#bts cultural appropriation

[spirker]

I actually think Taika here is wearing a perfect Ed-coded outfit and I would have loved to see it in the show.

Ed fishing his leathers back out of the ocean and putting them back on to go get his man is all about him reconciling Ed and Blackbeard - the two parts of his character that have felt in opposition in the past but are finally able to come together to fight for love.

So the leathers are the right outfit for him to be wearing when he chokes out those soldiers while reading his love letter - he’s wearing Blackbeard’s clothes, he’s ‘being’ Blackbeard, but he’s being spoken to as Ed by Stede through the letter, he’s being told how loved he is by the man he loves. So it’s a moment of reconciliation with that leather outfit.

But this moment here, when they’re standing on the porch of the inn, looking at each other so softly? Yeah, Ed is wearing his leather jacket, he still likes some bits of the old Blackbeard look and he knows he looks good in it.

But Ed also likes softness, and being comfortable, and expressing his identity.

So the lavalava with the leather jacket - that’s the perfect encapsulation of Ed. It’s the two sides brought together in harmony.

[maddyontv]

"I wish they would respond with responsibility..."

K-Pop struggles to remain inclusive as its audience expands across oceans.

K-Pop in recent years along with the massive success of BTS has become somewhat of a worldwide phenomenon. The genre has grown into an industry of its own with youths flooding company auditions every year to see if they can be part of the next BTS or BlackPink. Though its roots are in South Korea the genre has exploded into the headphones and car radios of people across the globe. Over the years, however, as this racially homogeneous country's biggest hit has gained eyes from races and cultures all over we’ve seen a lot of problems arise. 

In BTS’ earlier days the group's leader Namjoon whose stage name is RM in reference to his earlier title ‘Rap Monster’ had his fair share of cultural appropriation and racism. The artist has performed on stage using a racial slur, appropriated dreadlocks, and has made plenty of colorist comments towards his members. A portion of fans agree that these instances have been ‘made up for’ in the groups coming years with their growth and the fact that they have yet to repeat any of these actions. 

Other popular groups like EXO, Twice, and BlackPink are not out of the line of fire. In 2017 EXO released their title song “Ko Ko Bop” where their main dancer Kai was featured in bright red dreadlocks throughout the music video. Kai also went on to keep this hairstyle throughout live performances and promotions of the song. In 2019 BlackPinks main rapper Lisa was featured in blue box braid pigtails in their “Kill This Love” music video. Most recently, Chaeyoung from Twice was seen on the streets of New York with a swastika on her shirt just a few days after her stylist put her in a cut up QAnon shirt for a performance. Out of just these three instances only one apology was made by Chaeyoung of Twice and it included the words every K-Pop fan is tired of hearing, “I didn’t know.”

“I wish they would respond with responsibility and some kind of empathy. Definitely not with a "that's what I grew up listening to" or "this is who I am influenced by." Because I think that that lacks accountability and awareness that any type of celebrity needs to have” said Kobi Hampton, a student at the University of Central Oklahoma. Hampton shared that similar to all celebrities, fans and viewers often have to wonder even when they apologize if it’s genuine or if it’s only because they want to save their careers. 

Despite these repeat offenses K-Pop has yet to lose either its popularity or its droves of fans. “I think the best we can do from so far away is to hold them accountable, to call them out when we see them doing disrespectful things and to hope that even if they don’t apologize they’ve seen it and they’ll do better.” said Taylor Frias another student at the University of Central Oklahoma. It seems for now that fans can only hope their idols are learning and that the genre can grow along with its diverse audience. 

What do you think?

[lycheeemolala]

Lol love when someone comes onto MY page and tells ME what to think and say

[circesastro]

Circe’s Note #2

Note: These are just my own observations, ideas, thoughts and theories. This is just for entertainment purposes. Also, please be respectful of my observations! It is perfectly understandable to not resonate with some of my personal observations but please do not leave any disrespectful comments! Lastly, please don’t plagiarize any of my works!Without further ado, enjoy!

**All photos are from Pinterest**

✿ Capricorn in the 3rd house can indicate the native being the more responsible sibling. They feel like the most mature sibling or they can actually be the older sibling.

✿ Men with Scorpio Venus tend to come from wealthy families.

✿ Chiron in the 10th house can actually indicate that the native will be very successful within their careers (after many setbacks) and they usually make a pretty big name for themselves.

✿ Pisces Moon women are so gorgeous 💗Ex: Wonyoung, IU, Audrey Hepburn, Winona Ryder, Vanessa Hudgens, Winter (Aespa)

✿ Also, Pisces women tend to get loads of hate for being too pretty. They are often accused of having plastic surgery...example Angelababy and Madison Beer. It could be Neptunes influence causing other people to project onto them so harshly.

✿ I can’t remember who said this already 😭 but Aquarius Suns really do have the prettiest noses. They won the nose genetics❤️ (J-hope, Rose, I.M, DK, my dad 💀) Either way their nose tend to be a prominent part of their face. 

✿ Also why is it that idol groups always choose detrimental mars as their leaders? (Ex: TXT’s Soobin (libra mars), Seventeen’s S.Coups (libra mars), Enhypen’s Jungwon (taurus mars), Twice’s Jihyo (libra mars), BTS’s RM (cancer mars), Aespa’s Karina (taurus mars)).

