#down the b1a4 rabbit hole

[what-if-nct]

hellooo today's reminder is one: why does SM refuse to give me subtitles for Kun's skydiving videos. i mean I still watch them and appreciate his pretty voice and him looking that cool but I'd like to know what he's actually saying. and two: that video led me down a rabbit hole of old wayv content and ugh. i need a new season of winformation asap. but i just saw the posters for Winwin's new drama and I'm so excitedddd it looks like exactly my kind of show. ie a romcom with pretty leads, I'm a woman of simple needs. ditto for Doyoung's new drama, it looks really fun already

Hii, it still doesn't have subtitles? It's been out for so long. Maybe you can find a fan subbed version on YouTube somewhere. I remember watching the unsubbed on the Teen Top or B1A4 channel then finding the fan subbed version a week later. Hopefully a wonderful fan subbed it. Oh Winformation, yes please provide us a new season. Also I hope they do the rainbow v series again. It's been so long I doubt it and it probably was just a way to introduce them but I want another series. I saw, I probably won't watch it just not my cup of tea, I like either comedies or something really really dark. Once watched a movie about a teacher that would spank students it wasn't THAT kind of movie but it was really dark one of the students mothers would have it filmed by the security guard with the school cameras and sell it to people. Like her mom saw it happening to her and still sold it. Yeah I don't know what I watch sometimes. I blame Lana Del Rey. Anyway nonetheless I'm so proud of Winwin and I hope his drama does well and he gets more roles ya know after we get another wayv album.

[woozi]

I am an EXO-L. They are still my ults. The first loves of my K-pop life lol. The main group that can make me swoon and cry literally over nothing. I love them so much. But Seventeen and The Boyz fight it out for that second spot in my heart constantly. Depending on the day you just never know who wins.

Honestly I haven’t been into K-pop very long. I am very a very small eastern mountain town in the eastern US. No one here really talks about much other than country music, gospel music, and classic rock lol. But I have a friend I met online (where all great relationships start now) and she was like oh you should listen to the song Call Me Baby by EXO. I was like I sure!

That was about 5 years ago. I listened to only that song and was afraid to really go any further for a while. I had of course heard of BTS and Black Pink but my head was like K-pop is going to be something I don’t like. Then the pandemic hit and I was at home and was listening to Call Me Baby and was like why not.

My best friend and I listened to 100 song you should know and fell down a rabbit hole. So it has honestly only been since the lockdown really that I really got into K-pop but it really brightened my world and changed it for the better.

Sorry if these are too long. Lol I can talk about K-pop for ever. How long have you been into K-pop Yza? Was Seventeen your first group or did you have a first love other than them?

your tASTE?!!!!?!?!

who are ur exo biases? i'm guessing biases bc it's also so hard to just pick one from them fdkjdfkjjkdfjkdf and what an interesting way to get into kpop!!

also sounds like one of my irls dfkjfjdk she never thought she'd get into kpop but now she's even making a business out of it lmao 😭

100 SONGS???????? omg link it to me please i also wanna know 👁

AND NOOOOOO OMG i love hearing from u dont even worry abt it <3

i grew up surrounded by koreans so u can say it's been around me since forever lol fdjkfdj but i only really GOT into it myself during '09-'10 when wg blew up <3 my first group was shinee and theyre still the lomls and they set the bar SOOO high for me so i kinda find it hard to get into groups tbh KJFDKJFD i was also pretty multi when i was younger?? but i'd always find myself just ulting a group and casually listening to others. since then, i unintentionally jump groups after a year or so 😭 that being said i've been into shinee, b.a.p, then b1a4!! after that i kinda quit kpop for a few years and just came back to it in 2019 bc of got7 <3 and then i got into the svteenies (which i've known abt since their 17tv era) in aug 2020 and here we are.... 2 YEARS LONG... i literally can't believe i stuck to something this long lol

[shinwhoohoo]

Hi love~ How are you? I hope the new year has been treating you good! I’m not sure if you’ve already answered this but what do you think of Jinyoung still having B1A4 in his IG bio? And the fact that he still follows the members? I recently went down a rabbit hole of 2nd gen K-pop groups and rediscovered my love and longing for the old B1A4. It makes me so sad that so many people are forgetting these groups who us “old” K-pop fans treasured and adored.

eh idk, I don't really think much of it tbh. At this point, he's kept it in his bio now for the past 3 and a half years since he left so I'm sure he's going to keep it in there. This, and the fact that he still follows the members, I have mentioned before is because I think he really has no other option. Unfollowing or taking B1A4 out of his profile will make it clear that he left B1A4 when this whole time he has been saying the opposite-- despite what the rest of his actions may show.

