#kpop yapping

[awoooooooooooyoung]

When a new Ateez song drops, for the portions that are not in English, do you wait for translations to come out? Is there an official source or do you rely on other fans or AI to generate the translation for you? How can you know if the translation is accurate?

Personal note - I really got into Bollywood because I had an Indian roommate in school, and I just listen to the soundtracks with no clue wtf the words are or what they were saying beyond the fact that they are love songs (given what the musical sequence in the movie showed me), just because I love the songs (the combination of the sounds of Hindi and the notes was so lovely), so I've totally liked songs I never understood or learned the language for, but I think international kpop fans actually sing along even to the Korean portions so I'm very curious about how you guys do this.

I go about it more in the way that you listen to Bollywood. For most of the songs idk what they are about. If a song really grabs me because of the Vibe, or because of the music video, I'll look up a translation. I'm usually a bit behind the times so by that time there's usually a good translation online. I have to admit that I usually just trust that e.g. the Genius translation is close enough 😬 Although as I slowly grow my Korean vocabulary there have been times where I've been like.... Is that what that means? But thus far it has always turned out to be something I didn't know yet rather than a mistranslation, as far as I can tell.

To be honest I have NO idea how people sing along when they don't understand the words! I have tried for some of the ATEEZ songs I really like because I want to be able to sing along when they come on shuffle, but if I don't know what the words mean or how they are written I have a really hard time remembering them. I'm thinking either people speak or learn enough Korean or they are really really dedicated in learning the text phonetically?

Learning 한글 helped a lot. Since it's an alphabet (instead of characters) I didn't find it too hard to do, and knowing which sounds correspond to which syllables helps so so so much. Now if I want to know the lyrics I can at least read along and it gives another "hook" for recall if that makes sense.

[baesolish]

🍃 . . . ⇢ ˗ˏˋ Yapping ! ࿐ྂ

stay !! Need a couple imagine ideas T.T

Send them to my other blog, please @imbaebi ~~

Okay so can we just speak about how frickin good hop is? Like all the songs are amazing!!! 🤭 Like listening to all the solo songs with headphones was literally the best thing that happened yesterday 🤷🏾‍♀️ Especially Hallucination because of Jeongin's whispering 🥴 And I love walkin on water hip ver because it's so dance music which basically means I can't stay still listening to that song(I mean I can't stay still listening to any skz song for that matter lmao). I'm so flipping proud of them all. They work so hard<33

What is your favorite song from the album?

Mine is probably Unfair because it's literally fifty shades of Felix's voice 😍😍

STREAM HOP

[awoooooooooooyoung]

who is the most popular member of ateez among your friends or in the fandom of your country?

I can't speak for my country since I really only talk about Ateez with five other friends BUT I sent the question out to the group chat. I asked:

"Hey girlies who is your fav in ateez & why?"

They said:

Z: "I’m very much OT8 and famously horrible at choosing, so my fav changes every few months 🙈 I am currently very infatuated with Wooyoung, because I just really love his happy energy, it’s smth I’m struggling to come up with atm and he’s very infectious in that way, he brings a lot of joy and I appreciate that about him 😁 I also sympathize with him bc we have the same skin condition, and I’m proud that he’s so open about it 🙈 (I’m very sappy that way yes 😂)"

R: "I also do like everyone, but my fav is Seonghwa because he's a huge nerd and softie but then on stage he is completely different and I just love how much of a performer he is and the emotions he put into it and the characters he plays. Like how during the recent US tour he changed up that one dance performance with Yunho+Hongjoong and it almost seemed like he was going through the five stages of grief throughout the tour. Or the like think Inception vs Guerrila. Also very much vibing with how he's exploring fashion styles and seems to be more comfy in his body. Very inspirational 🫣"

U: "You know who my boys are :p Amusingly Yeosang is my absolute fav even though I always think it's wooyoung. Whenever I then actually engage with stuff it's like…Nope it's Yeosang. Wooyoung super close second but yes Yeosang has subtle himbo energy even though he's really smart and so hecking considerate. AND HIS DEEP VOICE. And Wooyoung…Misschief incarnate. Complete little demon energy, has a great laugh, got wrapped in chains for that mv that one time"

(U is so right, Wooyoung did get wrapped in chains that one time and we all thank him for it)

N: "favourites are a scam BUT Hongjoong remains my special boy in a way. Something about the way he commits to everything (making his art pieces, loving his people, performing his shows) while never being intimidating is both relatable and inspirational"

E: "I think my favs are yunho and hongjoong. I really appreciate yunho’s type of humour. And I have a weakness for dancers. And I guess the fact yunho is one of a few tall idols does help. As for Hongjoong similar reasons as N. And also absolutely love his covers. In general just love that Ateez really don’t do the whole idol image thing. And do have opinions about things. And honourable mention is anytime San is on stage"

We're all 30 something Dutch women btw :)

[awoooooooooooyoung]

Who is your bias and wrecker for Ateez, and why them?? Did it ever change? And why?