✿ I also can't remember who said this before (if anyone knows the original creator who said this please let me know so I can give credit) but your Mars sign (degree + house) can indicate the reasons that you get "canceled" or the reason you receive hate..

If you have an Aquarius Mars or Mars at 11, 23 degrees you could get canceled for the most random things

if you have a Libra Mars or Mars 7, 19 degrees you could get canceled for being in a relationship.

Pisces Mars or Mars at 12, 24 degrees could be canceled dr*g use or being drunk/under the influence.

Sagittarius Mars or Mars at 9, 21 degrees could get cancelled due to cultural appropriation...

Examples:

Cai Xukun has his mars in cancer and he had a scandal concerning getting a woman pregnant ( and he also has a scorpio moon and his mother allegedly hired someone to stalk her...)

Lisa has her mars in virgo and when she was on Youth With You, she got a lot of hate for being "too strict" as a mentor.

Jackson Wang recieved a lot of hate due to him constantly drinking alcohol during his concerts. (pisces mars)

G-idle's Soyeon recieved lots of backlash for "hogging attention" and she’s a Leo mars.

✿ Water sun men have the prettiest eyes…something about them is just so alluring (ex: WAYV’s Winwin, Ding Chengxin, Ding Yuxi, TXT’s Beomgyu, Stray Kid’s Hyunjin, Xu Kai, etc.)

MASTERLIST

[antifragilxxx]

Real talk this is a big reason why I basically only listen to gg’s… and this isn’t to say gg’s don’t culturally appropriate as well (black pink), and not all boy groups culturally appropriate either. It’s just that blackness and black culture is usually associated with words like “strong” “masculine” “tough” which is why you see more boy groups adopting blackness and black culture into their music, fashion sense, and even sometimes personal identity. So yeah i love gg because I already get that “hard” vibe from REAL rap and rnb, I listen to kpop because I want something different, something light, fun, and girly. And don’t get me wrong I loveee some gg and bg RNB and rap songs, but there is a line some artists cross where they sound like they’re trying to be black (as in using aave and black slang, usually incorrectly as well which I find very disrespectful. Like if your gonna use it AT LEAST use it correctly LMFAO) I just wish there were more songs like thunderous by stray kids or Daechwita by suga, I absolutely love Korean culture, every kpop fan does, so why not capitalize that by putting in more traditional Korean sounds, and influence into their own stuff like I seriously don’t get it? Not only because of the fact that the culture is beautiful, and should be celebrated, but also from a financial and business standpoint, why make the same type of shit everyone else in the west is making when you can capitalize on a completely new sound instead?? Very weird to me I wish Koreans used their own culture instead of profiting off of mine, their culture is so beautiful it should be celebrated! 

everything wrong with kpop stans: racism, kpop culture, problematic SUPER fans

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPeE7YKCZM8 | Full commentary in the linked video.

The main way that the Kpop Culture is problematic is through the commodification of other cultures i.e. using OTHER PEOPLE’S cultures as props. As you guys can just see, it just isn’t black culture that the kpop industry uses but seeing as I’m black I’m going to be talking about how black culture is ABUSED by the kpop industry.

We all know that K-pop is heavily inspired by black culture… but with the way, K-pop continually antagonizes black people you would never know. This is what traditional Korean music sounded like before the influence of American (specifically black culture) 1:09 and this is what K-pop music sounds like now with the influence of black culture 1:20.

Despite not being black or having any relation to blackness, many kpop idols will overcompensate their closeness to black culture by trying to be seen as more thug/hood… A lot of these artists will get traditionally black hairstyles in order to let people know that they should be perceived as more gangster/more hood… and mainly more black. 

And no matter what part of mainstream Korean culture you look at this issue of cultural appropriation/the terrible mimicry of Black people is present. You can see this on popular talk shows… and especially if the person in question is supposed to be a rapper… I.e. Lisa … and almost every problematic male K rapper.

full commentary in the linked video. | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPeE7YKCZM8&ab_channel=ellapastoral

[jung-koook]

i met a 32 year old army and I think that stanning bts when you're from 32 of age and above is simply creepy embarrassing and disrespctful for a culture like theirs where they take into great account age and age differences and they are probably creeped out by fans older than all of them and in their 30s thats why they don't even ever mention them. At some point people need to realise when to grow up and liking appropriate stuff for your age. I'm not talking about non teenagers because many fans are like "I'm old" and then they are like mid 20s max lol I'm talking about 32+ people who are older than jin too.

what the hell???? I'm sorry, but what the hell are you talking about. you probably don't know anything about their culture. I really find it extremely uncomfortable when it's a group of just kids with adult fans. I really think in these cases it's weird but when you're a fan of adults I don't see any problem with that. in my opinion, there are differences between being a fan of something when you are a teenager and when you are an adult. when you are a teenager you may have some behaviors because of your age but when you are an adult and you have these behaviors it is really creepy. all the toxic fan experiences that I knew about or had close to me were from adults. adult people saying they are going to marry the members or fighting online because of shippers. It's the only thing that bothers me, you're an adult please behave like one.