Ugh I know, all of my favorite groups were from 2/2.5 gen so I get it. What I miss the most is that I liked how groups from that era lacked a certain polish that made them seem more genuine in their desire to just do the best they could without expecting global domination or hundreds of millions of youtube views. I miss the quirkiness of it, I guess.

[hipsterbutonlyslightly]

18 questions about music! I was tagged by @denmark-in-my-stomach cause she wants to know my secrets 1. Which bands/artists do you own the most albums by? Honestly probably either Block B or BTS, because not only am I kpop trash I'm boyband kpop trash. 2. What was the last song you listened to?
”Who’s it gonna be” by BgA (the comedic kpop group with Ryan Higa cause they’re actually pretty good) 3. What’s in your CD/record player right now?
While I have CDs, I have no CD player. All of my music is on my computer’s hard drive on online 4. What was the last show you attended?
I’m going to include concerts that I’ve performed at, which was the winter festival last month. Other than that the last actual show I went to was the Teen Top concert last spring. 5. What was the greatest show you’ve been to?
Honestly either the Teen Top concert or the Rend Collective concert. Both were amazing and so energetic! 6. What was the worst show you’ve ever been to?
I don’t think I’ve ever been to a bad show. 7. What is the most musically included you’ve ever been?
I’m actually in one of my college’s choirs right now! We’re in concert practicing mode right now, so it’s hour and a half practices 5 days a week for the next few weeks :’( rip 8. What show are you looking forward to?
None at the moment! 9. What is your favourite band shirt?
I have an old B1A4 sweatshirt and a BTS concert shirt (but that wasn’t from a concert) 10. What musician would you like to hang out with for a day?
Honestly Jin from BTS cause not only is he a beautiful human being but I hope that his love and self-confidence can rub off on me 11. Who is one musician or group you wish would make a comeback?
BIGBANG #gonebutnotforgotten 12. Who is the one band/artist you’ve never seen live but always wanted to?
BTS cause they so good and I know someone who went to one and like I need it 13. Name four or more flawless albums
1. Wings or You Never Walk Alone by BTS (can you tell that I like BTS?) 2. Twicecoaster Lane 2 by Twice 3. Heathers the Musical Soundtrack 4. Lungs by Florence + the Machine 5. Amelie from Montemarte soundtrack 14. How many concerts have you been to, total?
8 including the ones I’ve performed in 15. Who have you seen the most live? Actually Rend Collective 16. What is your favorite music soundtrack? I’ll divide this into musicals and video games For musicals, I love Fiddler on the Roof, Hamilton, and A Gentleman’s Guide to Murder. For video games, the Bastion soundtrack, the Fallout 4 soundtrack, and the Bioshock Infinite soundtrack are the best. 17. What was your last music “phase” before you wisened up? I mean I’ve been in kpop hell for the past 5 or so years but before that I guess I was into either the modern music or stuff from the 60s cause its pretty wholesome 18. What is your “guilty pleasure” that you hate to admit liking?
I’m pretty open with my music tastes, but I will never admit that Lady Gaga’s album Joanne (which is actually amazing) is country cause country is disgusting and you can quote me on that. I’ll tag: @space---ace cause if I'm gonna drag someone down the music rabbit hole it might as well be them Good luck ❤

[sapphylicious]

Time for the B1A4 con report! First off, let me just say it was TOTALLY WORTH IT, but as soon as @cactuarneedles and I arrived back in KC at midnight we were like, “Let’s never go to California again.” It was that kind of trip.

