems to be more outspoken around mingi. yeosang gets to be strong on mingi's behalf (see yeosang handling mingi's tantrum) or gets to direct his strength and wit at him (see him taking jabs at mingi's expense). he gets to be the doberman he insists he is; protective, aggressive, and strong. but mingi also allows him to be vulnerable and soft without invalidating that doberness. he doesn't treat yeosang like a maltese cosplaying a doberman. to mingi, yeosang is a doberman! but i think people tend to forget that dobermen are pets too. they're just as loving and loyal and soft as any other breed. and every dog, regardless of breed, has their own personality and quirks.
yeosang is a well trained and loving doberman, but a doberman nonetheless.
mingi makes yeosang feel seen as a doberman, not just heard.
jongi - my favorite, my beloved
jongho is strong. he loves being strong and mingi loves being taken care of, it's a perfect match! but obviously there's more than that simplistic overview, they wouldn't be so compelling if it were that easy to sum up their dynamic.
mingi, on his own, seems to invite play by just existing, which is why he has the 'free use' reputation at all, right? and jongho, of course, seems to have a very easy time engaging with mingi in a variety of ways due to that. again, mingi is putty but jongho is so much more varied than a lot of casual or uninterested-in-jongho fans realize. it even took me a while to notice just how expressive and interesting jongho is.
interacting with jongho is entirely based on the situation and his mood. the trick though, is that his mood is never fixed. many people take note of how yeosang will laugh and then school himself immediately afterwards but i rarely see anyone notice that jongho does the exact same thing. he literally did it in his newest interview. it's not as obvious or rigid as yeosang's habit but it's there and he does it often. he has incredible control over himself, he's the 'mature mankae' for a reason.
that reputaion though, is exactly why i feel like nobody has the ability to bring out ALL sides of jongho the way mingi does. it often feels like jongho is picking and choosing when to be the baby of the group and the mature mankae hes expected to be and mingi never forces him to be something he isn't. mingi doesn't hold people to the version of themselves they used to be, he just lets you be who you are in that moment.
jongho has said in the past he feels the desire to protect yeosang (see ateez+ episode one) and while i think mingi does invoke that desire in him, he doesn't feel like he has to protect mingi. its optional, only when he wants to, when he has the energy or care to. there is so much flexibility to their dynamic because mingi is easy to mold around jongho's complex personality shape.
jongi is everything to me because they can be anything together
the younger brothers who get away with everything
protector and protected (those roles are not exclusive to either of them despite their usual preferences)
silent judges who might not say it but you can see in their face they don't like something (see an interview with mingi's obvious, unspoken distaste and jongho's death glare during wanteez episode 43)
they both flirt and fluster fans with ease
they both also get flustered just as easily (see the panties incident and yunho's turn to hug mingi)
not to mention call out KINGS (see 'choi san are you watching?' and 'yeosang is your bias' (these both being directed at san is a coincidence and not at all a commentary on sansang i swear))
mingi can and DOES go out of his way to take care of his members when needed, but i think he just allows all of them a freedom they can't grant themselves by being mingi, pure and simple. mingi invites, rather than demands, and you can accept or reject those invitations however you want.
in conclusion,
mingi doesnt need yeosang to be verbal. jongho doesnt need mingi to be verbal.
that is really the best, boiled down version of what makes these relationships interesting to me. mingi brings out the unseen and under appreicated parts of both yeosang and jongho just by being there.
the princess takes care of the dog, the bear take care of princess.
shoutout to @bark-for-parkseonghwa for prompting this discussion and encouraging me to post my thoughts.
taglist: @n1k9l1n4 - @handlebarstiedtothestars - @moonlightpirate - @elvenpathed - @kpopdiva89 - @hongjoongdaily - @joongnoodle - @storkmuffin is making a guest appearance because of the dobersang discussion - and @iovemingi is making a guest appearance cause they're probably more insane about mingi than i am despite me literally being a mingi kin
When they got the chance to return to World Z to save Yeosang, Mingi and Jongho didn't hesitate for even a second. They knew more than anyone what was on the line. Their group had already been broken once because of their fight and it took enormous effort and almost losing themself to despair and loneliness to find each other again.
Knowing this didn't mean they were past their insecurities or that they had lost all the sharp edges that caused their original clash. But they finally understood that the two of them were more similar than either realised at first—they were both ready to fight to the bitter end for their dreams and their loved ones, even if it meant burning the world down to protect them.
In that, they were in perfect agreement.
“One jumbo-sized ass-kicking, ready to be served for all these World Z bastards.”