but this idea of ​​a 30 year old person no longer being able to be a fan of something is extremely prejudiced. it's not because it's my opinion, no, that's prejudice, no matter the opinion. being a fan of someone when you are an adult is the most perfect thing because you already have your independence, especially at 30 years old. because in the society we are in, 30 years is nothing. there are people who, at the age of 30, are starting a lot of things in their lives. you guys keep acting like 30 is really old but it literally isn't. a person aged 30+ is much more likely to have common experiences with the members, being more affected by the lyrics because of this than a person aged 20. just because a person is getting older does they have to stop liking things? lol please. If you continue with these thoughts you will be such an boring person, you already are but you still have a chance to change. you just showed that besides being prejudiced you don't know bangtan that much because if you did you would know that they mention it whenever they see older fans at concerts and etc. but maybe because of your prejudice you didn't even research it.

they are not hurting anyone, they are not wasting your money, they are living their lives so let them. stop worrying about other people's lives and what they do or not with their lives. everyone has their own life to worry about. the way someone lives their life has nothing to do with you lmao you are just wasting your time on something that is none of your business.

let people live how they want if they are not hurting anyone. do something for yourself and be less boring.

[btsfests]

𝔞𝔫𝔤𝔢𝔩𝔰 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔡𝔢𝔪𝔬𝔫𝔰 𝔣𝔢𝔰𝔱

Angels and Demons Fest is now open to all BTS fanfic writers on Tumblr! BTS Angels and Demons fest will be hosted by BTS Fests on Tumblr and is open to writers who are 18 years of age and older. 

PROMPT:  Write a fanfic with angels or demons (or both!) as the main focus of your story. 

INFORMATION:

♡ Masterlist will be hosted on btsfests.tumblr.com. ♡ This is an open fest, anyone can apply to join as long as they are a BTS writer on Tumblr and are of age. ♡ All pairings are accepted (mem x reader, mem x mem, mem x oc, solo mem) ♡ You may write for any member of your choosing.

RULES: 

♡ One or more BTS members must be featured​​. ♡ No word count limit or minimum. ♡ May include smut or not if you don’t wish, but must be rated appropriately when you post ♡ Must contain elements of angels or demons (of any culture, mythology, religion, or your own interpretation as long as it's evident they are angel/demon inspired). ♡ Writers must not engage in any form of plagiarism, which includes copying and pasting content without proper attribution, presenting someone else's work as their own, using Artificial Intelligence, or using any material without permission. ♡ This fest does not allow minors. If you’re discovered to have lied on your application and you’re a minor, you will be immediately be removed. We ask that all writers have their age range displayed somewhere on their Tumblr for the duration of this fest. ♡ Bullying, belittling, or harassment of any kind will not be tolerated. No warnings will be issued for evident and explicit bullying, discrimination, or harassment of writers either in the fest server or outside the server on Tumblr/other servers. Suspicion of bullying, discrimination and harassment will be investigated before any dismal action. ♡ A Discord account is required by writers for all communication after the initial invitation. A moderator will DM you your invitation on Tumblr, which means your DMs (not your asks) must be open. 

♡ DROPOUT POLICY: You may drop out of this fest at any time, for any reason. Please let one of the moderators know to remove you from the masterlist!

♡ CONTENT POLICY: Dead Dove submissions are allowed, however, you must appropriately tag your fic and let a moderator know to mark your fic as Dead Dove on the main fest masterlist. 

SCHEDULE:

♡ Application Period: December 1 - December 16 ♡ Masterlist Posted: December 23 ♡ Writing Period: December 1* - February 8 ♡ Promo/Hype Event: January 17 ♡ Posting Period: January 18 - February 8

♡ Note: Emails are not collected for this. Please do not put any personal information beyond your username and what mods, within reason, need to know.

Applications for this fest are now closed.

[magical-glimpse]

Would yall like me to make a list of the the red flags i look out for in readers ? It is quite a personal list but i guess it can help people who reallht dont know how to go about it ?

///

YES PLEASE DO

✨Red flags in BTS tarot readers ✨

what do i mean by red flags ? I mean little things that, when added up, can lead me to block or ignore a reader because they are not accurate or responsible. This is a personal list, according to my own values, and my experience on what tarot can or cannot do. If you don't find it helpful then just ignore me and make your own lol.

a reader who does not have any boundary whatsoever (accepts everything or does not say what they do not read on)

a reader who never refuses a reading on any topic

a reader who genders people they dont know the gender of (calling future spouses Mrs or Mr, gendering them in readings)

reads on appearances ( tarot can give clues in personal readings, but it does not accurately predict appearances)

openly ships certain people together

openly likes one member over the others ( i dont just mean biasing, i mean their entire blog is 90% one member)

dedicates a whole tarot blog on one member

has no problem reading on rumors

claims to read in order to "spill tea"

entire blog is about "spilling tea"

never explains where they get their info from: tarot? oracle ? intuition? clairs ? No friggin' idea bro.

shit talk the members or the people they are supposed to read on

says one of the bts' members energy is dark or manipulative

says a member or FS uses "black magic"

does not have any idea or even opinion on the theory behind tarot, just pulls cards and hope for the best i guess ?

cultural appropriation

gets kicked out of a member's energy, comes back, is surprised it's hard to read on them again

acts almighty about the fact they can read tarot

acts aggressively towards innocent questions

doxxes people

a reader who does many readings, every day, never stops, never takes breaks. Tarot takes energy, if someone can pull many readings daily they are either a super saiyen of tarot endurance or bad at actually reading.