First off, our connecting flight in Denver was delayed. Not by a lot, but in retrospect that set the tone for the rest of the weekend. We still managed to arrive in SF on Saturday around noon, checked in at the hotel, and then got ramen for lunch in Japantown. It’s been, oh, 11 years since I was last in SF for Hyde’s Faith tour, and wandering around Japantown was a bit nostalgic. I wanted to buy All The Things but couldn’t have fit anything else into my carry-on except a Pusheen shirt I ended up getting just because. Also, makeup remover, since I forgot to bring any and didn’t realize until I was putting on my eyeliner (very, very carefully). The salesperson in Kpop Beauty liked my Big Bang hoodie lol.

We were running out of energy fast since we’d been up since 4am Central, so we went back to the hotel and ordered in for dinner. I slept as I usually do in new places, which is to say, not well, but I managed not to be too tired on Sunday.

As for Sunday. 

Well.

It was raining all morning, and we’d bought umbrellas the day before at CVS, so we were like. The bare minimum of prepared. We also bought some trash bags to sit on. It was in the 50s but felt like it was in the 40s, and there was some wind, so overall it was a cold, wet, miserable experience. I’ve queued in line when it was colder (Akanishi Jin’s Yellow Gold tour in NYC in November was hella cold) but a) I was younger then, and b) I wasn’t being rained on. So Janel and I discovered our Too Old For This Shit threshold. If we hadn’t been close to the front of the line we probably would have said fuck it and stayed in the hotel room all day.

We took a break for lunch at a Vietnamese place where I was able to stop shivering for a while, and stayed there as long as we felt was reasonable. We’re not fans of the “claim a spot in line and then fuck off for the rest of the day until an hour before the doors open” tactic some people (read: assholes) like to use. Getting to be right in front of the stage is privilege you suffer for.

On the way back we decided to stop in a Target to buy some of those mini folding seats to help make the rest of the wait bearable (the trash-bags-on-ground was not working out for us). And this is where the trip really went to shit.

Janel left her purse in the restroom by accident. She realized it the moment we stepped outside and went back to the restroom in three minutes tops, and by then everything inside her purse had been stolen. Cash, cards, ID, keys -- the only thing she still had was her phone since it had been in her pocket (which luckily also had the tickets).

Soooo she pretty much spent the rest of the afternoon making phone calls and filing a police report -- not that the police could actually do anything about it, but it was good to have for getting through airport security for our flight back. So note: you can fly domestically without an ID, but it’s a huge pain for everyone.

At least by then it had basically stopped raining. There was a little bit of a situation when the lines were separated and we had to leave our spot to wait in another line for our VIP wristbands. I asked a girl I recognized being a couple people ahead of us to save our spot (couldn’t find the people who’d been directly in front or behind), but when we eventually got our wristbands I couldn’t find her again, or anyone else who had been near us in the original line. So we kind of just cut in at roughly the same area and miraculously no one gave us shit about it.

Let me just say, out of the several cons I’ve been to, B1A4 fans are the most chill. I remember standing in line for Big Bang and recalling how VIPs used to claim to be the most chill fans and lol nah man just nah. We chatted a little with the people around us, told the "everything got stolen” story a few times -- and also the “we’re from the Midwest” story. YOU PEOPLE IN LA AND SF DON’T KNOW WHAT IT’S LIKE LIVING IN THE ENTIRE REST OF THE UNITED STATES. Travel for Kpop is a given. I’ve made weekend trips from the East Coast all the way to the West Coast for Kpop. This is also why we only go to cons for our absolute favorite groups, and will pull out all the stops for them. I figure I’ll only do this for B1A4, Big Bang, Epik High, TVXQ/JYJ, and maaaybe I might do it for VIXX. Maybe.

Getting into the venue wasn’t an issue and we wound up about four people back from the stage. We were hella sore by then, although I think it was worse for Janel since she was running back and forth a lot and under a ton more stress. Luckily the con didn’t start too late, and I forgot how much my feet hurt most of the time (I’m really glad I have a pair of comfortable boots).

So. B1A4 in person.