I think I remember Hongjoong saying at some point that each member of ateez and halateez have different skills and specialties within the resistance so its not just a carbon copy across the universes sooooooo Buried Treasure question: (if you've thought about it and its not a spoiler or anything,) What are each ateez and halateez member's specialty in your Buried Treasure-verse?
omg a buried treasure ask??? someone is actually reading it??? hang on, one sec while i cry
anyway- i HAVE thought about it! i have so many useless details sequestered away for BT that will probably never see the light of day but it helps me stay in the world. a lot of their skills are based on stuff in the lore and mvs but some are just my own lizard brain. i'll try to break down everyone (fuck this ended up so long holy shit)
THE HONGJOONGS🌸
both Captain and Hongjoong exhibit a plethora of leadership qualities but one has led a group of lost teenagers while the other had led an entire resistance; it just made sense to put Captain in charge of both groups. (the thing is, he'd always had z!Hwa's help. he doesn't anymore.) i think Hongjoong has been able to explore his passion for art more freely and as a result likely has a better eye for detail while Captain's skills lie more in combat and damage control.
THE SEONGHWAS🌸
both were gentle souls but while one was allowed to remain soft and naive the other developed armor that he shed only around those closest to him. a!Seonghwa is a mediator and a counselor, he keeps an eye on everyone and keeps fights to a minimum. he's the one they bring when someone is struggling with their newfound freedom. z!Hwa was very different. almost no one was a better shot than him and he was fiercely protective of his family. people are intimidated by Captain, can't fathom anyone with more of a rebel spirit than him. they never met z!Hwa. he was quite possibly the only one that wanted to fight for their freedom every bit as much, if not more, than Captain.
THE YUNHOS🌸
they're both affable in their own ways; one sweet and reassuring despite his own pain, the other reliable and confident in a way that puts people at ease. a!Yunho is the vehicle guy. they aren't common in Strictland anymore, public transportation allows for better control of the masses, but when they're lucky enough to find one they rely on him to do the driving. (he loves when they can find a motorcyle.) z!Yunho is a bit different, he's good with technology and often works alongside a!Yeosang in developing and fine tuning their machines.
THE YEOSANGS🌸
these two could not be more different. a!Yeosang has all the skills forced on him by his parents and their expectations, however, those skills don't do him any good in Strictland. instead, his most useful skill is his expertise in drones and engineering. he continues to develop technology for the groups, refusing to stop at just the butterfly drones. meanwhile, z!Yeosang is a force of nature. he's quiet, contemplative, and observant. he's their best shot, the one they rely on when things go sideways. he's efficient and quick, but lately he's even more quiet. he barely speaks to anyone and there's a concerning deadness to his eyes no one wants to comment on.
THE SANS🌸
sigh. there isn't a day that goes by that a!San isn't trying to protect someone or sacrifice himself to make their lives "better" and "easier." he's driving both Captain and Hongjoong to an early grave. the problem is, he's good at it, so they let him be their decoy. z!San is similar but gave up his sacrifical tendencies a long time ago - he has someone he has to make sure he comes home to. z!Wooyoung and z!San have been together longer than they've known the other Pirates and where one goes the other follows. even into death. z!San now is your basic muscle, the scary dog when he needs to be, and the general fighter otherwise. he's their best at close combat and trains new resistance members.
THE MINGIS🌸
two more BIG differences. a!Mingi is still raw, distrustful, he doesn't do well with people and there are still some tensions within the A group. he doesn't really know where he belongs but he fills the roles he needs to and people watches when he has time. he learns a lot that way and has become a sort-of informant for the groups. z!Mingi is a little more confident and knows where he belongs and that's as their medic. he wasn't always, he used to be just more muscle, but one day he was tossed into the deep end and it was sink or swim. sinking wasn't an option. z!Jongho got hurt protecting him while they were alone, no idea where the others had ended up. z!Jongho's survival balanced on a knife's edge and z!Mingi was not going to let him fall.
THE WOOYOUNGS🌸
you usually hear a!Wooyoung before you see him. he has limitless energy and a bright demeanor, a charisma that's unrivaled. it makes him good for infiltration, being places he doesn't belong. unfortunately, he's a bit prone to accidents and injury so he tries to stay out of combat as much as he can. he can still feel the ache of the Android Guardian nearly snapping his ankle when they first arrived. z!Wooyoung is a little more subdued, quiet when he needs to be. he's serious when he needs to be and while he tries to hide it he's fiercely protective of his family, even moreso now that z!Hwa is gone. he's good with fire and explosives; if something needs to be destroyed you call z!Woo
THE JONGHOS🌸
these two are very similar, both chasing dreams they don't want to lose. a!Jongho wants to keep everyone together, to keeps this tentative family he's found after scaling a mountain of disappointment. he pairs up with z!San to be the muscle, to keep everyone safe any way he can. he spends most of his free time training, trying to close the gap in combat knowledge as quickly as he can. z!Jongho isn't all that different, he has people he wants to protect too - though there's one person above all others. z!Jongho will do anything to protect z!Mingi, but he can't see that look of panic on his face again, so he steps back from being the muscle (he still fights, they all do, but it's no longer his sole purpose.) he maintains their weapons because the best way he can protect everyone is make sure their shit works properly and won't explode in their faces. weapons are rare and so the ones they have need to last and z!Jongho makes sure they do. (but if someone puts a knife in the pistol locker one more time he's going to blow their kneecap off)
SORRY ITS SO LONG, i never get to talk about the Buried Treasure boys and i love them so so much