Someone whose FS readings of members weirdly pairs up with their own characteristics

Someone whose readings are dragging a member or a FS through the mud (ex: saying jk is toxic and manipulative and a cheater, saying taehyung got someone pregnant and forced them to abort, someone using the very real fears from within the kpop industry to target an idol with no other proof than "tarot")

thinks "divine feminine" and "divine masculine" are determined, or linked to in anyway, to biology

created the blog before and making posts before learning tarot, their very first tarot readings are bts tarot readings,( unless they explicitly say their blog is for learning purposes )

you dont actually learn anything from the reader, they never explains the process, or the answer or anything about tarot

their readings are always extremely positive or extremely dark for no seemingly good reason

readers who acts like they are never wrong

readers who share leaked pictures from paparazzi

readers who call a FS some sort of honorific name or put them on an inhumane pedestal

readers who claim themself (or others) are the FS

readers who act childish in general

I guess there could potentially be more, but this is what covers my bases as of rn. Feel free to add more so we can discuss them.

[hainethehero]

Me again!

“When did the rules of fandom and fanfic become so absolutely strict & rigid to the point where people aren't allowed to like what they like??!!!” – bit off topic, but oh boy, have you not noticed the rise of “purity culture” in fandom in the past 10(?) years? People have been getting a LOT of hate for ships they ship or tropes they like. It’s definitely not restricted to buddie fandom or 911 fandom.

“Why do you care if people really like Eddie or not? Are you the Eddie police?” – This made me laugh. And the answer to the first question is pretty easy – if people really like Eddie, they’re more likely to post content about him that I can reblog and enjoy, such as fics or gifsets or meta etc. If everybody disliked Eddie, I’d have nothing fun to read/look at/engage with! So in that sense, I do care to an extent.

“I'm guessing if they have him in their pfp, they like him. And I'm guessing if they have him in their pfp, it's also respectfully none of your concern.” – Well, you’re right it’s not my concern per se, except that if I go scrolling a diaz/eddie-named blog, hoping for good Eddie content to reblog, and I run into a heap of BT posts or LJFR posts or Tommy posts, it’s a bit of a jumpscare/disappointment (which has happened several times). And yes, I filter tags, but people don’t always tag appropriately!

“your absolutely strange questions about what I envision for Eddie/who he'd end up with (I think u should be concerned with what you envision for him & not some stranger on the internet” – Why is it so strange to want to know what somebody else thinks and perhaps gain a fresh perspective? I already know what I would like for Eddie. I was curious about what you thought.

“He'd still be Buck's best friend if BT ended up as endgame

He'd be in a polyamorous relationship with them and get all the d*ck he wants (my personal preference)

Or the writers will give him another gf” - Anyway, so you like the option of eddie in a throuple with buck and tommy? Ok cool! My curiosity is satisfied!

What gets me about the whole "purity culture" in fandom that you're talking about, is that YOU'RE DOING IT. 🤣 you're doing it right now!

What's adding to this disease of purity culture in fandom is what most of the toxic buddie stans are doing RIGHT NOW. Yall are hating on Tommy with absolutely bad faith arguments and using every opportunity you can to deny the fact that you just don't like him because he's in the say of your preferred ship.

"I got a jumpscare seeing Tommy when I was looking thru the eddie tag" lmao okay that was funny. But like, the insane hatred for him is so weird. Y'all know whether buddie becomes canon or not, you can still make them endgame through fanfic right????

And yes, if more people were concerned with how they felt about their characters, instead of how other feel, we would avoid all this fandom war. You asking if people who had Eddie as their pfp really liked him or not IS entitled. You don't know why they have him as their pfp, so why question it? You're not entitled to know.

And in the referred ask, you wanting to know how someone who liked BT and Buddie would envision Eddie fitting in to the relationship- was totally your confusion at not being able to fathom that people could like both and still want buddie or BT to be endgame. Which is a trait I've observed in MOST buddie stans and some BT fans (which I DID address in my OP).

[ink-flavored]

Purgatory

BTS Series: ⬅ Table of Contents Also available on Neocities! P&J Taglist (Check out my Google form to get added): @elegant-paper-collection @auroblaze@zeenimf @vacantgodling @foxys-fantasy-tales Banner art by @auroblaze

Traditionally in Christianity, Purgatory isn’t a place, like pop culture depicts. It’s actually a “cleansing ritual” that some people have to go through to be worthy of Heaven. Sometimes it involves literally being cleansed in fire! However, I’m going with the more pop-culture-y depiction of Purgatory because it better fits the tone of the story, and allows me to do a little more sociopolitical commentary. Which I love, and will always do. Anyway, here it is!

The Structure of Purgatory

In the quilt of the universe, Purgatory is a fascinating square. It holds a mirror to Earth, reflecting it as a plain, unchanging, eerie dreamworld. There are things that look familiar to the souls that wander there, but with a distinct alien veneer that reminds them they are not in the same place they left.

Souls who aren’t worthy of Heaven, but aren’t sinful enough to be sent to Hell, are prescribed time to think and to repent in Purgatory. God gives them a second chance after death to reconcile their sin, and once they’ve atoned to His satisfaction, they’re permitted to take their place in paradise. Those that aren’t forgiven wander until their souls eventually fade to Hell.