This is the first concert where I bothered to take pictures and record video, but I don’t know how some fans can dedicate their attention to recording the whole time because I was a flailing mess lol. THEY WERE SO CLOSE. They’re all really attractive in person??? I mean Gongchan is of course a given and he is EVEN MORE HANDSOME THAN ADVERTISED no wonder Sandeul and Jinyoung don’t shut up about how he looks. The suits they wore for most of the show were very nice and ESPECIALLY when they took off the jackets because men in waistcoats are my weakness. Jinyoung rolling up his shirtsleeves jesus christ and he does it all neatly too (whereas Baro’s sleeves kept falling and flopping around lol). Jinyoung is so fucking charming it’s unfair. When the water bottles came out he liked to hold them up and tease the crowd lmao how... typical...

CNU was amazing with the fanservice and the body rolls lol and he has such pretty hair. There was a moment duringggg I think Baby Goodnight when he and Gongchan were really cute together. I was filming Sandeul and had to quickly cut over to them with their arms around each other.

Baro did a lot of talking in English, I was surprised and impressed and I think this con has cemented him as third in my lineup of faves (Sandeul-Jinyoung-Baro-Gongchan-CNU). I feel like he interacted with the crowd best and I saw him paying attention to the balcony people often too, but someone needs to take the word “lit” away from him hahaha.

The venue was small so it was really easy for them to reach every part of the stage, we got to see all of them up close in roughly equal amounts but ngl my memory is like 70% Sandeul because I tracked him all across the stage.

BOY CAN HE SING. Not only does he sound amazing but you can tell just by looking at him how passionate he is, the way he moves and puts more of himself into it than the others do. The only way the con could have been more perfect is if he’d been able to perform a solo. Or just. If he could release a full-length solo album and then go on tour that was be okay too. He teased us by singing 그렇게 있어줘~ and augh so good. SO GOOD. AND SO CUTE. He’s so adorable I can hardly stand it. Near the end he was crouched down in front of us and stuck out his tongue bUT I DIDN’T MANAGE TO RECORD IT. OPPORTUNITY LOST.

I did however record the cheek squishing. It was so classic. Jinyoung goes for the cheeks, Sandeul tries to retaliate but misses, Jinyoung waits for a few seconds and then goes in again to get a good grip and Sandeul looks SO RESIGNED before he jerks his face away. They did this while Baro was talking and he was like “Hey, it’s my turn now!” lol poor Baro.

I also have some pics of CNU lowkey harassing Sandeul and Sandeul giving him this Look afterwards. And Gongchan fussing with Sandeul’s clothes. And Sandeul limp in Baro’s arms. I ship my bias with everyone, can you tell.

They were all so cute though, ugh, I love B1A4. I’m so glad I gave Kpop another chance after I thought the TVXQ breakup was the End Of All Things.

We fought with another girl over one of the towels thrown into the crowd. I only made a claim so it would be 2 vs 1 but we both lost the rock-paper-scissors battle and had to give it up. In retrospect we maybe should have played the “she was robbed today” pity card because you’d think after losing all the contents of your purse you could at least get a towel in compensation. We’re unfortunately not that combative though. At least this time the opponent didn’t cheat and throw down her choice late. Like I said, in terms of the fans B1A4 has much fewer assholes than I’m used to encountering.

I felt like a drowned rat by the end of the show and feared for my eyeliner but luckily it wasn’t running or even smudged (thanks, Stila stay all day waterproof liquid eyeliner). My hair was rather bedraggled though and after the rain and the water bottles it was like, why did I even bother curling it that morning, but what can you do.

I wanted to say something to everyone during the high touch -- I knew it was going to be quick but the staff really hurried everyone through which was annoying, and I had a holyshitholyshitholyshit internal monologue going when actually face to face with the boys. So I only managed a weak “thank you” to Gongchan who said it back (he’s so sweet ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥) and I blurted out a rather embarrassing “I love you!!” to Sandeul ahahaha god so much for being a cool, mature noona.  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

The walk back to the hotel was short, although we did wind up briefly walking in the wrong direction somehow because I can’t be trusted with directions even if the distance is only a few blocks. Our flight home was around 11am so we planned to get up extra early to have plenty of time for Janel to get through additional screening.

Aaaand then in the morning the flight was delayed to the afternoon, which would cause us to miss our connecting flight. So we had to book a whole new trip which didn’t leave until 3:20 pm.