Bias is Wooyoung and has basically always been Wooyoung :')

I like that he's loud and annoying (affectionate), but balances it with being introspective or sweet. Maybe because I'm loud and annoying lol~ I like that he often completely immerses himself in a concept and really commits to the bit. It's really fun to me that when he's really entertained or really annoyed or whatever it is he shows it fully. One of my favorite Wanteez parts is this part where Wooyoung bursts into rage (jokingly). The flipside is that I think you can often easily tell when he isn't feeling a concept or just isn't feeling well. Tbh this is parasocial of me but when I see that I'm just like aw...... feel better <3

I also think he's a great performer. I don't think he's always the most precise or technically perfect dancer (as far as I can judge, I'm a casual dance enjoyer), but often there's something captivating about the stylistic choices he makes. I think he especially shines in more freeflowing/hiphoppy (idk what to call styles >.<) performances, like in this performance the choreo isn't the most complex I've ever seen but he gives each move a bit of ✨✨✨flavor✨✨✨ I could also yell about this performance forever high kicks Wooyoung I love you.

Also interesting about that last video, to me it reads like he's doing the choreo pretty similarly to how it was done by the original girl group. And this is a thing in more Ateez content, that he doesn't seem afraid to lean into behaviors/affectations that to me read as more feminine. Not entirely sure what that evokes in me, maybe I just like seeing a man act in a cutesy non-threatening way? I'm curious to hear your thoughts about that also in light of our earlier conversation about masculinity! And in light of what you said about Seongwha intentionally changing his demeanor to come across as inviting and non-threatening to (Korean) women. (I'll send this part to you as an ask so you can go into it directly without needing to make a long reblog chain!)

Oh and he's attractive 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️ I like that his eyes are different shapes and that he basically always looks like this

when he's not actively doing something with his face. Idk if my mspaint drawing makes sense to you at all I showed my friend and she didn't get it but maybe you will

Ok enough Woo yapping (for now.......). I don't think I have a specific bias wrecker, in the sense that no one comes close to dethroning Wooyoung. That being said I find that Yunho and Seongwha catch my attention a lot as well. Yunho because I think he's a great dancer and I can appreciate a man who will make faces at his friend's antics (again this is also me. I sense a pattern). And he just seems generally very Nice. Seongwha because if I have to spend my life savings on watching a bunch of men on a stage the least one of them can do is look really tortured about it 99% of the time.

[awoooooooooooyoung]

hey so ok so - your bias bar none is wooyoung but ! what is your take on yunho? how would you describe his ateez /idol persona?

Oooo that's fun to think about, I hadn't really analyzed him before. Let me think...

Overall Yunho seems even-keeled and affable. He seems happy to go along with the other members when they're being silly or loud but he doesn't go all out like San or Wooyoung would. He seems to default more to the roll of amused observer and he's kind of a liaison with the audience, he's often making faces at the camera like... are you guys seeing this shit? lol~ So as the audience you get to feel like you're in on a joke with him.

He's kind of this steadying presence in Ateez. It seems as if he's good at diffusing awkwardness or potential conflict before it escalates in such a way that you don't even notice there was an issue to begin with; if that's true I imagine that's super valuable for the team's cohesion. Even though he's generally calmer than other members, he doesn't fade into the background, he's attention grabbing in his own way. I think he's a good balance to someone like Wooyoung, who is more of an active attention magnet. But he manages to do so in a way that feels more natural or easygoing than for example Jongho, who more often actively plays the role of the straight man (as in the comedic foil) and doesn't go along with the others' antics.

Everything about him is just. Pleasant. Pleasant voice, pleasant laugh, pleasant demeanor. So to have someone like that in your group creates a good atmosphere for all of them :)

[awoooooooooooyoung]

Have you ever been to an Ateez concert? Can you tell me about it?

I have and I'm soon going again! The first time I went was last year around the same time. I hadn't been into kpop in general and Ateez specifically for that long and I would at that time have hesitated to even call myself a fan (also because of some internalized misogyny around liking kpop and in general being afraid of being too enthusiastic about my interests in general in case someone else disapproves. A whole can of worms, we're working on it.) A couple of my friends had gotten tickets to the concert already, and I realized I reeeeeeally didn't want to be the only one missing out.