Those wandering Purgatory cannot enter or exit of their own volition. The process of forgiveness or fading can take centuries. Hundreds of years of circling in the same empty plane with other souls, just as aimless. Simply put, Purgatory is a holding cell, for those souls who have nowhere else to go.

Wandering Souls

Though they certainly can, the immortal beings of other realms rarely appear in Purgatory. Angels and demons can travel in and out whenever they wish, but angels appear only to bring souls there or relieve others of their roaming, and demons have little use for souls that can’t be further corrupted. The souls of Purgatory have very little company outside each other.

The souls that wander are given little direction as to how they’re meant to appropriately repent. They have not broken their relationship with God, they’re assured, only injured it, and that injury can be repaired with time and atonement. However, many souls in Purgatory are confused as to why they’re even supposed to be repenting. Lying, gossiping, drinking to excess, failure to pray, and suicide are all on the list of venial sins that these lonely souls are meant to be making amends for.

For those confused, they have plenty of time to work through the feeling. Souls in Purgatory are meant to consider their mistakes in life, atone for them, and God would recognize the way they’ve held themselves accountable and offer forgiveness. Eventually.

Some souls, though, become frustrated. Some felt their sin was unavoidable, some felt they didn’t have a choice. Some had no idea they were sinning in the first place, they thought they were doing the right thing. It’s difficult for many souls to capitulate to a God they had never believed in, or to apologize for something they couldn’t have averted.

But even among those that atone as best they can, the resounding silence from above becomes disheartening indeed. After centuries and centuries of wandering, plenty expect that they’ll never be forgiven, no matter how long or how many times they repent. When the angels appear to usher the scant few forgiven souls to Heaven, leaving countless others behind, the demoralization drives them deeper and deeper into despair.

Forgiveness and Fading

The process of being forgiven is, in writing, very simple. Once God has decided a soul wandering Purgatory has repented to His satisfaction, He orders an angel to bring them to Heaven.

In practice, the qualifiers for “satisfactory repentance” are vague. The criteria for one soul might be wildly different from another, regardless of their sin. Some are waiting for a short amount of time compared to the souls that wander the longest, and there doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to which souls are accepted and which aren’t. God seems more determined than ever to smoke out the unworthy, and the length of time it takes for any one soul to reach forgiveness stretches far longer than many of Heaven’s agents think is justified—though these angels are wise enough not to voice their criticisms.

Part of the unspoken concern lies in the fact that souls in Purgatory don’t stay there for eternity. The longer they sit, the more they despair, the closer they are to giving up on the chance of being forgiven altogether. Many don’t see a point, after waiting for so long. God had abandoned them, left them to rot and tread the same ground over and over, waiting for a forgiveness that would never come. When these souls turn their backs on Heaven, there is only one place for them to go.

Hell doesn’t “claim” souls from Purgatory. Demons aren’t sent up to collect them, and it’s not as though the souls from Purgatory are itching for damnation. Instead, God watches these souls slip farther from forgiveness, and eventually He lets them go. Like a fishing line, He stops reeling them in, and releases them to the depths.

And though Hell doesn’t necessarily gather up these lost souls on purpose, Lucifer will accept them happily. After all, what better way to motivate his army than with more fodder to be made an example of? What better way to show them how pointless God’s plans are, than with the very souls He claimed to love so much, abandoned at their doorstep? The constant churning of Purgatory’s lost souls are the perfect talking point—remember how much God loved His creations? This is what He thinks of them now. The only option becomes overthrowing Heaven, and proving themselves righteous.

The angels in Heaven who are brave or foolish enough to speak of this problem openly, do so in whispers. They wonder why God is so concerned with keeping out every soul with even a sliver of impurity. They wonder why so few souls get brought up from Purgatory these days, and even if they do, why they stay there for so long. They worry about innocent souls going to Hell under their watch, suffering needlessly for the sake of holy paranoia.

And then they’re decisively hushed, for fear of joining the unholy ranks.

There it is! Those of you who read Justice’s backstory on Tumblr might have found some of this familiar.

I’m not sure how much of all this lore, from Heaven on downwards, will make it into the full story, but I’m glad I got to share it with all of you to make sure someone other than me gets to hear my thoughts!

Thanks as always for your support!

— Annika

[solarwynd]

The way these armys are hyping up them nct boys makes me wonder why they don’t just Stan’s them, like first the forced boycott and now this, like clearly y’all don’t like bts anymore so just unstan

Imagine wanting to unstan BTS for the same group they’ve gotten on for being cultural appropriators and ignorant for YEARS over a single instance of that one ngga posting a vague ass “boycott” on a insta story. And mind you they did the same shit in 2020. Being so “amazed” at these other groups doing the bare minimum cause they needed something seemingly virtuous to latch onto since BTS wasn’t satisfying them quickly enough at the time.

[starburstfloat]

so i saw your tags on that reblogged post about hybe and removing the k from kpop, and i'm super interested in hearing your thoughts! and yeah i do agree that bts' music in recent years has lost a lot of what makes it unique :/

Oh I'd love to chat about it - thanks for giving me the opportunity to share more of my thoughts!