Getting through security wasn’t too bad for either of us, and we waited around watching B1A4 fancams and reading fan accounts. As it got close to departure there were some confusing announcements about delays and we found out our gate had changed with no warning. Also the flight was slightly delayed. Luckily (?), our connecting flight in Vegas was also delayed. Still, by the time we got there we only had 15 min before we began boarding. 

(Also, even the airport in Vegas has slots lol.)

It was a veeery turbulent ride back. All of our flights for this trip have been turbulent, but that last one was the worst. I’m not afraid of flying but I can now understand how some people could be. At one point I looked over at Janel and said, “I hope we don’t die.” If the plane went down I decided I would just pray for a quick death and also to be reborn as a cat so I can spend my life eating, sleeping, and being petted.

Finally, around midnight, we were back in KC.

Me: Let’s never go to California again. Next time there’s a concert, NY or Chicago or even Jersey is fine. Janel: SF is a flaming trash heap. It is the Tumblr of cities.

Sorry, SF, I liked you for years but now I am okay with never setting foot in you again.

But still: WORTH IT.

[sapphylicious]

undefined

My videos are crap because I can't be trusted with a camera in ideal conditions let alone during a concert but Yesterday is one of my favorite songs and I was thrilled they performed it. Sandeul sounds so amazing live aaaaah. The con was amazing 10/10 would go again. It was worth everything that happened before. This was an... eventful trip to say the least. I thought getting into a car accident and missing my train to the JYJ con was the worst experience but now @cactuarneedles has me beat since she had everything in her purse stolen. D: Luckily her phone was in her pocket. And the story made for a great conversation starter with other fans! I'll write up a detailed account later when I'm not on mobile but suffice to say: Jinyoung was immensely charming (those rolled-up shirt sleeves gaaaaah), Gongchan Really Is That Handsome, Baro won me over a lot (he really knows how to work a crowd), CNU was very fanservicey, and Sandeul was e v e r y t h I n g. He sings so well and he's so adorable oh my gah. I saw the jindeul cheek squishing and got a not-too-terrible video of it. I had planned to compliment Sandeul's singing during the high touch but I was so frazzled all I managed was "I love you!!" lolol. It was a super good con. Despite many things. We've discovered our Too Old For This Shit threshold but B1A4 is WORTH IT.

[sapphylicious]

So I’m obviously deep in B1A4 comeback hell, soon to also be lost in FFXV hell whenever the fuck my game gets here (AMAZON WHY). I haven’t written a thing all month. I have 8,300 words of fic just sitting around waiting to be continued. I finished the smut and there’s only like one and a half more scenes to write but I just... can’t... do it.

That post about Sandeul’s scarf made me think, “If this fandom was bigger someone would have already written porn about that. I’d be writing porn about that if only I could focus enough to make the words happen.” I can’t even focus on writing up my thoughts on the album, but it’s a super good album and I’ve been listening to it on repeat. 

Did I mention I got my ticket to the SF concert? After some debate I wound up going for GA after all. The line is going to be miserable but worth it. I’m hoping really hard that the high-touch will be before the con instead of after because while I’ll still look bad before I’ll be a gross, possibly crying disaster after. Still need to figure out flights and the hotel... I’ve spent so much money this month. 

I’m not entirely sure how I’m going to balance intense fangirling with avid gaming but that’s pretty much what my life will be for the foreseeable future. I’ll probably fall behind on all the anime and kdramas (Legend of the Blue Sea kinda lost its grip on me last week anyway).

Look at this stupid happy face though it’s the most wonderful thing ever. I’m going to see this face in person in February. I don’t think I’ve fully processed that yet.

[sapphylicious]

ahhh yes, b1a4, my favorite band, with jinyoung, gongchan, CNN, sandal, and bar soap

lol they’re so underrated it makes me endlessly sad (and occasionally salty), but on the other hand they win the Non-Problematic Fave Award and the fandom doesn’t upset me, so. Yay? I hope their comeback this month is successful!

[sapphylicious]

4,700 words into this fic, which was supposed to be a oneshot, but it’s going so well and the ideas are flowing together so nicely that it’s... probably... going to be multi-chapter...