The concert was interesting! It's very different from watching recordings on your screen. We had good seats in that we could easily see the stage but they are SO! FAR! Away! I don't have any desire to fight for a spot near the barricade (+ it's SO expensive.) but most fancams you find online are of course filmed from really up close! So that was kind of an adjustment. I also wasn't super familiar with their discography yet so there were a lot of songs I didn't know.

I also think the language barrier played a role. In videos you see online the members will often chat in Korean, either because the audience is Korean or because there is a translator available. It allows for fun unscripted moments and jokes. For our concert they had pre-written all their text in English and read that out, which felt a bit stilted. It was also hard to understand because of the venue.

ALL THAT BEING SAID, I'm super glad I went. I got talking with the girl next to me (I got a last minute ticket so was in a random seat) and it was just so fun to gush to someone else about the band, the show, the dancing, the whole spectacle around it (confetti, lightshow, giant balloons for some reason). And singing along with the songs I did know was really fun. You've probably seen clips of Guerilla where everyone goes wild at "Break the wall", and it's really fun to join in in real life. Also the dancing was great, and the show was really long! Like 3 hours I think, which is amazing and insane because they didn't really have that many rest days on the European leg of that tour if I recall correctly.

They're actually coming to Amsterdam again in February, and I'm going again with the same group of friends. I'm lucky to have one friend who is amazing at sniping tickets so she got good seats for us! It's a lot more expensive than last time sadly, but still worth it. For context, seats last that time were €72 which is around 110,000₩. This time they're €120, which is like 180,000₩. €120 will also get you a good set of headphones or a day out to a spa with some beauty treatments, for comparison. I'm lucky to have a job where I can pay that amount, but it's not nothing to me!

I'm excited to see if the experience is different now that I know so many more of their songs! If the show is the same as for their North American tour there's also bound to be a whole storyline and a lot of theatrical elements which I'm really into. Especially since at heart I'm still an edgy teen so the whole dark dystopian fallen society Seonghwa et al. looking tortured thing is right up my alley

[awoooooooooooyoung]

Kpop asks time~~

How did you get into kpop? What was your first band or group that you liked? If you have a long history, can you share the genealogy of the kpop you've liked or followed?

(I have a bunch of disparate questions, so I will be asking them separately, for length).

Yes please ask questions in whichever formats suits you!

Let's see, I think I first became aware of kpop when I was in the first half of high school. I was in a friend group that liked stuff like anime so some people there already listened to it I think. And I think around that time it was becoming a little bit more well known in the Netherlands in general. There was a very short article in the newspaper my parents read about Girl's Generation, so I looked them up, but it didn't do it for me at that time. This is around 15 years ago, so I was somewhere between 12 and 15 I think.

Timeskip to two years ago when I got a recommended video on youtube about "visual holes" in Kpop groups (I went back and looked, it's this video). And I didn't know what that even meant, so I clicked it to find out, and that's actually how I learned about Stray Kids. I think that same channel had a video about their favorite "noise boy bands" which featured a clip of the Studio Choom performance of Maniac by SKZ, and a clip of Hyunjin looking like an anime character come to life, so I was like 👀 And then I think a friend showed me this version of Deja Vu by Ateez and I was like....... oh no........... this is extremely targeted content..................

I think then I got into more of the behind/side content, like variety shows, Kingdom, and of course fan compilations. Funnily enough I didn't really consider myself a fan of either SKZ or ATEEZ until a bunch of my friends (including the one who showed me that Deja Vu vid) decided to go to see ATEEZ when they came to Amsterdam and I realized I really really really didn't want to miss it haha, and luckily there was someone reselling a ticket I could grab at the very last moment.

I've gone through phases of spending too much time thinking about it and being completely disinterested in the past two years and now I think I would call myself A Fan but not necessarily A Stan if that makes sense. I get a lot of joy out of watching their content on YT and reblogging gifsets on here and yelling about it with my friends, but not much more than that.

[zhngliz]

This song always gets me. I have this album and I decide to listen to it since I haven’t listened to my albums in a bit.

Thank you so much, thank you for my love

For being born today, for coming to me

Meeting you was a great fortune in my life

Now blow out the candles, my love

The only thing I can do is

To love you even more

There might be times when I hurt you

But please know this one thing

Just like always, just like now

I love you, you’re my everything to me

Even after ten years, it’ll be like only one day has passed

I won’t change, I’ll make your heart race every day

I promise you, my love

LIKE ARE YOU KIDDING!?! theses lyrics are so romantic 😭😭🙏this album has a lot of my favorite songs like say you say me and love come true. I miss vixx