For those who don't know, we're referencing this opinion piece article that discusses, in an appropriately scathing tone, how bang pd/hybe executives are leading kpop to its demise by making poor creative choices for their artists (mostly BTS, but whoever comes after will evidently be affected by their creative decisions). Namely, releasing superficial bland pop music, in the attempt to remove the K from Kpop and make the genre more global and palatable for all audiences; essentially, taking away Kpop's core essence to appeal to the US music market.

Having been an avid kpop fan since 2010, and more of an observant media/pop culture enthusiast since 2016, the westernization of the genre doesn't come as a surprise to me. What does surprise me though are the masses of BTS army, whose demographic comprises the largest share of Hybe fans, who avidly support this trend. It's a reason I found myself getting distant to the fandom since the release of Butter, since the mere suggestion that BTS were losing their creative identity garnered hoards of angry responses of people retaliating with "well it's good they're getting the recognition they deserve!" and "it's catchy music for the radio, why would you be upset?"

I think what a lot of people who support Hybe's decision are missing here is that most of us don't really care if the lyrics are changed from Korean to English - if it's a good song, I don't care what language it's in. But that's not what bang pd means when he suggests removing the K from Kpop. He's removing the entire sound of kpop and, with most Korean artists not lyrically skilled enough to write their own verses in English, which will be the dominant language going forward for title tracks (at least for now; this may change as new waves of trainees and more stringently enforced English lessons hit the writing room), we're going to see most Kpop songs no longer written or produced by the members of the groups.

It's a bit ironic, since that's what kpop grew to embrace in third gen, especially with BTS's penmanship getting recognition from fans and non fans alike. BTS rose to fame for their authenticity, their songs crafted from personal experiences and imagination, and that's what attracted so many people to them, myself included. They had something meaningful to say. Then when they rose to popularity, the goal became to become as marketable as possible, and we witness a complete creative downfall at the start of the dynamite era, what the author of the article dubs the English Trilogy.

I could even look past the superficiality of a track if it's able to become something noteworthy or iconic. Consider the success of GIDLE's Queencard - a title track that rocks lyrics like "I'm hot, my boob and bootie's hot, spotlight, I'm Star Star Star". It completely dominated Korea's music charts this year, and saw success internationally too. Why? Firstly, the title references a well established Korean slang word (calling someone a King or Queencard in correlation to their cool aura). Secondly, it doesn't take itself too seriously. GIDLE said, Here's a camp song for the girls and the gays and delivered, without slapping on some forced heartfelt deeper meaning. Thirdly, the music video, from the styling and choreography, draws artistic inspiration from early 2000s films like Mean Girls and White Chicks - a creative choice that enhances the comical and vibrant tone of the track. Lastly, Queencard is so undeniably kpop - from the song structure, the vocal blending, the bridge, the choreo - it's kpop perfection. Is it a basic pop track? Yes, absolutely. But it's also bigger than that, for all the reasons I just mentioned, so it's a shame that hybe, in its pursuit of monopolizing the industry, sees something like that and goes, how about we just strip kpop of all its fun parts and give audiences the blandest cardboard cereal blend they've ever tasted? Evidently Jungkook's solo album Golden was this very attempt to experiment with a solely western style, detract from the vibrancy or intensity of what kpop was before. Where's the artistic charm in that? It's disappeared.

I guess it all comes down to the fact that hybe, and at this point we can assume the bangtan members too (since I don't subscribe to the "bang pd evil, members get no say in decisions" narrative that some people suggest) aren't concerned with the meaning behind their craft anymore, just the money.

It's a bit infuriating because I, and assumedly thousands of others who have been part of the kpop wave long before BTS's rise to fame, would happily pay big money to see live music from acts currently releasing quality music. But I guess that requires more effort, and for hybe that's the least of their concern.

[stormblessed95]

Hi Storm! It might seem a shady question, but it's just curiosity: have you ever disapproved of something the boys did or said, or felt that something wasn't exactly your cup of tea?

I'm thinking about the fact that even between the closest and most affectionate friends disagreements can happen, and that it can happen also with idols, actors etc; I'm thinking about the recent declarations of Jackson Wang, and on a more personal note of a disagreement I had with one of my best friends. It never happens, and then it happens, and I was wondering if you ever felt like this towards BTS, since I think you have a cool and rational perspective on things and you aren't one of those fans that follow blindly their myths.

Personally, I don't have any issues with BTS, and even if I think about some wrong stuff like the misogynistic lyrics Namjoon wrote when he was very young, I also think about his mature and responsible reaction, and how he addressed clearly the issue for what it was without trying to sweep it under the rug. He held himself accountable, a thing that can be hard, so it was worthy of respect in my opinion.

About what is or isn't my cup of tea, I think I feel less of a connection with Taehyung, but this doesn't mean I don't find him quite funny, or adorable or smart, at times. It just means I feel less drawn to him and more towards other members. I think it means he's not my bias? I still don't really use the terminology 😅

I made these two examples in hope you see this question as sincere and not as a provocative one: I adore BTS, I just think they're humans and deserving to be treated as such.

Hi, BTS are humans and they are not infallible. Of course that's okay to talk about, as long as the conversation is respectful, which you have been and I appreciate. Yes, there have definitely been things they've done that I haven't liked. Most honestly that I think they've grown and learned from though honestly too. Because they are geniunely good people.