THIS IS THE OPPOSITE OF WHAT I WANTED TO WRITE AFTER FINISHING RECORD OF MOONLIGHT. Just like how Record of Moonlight was the opposite of what I wanted to write after finishing Lotus. orz Someone take my brain away from me, it plots too much.

On the plus side:

1. I CAN WRITE REALLY CASUALLY AND NOT JUDGE MYSELF FOR IT OH MY GOD. My writing style tends to dip into casual/conversational no matter how I try to maintain a more formal tone – which I tried to be consistent with in Record of Moonlight but I got lazy sometimes (maybe a lot – the first chapter or two I think turned out very good but for the subsequent ones I spent less and less time on revision). Going from historical drama AU to supernatural hijinks college AU is so, so relaxing, I don’t have to worry about sounding anachronistic or imbuing a scene with appropriate gravitas and part of me never wants to write another sword fight again (AT LEAST NOT FOR A LONG WHILE).

2. What I want to write about are awkward embarrassing crushes on charming people. And foxes. And porn. And dumb best friends giving each other grief over their crushes and being protective and supportive assholes. A life-threatening misadventure or two, some ~star-crossed love~ angst… did I mention the porn?

Me: SANDEUL IS SO GOOD AND PURE. ACTUAL ANGEL ONSTAGE. LOOK AT HIM WEARING ALL THESE FLOWER CROWNS AND TIARAS. SO ADORABLE. Also me: *writes filthy smut about him*  

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[sapphylicious]

So I’m reading this old B1A4 interview and

Q: What member would you choose [as your girlfriend] Jinyoung? [Jinyoung] I would choose Sandeul. Because he’s pure and he makes maternal instincts tingle. [Sandeul] Jinyoung hyung—!! (clings on)

Q: Moments like these then. [Jinyoung] No, this is a little different (laugh).

Q: So he’s someone you want to protect. [Jinyoung] Rather, I can’t leave him alone; because if I left him alone, there could be some trouble (laugh). [Sandeul] What does that mean-. [Jinyoung] Because you don’t know what will happen when you take your eyes off of him (laugh).

Q: Like break the doorknob of the bathroom (laugh). [Sandeul] That happened on accident. But if Jinyoung hyung is by my side then I would feel safe

First of all, lol Sandeul, and secondly... “he’s troublesome but I can’t leave him alone” -- I AM WEAK FOR THIS. Just leave me here to burn in Jindeul hell where the population is like three people.

(I’m sorry for ever thinking Daiya fandom is small I AM REGRETTING MY FANDOM CHOICES but I keep on sinking deeper into Kpop.)

[sapphylicious]

Sapphy: All right, editing aside, I am no longer chained to Record of Moonlight. What shall I do with my newfound freedom to write whatever I want?

Sapphy's brain: Kpop fic.

Sapphy: Well... but...

Sapphy's brain: B1A4. Jindeul.

Sapphy: WHO'S EVEN GOING TO READ THAT.

Sapphy's brain: Make it an AU.

Sapphy: That doesn't solve the readership problem but it does inspire me more.

[sapphylicious]

basketbizzle replied to your post:basketbizzle replied to your post:Let me take a...

have you seen the unplugged/acoustic vids that they do? So good

omg no I will have to look those up later! I need to go to bed so I can function in the morning lol. I wish I could just sleep in on Saturday but I have errands and socializing to do... and then writing. Must not... get too distracted... from finishing this fic... so close to the end...

[sapphylicious]

basketbizzle replied to your post:Let me take a moment or several to talk about how...

I love B1A4! They’re so underrated, and their non-promo songs are where they really shine I think. “Wait” off their last mini was the best song off it imo. They’re also one of the few (if only) groups where the members (mostly Jinyong lol) write and produce all their songs.

At first I was like “okay I’m just here for the super catchy music, I’m not getting into actual Kpop fandom again” so I very selectively picked the upbeat songs I liked... and then my interest in the group grew... and now I have almost their entire discography. Yeah, the non-promo songs on their EPs tend to be excellent -- the LP songs not quite as much, or they aren’t to my taste -- and I’m dying for a comeback because their music has clearly matured over the years and I need moar.