In their early years, they did have some issues with cultural appropriation with their use of black culture in, probably an effort to be more hip hop, but just ended up being inappropriate. As well as some issues with cultural appropriation for Native American Cultures as well. Some hairstyles they (all) did, using AAVE a few times in an earlier interview in not a great way, some not great comments about not wanting to be "too tan." And honestly, mostly after 2015, they grew up a lot and things got better and they seemed to learn. There haven't really been any similar type issues that I know of and they are in general, much more sensitive and culturally aware. Especially considering the world wide stage they now stand on. And while I fully appreciate their growth and respect it, doesn't make me not cringe and some old photos of theirs at times too. (Although there also isn't as many instances as antis like to pretend there are) But it's not an issue for them currently. And Namjoon even apologized for his past actions in cultural appropriation during an interview before too and made a log video with an apology later as well too. A very sincere one. Similar to his apology for any participation he had in misogyny with his lyrics. Fully owning up to it and growing.

I also, and this is the only one that is still something that is hard for me sometimes, hate how entrenched they are in diet culture. And I know a lot of that has to do with how they were raised and probably lowkey traumatized in the kpop industry where that is a HUGE deal. But while they are professionals, and they do have staff and med staff and trainers with them to help make these sometimes unhealthy choices to be healthier. They do have a lot of people who look up to them and I sometimes wish they would be able to help preach a healthier relationship/mindset with food and with body positivity towards themselves. I do think they have gotten BETTER about this, but it's still prevalent. I don't necessarily fault them for it at all either. Because it's an industry thing and self love is a continuous and constant journey. I actually have an ask about this topic too that I've been sitting on and trying to figure out how to best answer that and I'll get into it more then, or maybe I won't and I'll keep my answer more general. It depends on how much I think I actually have to say about it all. Lol I'm not REALLY wanting to open these topics up for debate or discussion really as I don't think there is anything that can be added here and be a productive conversation.

The misogyny issues brought up were never ones I personally found offensive, but that's just me and I know other people can feel differently about that as well. And that's okay.

Overall though, they are geniunely good people, tend to make good decisions, and geniunely care about people, the world, their fans, each other, etc. I trust them, I also trust them to make good decisions for themselves and those around them and as examples to the world. I trust them to learn and grow from any mistakes. And I trust them to do what's right for them and trust in them as good hearted people, because they really are. Hopefully that all makes sense and this is taken and received well, as I mean it to be. Love them all so dearly. And love yall. Thanks for the ask 💜

[akookminsupporter]

I want to ask your opinion on something. I am in this group chat for group orders for bts stuff and none of us are Korean or Asian in any way (very white Europeans) and someone just posted a picture and wished us a good chuseok and it's written in a way that implies we should have a good time celebrating it and the post got a lot of likes but.. I found it super cringe! It's not a holiday here and liking bts doesn't make us part Korean. Idk if I'm overreacting but I found it weird and koreaboo

I want to preface this by saying that the following is my opinion as a non-Korean, I do not intend to pass my opinion off as theirs and I am aware that maybe they or some of them may think differently from me.

Okay, now my opinion: If you are not Korean, I don't think you should celebrate or wish someone else who is not Korean a Korean cultural celebration. That borders too much on cultural appropriation and is quite performative. And it's something a lot of fans of Korean groups do all the time. Another example of this is those people who use honorifics like unnie or oppa to address someone else who isn't even Korean. Chuseok is a specifically Korean celebration. It's cultural and specific to that country only, it's not like Christmas or Halloween which are celebrated everywhere, so to say "happy chuseok" is… no. This changes a bit when it's a Korean person who shares the celebration with you or at most, says 'happy chuseok' because for them it has a specific meaning, although you might not fully understand it.

[halliescomut]

Jeff Satur-Lucid MV costar Nene Pornappan Pornpenpipat

So I know we've all been rewatching Lucid's MV, because it's so wonderful and beautiful, but of course I was curious about Jeff's costar, because I always am. So I looked her up, and turns out if you're a BL watcher, you may have recognized her. (I did not, though I have watched both seasons of this show, but I did think she was really beautiful.)

She's in 2gether the series, which is awesome. I did a very brief look into her, and the woman has a pretty wild career history and is also wonderfully talented. I didn't want anyone who watched Jeff's video to think that she's just a pretty face (though clearly she's very beautiful) so I did a smidgen of a deep dive.

I'll start with the basics...she is a Thai-Chinese (born in Bangkok, though both parents have Chinese ancestry) actress, and singer. Her Thai name is Pornnappan Pornpenpipat, and her Chinese name is Zheng Naixin. She uses the nickname Nene across pretty much all of her career endeavors. She's 25, and her birthdate is 25 June 1997. You can find her Instagram (nenevader) here.

Her professional career starts out in 2013, where she competed in True Academy Fantasia 10 (AF10) as the youngest contestant, being 16 at the time. Two years later she would debut with Thai idol group MilkShake managed by GMM Grammy. (You can see her in the center below.)

They released 2 singles, one in 2015 as their debut, and a second in 2016. While not officially disbanded as far as I can find, they have not released new music since 2016.

From 2016 to 2022 she would act in various roles in various countries, including Vietnam and China, and eventually play the role of Air in 2gether the series, which is also produced by GMM (specifically GMMTV).

In April of 2020 Nene participated in the Tencent Video's Chinese girl group reality competition show, Produce Camp 2020, eventually debuting as a member of BonBon303 in August of that year.

From 2020 to 2022 BonBon303 would release 3 EPs eventually disbanding in July of 2022. During those two years Nene would also continue appearing in various Chinese shows, including reality and variety shows.

She debuted as a solo artist with the single Promise on July 12, 2022, under Sony Music China.

You can watch the official MV here. (It's a good song, very much a kind of chill pop-y summer bop, appropriate to it's release date.)

In the midst of all of this she also works sporadically modelling (unsurprising, as she is very beautiful) and was also a brand ambassador and promoter for Leader and Lancome respectively.

More impressively she also worked as a cultural Ambassador in 2022 as the China-Thailand Cultural Ambassador (I'm assuming one of many) and as the 2022 Thailand Customs Festival China-Thailand Cultural Exchange Ambassador. We have been seeing especially over recent years an increase in cross-country- and cross-cultural cooperation amongst many East Asian and South East Asian countries (Remember Jeff was also part of the KonnecThai Music and Arts event in late April of this year).

She also has her first solo fanmeet in Bangkok coming up at the end of this month for her birthday, which is awesome and I hope she has a really fun time.

Now this is a lot of basic information, but doesn't give us much in the way of personality other than to clearly display that this women is multi-talented and determined. I can't personally attest to her personality, but based around her choices for her solo song/MV, and her Instagram posts, she seems to be very cool, she doesn't shy away from posting casual, candid, or unmade-up photos on IG, which always adds point in my book for authenticity.

I'm not saying you need to follow her or stan her, or anything else, but I know how much Jeff values his own career (especially now that it's 100% under his control) and I don't think he would have chosen Nene, if he didn't think she was a pretty cool person. Here's some pics/clips she and Jeff posted of the BTS of the Lucid MV where they are clearly having a lot of fun.

If you wanna look for some more info, you can start on her Kprofile page here, or also check her Wikipedia page here.

[dojae-huh]

hiii....a jaedoist here...

I have come to knw somthng intrstng....when 127 members asked whom would you date if they were a girl and mark and haechan said it would be jae...the reason mark said was jae is looks like a person who would love someone passionately for a long long time and haechan said he is very affectionate and would make feel his lover always loved.....

it is funny I always consider mark and haechan as jaedo's biggest supporter and they said this ment makes me think the fact behind their reasons...so that they have seen it for themselves to knw about this crucial info about our jae right...whom did jae treated like this so mark and hae want to date him...hahaha...but I also got a question from that too....why not dy? I mean we knw how dy shows his love and care to his members through words and touch...and the person jae love is him ...but both didnt pick dy...that's something which made me ponder ....

Anyway I have another ask ...it is very intimate actually....since mark and hae said it like that do you think jaedo ever kissed infront of 127?? Sorry.....but it is on my head...I dont think so too especially jae wont do it coz he is an Introvert and gets shy too...afterall he is the youngest in jaedo....and dy too wont give a reason to tease him right??....what do you think????

I remember.

Generally, 127 neos choose members that they think girls would like/appropriate answer. Jaehyun/Johnny/Yuta are usually named. It's the "why" that you mentioned, the explanation that stands out.

I agree. Both are JaeDo biggest supporters in their own way. Yuta (in a good way) is envious, Johnny and Tae want to be important to Do as well, Woo doesn't really care, Taeil is there to have a merry laugh at the married ways (he has all the right, he had to suffer from them one on one the longest, heh). Meanwhile Mark and Hyuk would lock the two in a closet and throw out the key if there is a need to bring them back together.

One of the reasons I already wrote in the first paragraph. The second: Mark always compared Doyoung to a mom, meanwhile 2Dongs are like real brothers. I guess it's just weird to think of him as anything else. Plus, Hyuk won't name him due to their onscreen rivarly. In a recent live with Hyuk in SA (I think?) and Do in Italy, Hyuk jokingly asked Doyoung to go on a date (successfully flustering Do).

It is a tough question about kissing. I don't know Korean culture and how crude 127 neos are bts (do they watch porn together? heh) enough to answer it. In some cultures even holding hands (hetero couples) in public is frowned upon still, in other cultures to see people french kissing in public or in the presence of friends is perfectly normal.

I'll cautiously say that I guess not intentionally, but they probably get caught from time to time (like kissing in the kitchen and someone walking in). And, maybe, on special occasions. And no problems with other acts of PDA. Neos are too used to them. Like that time Tae set Jae up with telling on him to Do (he also didn't reply to your messages), Do demanded an explanation right then and there, cameramen be forgotten.

Neos act all naive and shy about romance and sex, but that's their idol image. There was that one time when Do couldn't stop himself from joking about Jae's penis size. And then there is Mark with his head in the gutter all the time. Koreans surprisingly come off as timid/shy even in their 40s and 50s (at least celebrities, who have to be humble and pleasing), but that's a manner of behaving in public.

Teasing doesn't always work. Johnny tried to "shame" Doyoung once (the live after Do's BD, they talked about its celebration). Yes, Do blushed, but it ended there, he soon collected himself and just continued the live like nothing happened.