#k-pop 20+ year old fans

[one-time-i-dreamt]

not a dream

if you ever think any fandom is insane, "fans" of K-pop group RIIZE (I'd call them anti fans, tbh) bought thousands of funeral wreaths and displayed them in front of the group's company as protest against a member who was discovered to have had a girlfriend in high school before he debuted

they bullied a 20 year old almost to death for the crime of dating, i mean, they practically wished him death with those funeral wreaths

he has now left the group to protect the rest of the members and paparazzi and "fans" alike have been stalking them and following them everywhere, through airports, private events, posting photos of them acting as if they've won, while the boys look absolutely miserable

and the only reason these crazies even found out about the ex gf is because someone in Seunghan's life was saving his photos from his private Instagram, held on to them for years and posted them publicly after he debuted knowing this would happen

and the takes I've seen from the K-fans, C-fans etc. are certified not well

stan culture was a mistake

[venusvity]

‧₊ ᵎᵎ 🍒 ⋅ ˚✮  WELCOME TO THE WORLD VENUS !

It's 2018. Angelico hasn't had an active girl group in four years. The boy group checks are getting smaller every month; their newest boy group just flopped. The bank is calling about overdue payments, and they're desperate for a hit. With what was left in their ever-shrinking business bank account, they debuted their saving grace: VENUS.

The five-member piece comprised popular trainees from their Angellies program and former I.O.I member Chloe Lee. Baebi, Bliss, and Jiah consistently ranked in the top four during the Angellies' weekly rankings alongside Chloe. The only outsider was Sena Kim, who ranked reasonably well but consistently ranked in the top ten instead of the top five like the other girls.

VENUS IN 2018 AT THEIR DEBUT SHOWCASE: Bliss (20), Baebi (19), Chloe (18), Sena (16), and Jiah (15).

SHE DEVIL, originally a digital single that later became a physical single, was a commercial success in South Korea. The song entered the Gaon Digital Chart at number five the week of its release. 

It was certified platinum by the Korea Music Content Association (KMCA) for 100 million streams just two months after its release. "She Devil" ranked 11th on the year-end Gaon Digital Chart, making it the best-performing girl group song and second-best-performing group song of 2018 in South Korea.

"She Devil" amassed the top spot on various music programs; it achieved 9 wins, including a "triple crown" (or three wins) on Inkigayo.

Next would come KISSENUS, the group's first mini-album, and come back, "Kisseus," pronounced "KISS-EE-US," which was a move to establish the Venus branding. There were so many "-eus" gimmicks during this time. Some landed, some didn't, but Kissenus landed!

Know what didn't land? Their outfits. Oh my god, it was clear Angelico was broke! Truly, one of the last groups to debut looking like losers, they had these girls looking a mess on music shows! Fans still bring up the wardrobe choices when discussing Kissenus.

Kissenus would receive 7 music show awards across various music programs, including another "triple crown" on Inkigayo.

Their final comeback of the year would be another mini album titled "Tasteus" and a title track of the same name. While the song was a banger and performed well on the charts and at music shows, securing 6 wins and retaining their "triple crowned" winner status at Inkigayo, fans began to worry if the girls were being overworked due to their constant promotion of a new release.

Their run at the 2018 MAMA Awards caused mass discourse amongst K-pop fans. The barely-year-old group won Best Female Group, Best New Artist—Female, and Best Dance Performance—Female Group for She-Devil.

Venus saw undeniable and unheard-of success for Angelico in 2018, skyrocketing their company's stocks, becoming the faces of "Monster Rookies," and being the blueprint for what a good debut year should look like.

[beautifulpersonpeach]

Not gonna lie, this whole thing really sucks. I think I wrote a message awhile back about the very cool feminist angle of the Plus Global Auditions Invitation video, I'm an SNL Army and was new to watching kpop very closely and was so sold by that video. I thought - 'this company is really different.' Going public with a company f*cks a lot of things up, it happens all so often, and often it's the people and the ethos that gets messed up the most. It's frustrating to see this devolution. Because I was really excited by what MHJ was being given space to do at BH/Hybe. Though, as a fellow art school student, I am shaking my head and serious side-eyes at how she says things like 'I'm an artist, I don't know how to read contracts' (obviously I'm paraphrasing) - it's clear Hybe knows she's got the goods but she's not playing by their game anymore. The response and flood of crazy comments and hate at BTS is frustrating but expected, but just such a waste of time all the same. I've also never thought BH and then Hybe were super super smart and long-gaming everything (don't come for me Bangtan U fans) I think they were lucky and scrappy and skillful and making cool things happen moment to moment. Later on they got better at the strategic planning, sure. I don't know. They may need a good kick in the pants to remember that's what makes them great at what they do. But still, I hate the idea of MHJ being cooked even if she seems like a real pain in the tush to work with. Because technically, she's what got me to really buy-in to what BTS & BH were doing in the first place.

***

Yeah, it's a shitty situation.

To be fair, I think at the start, Bang PD was trying to do something different and 'forward-thinking' with HYBE. He sought out good talent going by the hires he did in 2019/2020, managing to onboard creatives like Min Heejin and Zico. Zico already incorporated his company to manage himself before Bang PD approached him, which is probably why he owns ~24.5% of KOZ - his sub-label in HYBE.

But with Min Heejin...

She had partnered with 250 - a popular DJ in Korea and NewJeans' main producer, since she left SM in 2018. He runs BANA (a creative collective) but she'd wanted her own label since the start.

Bang PD knew this, and wanted her for HYBE, so it's likely he made all sorts of promises to get her on board without awarding her a single share. Almost as soon as key creative decisions had to be made post-Global Plus audition, they both clashed, but HYBE as a company was less than 1 year old and it appears Bang PD and MHJ still had good relations... which was kinda easy since he still needed her creative output and wanted to see what she could do. So they let her make her own label: ADOR, and keep NewJeans even though according to Min Heejin, HYBE executives and Bang PD thought her concept and style of music for them would be impossible to sell to k-pop stans.

They expected NewJeans to fail or flounder. Instead, by 2023 NewJeans had become one of the top 5 most valuable k-pop IPs in Korea. If my guess is right, by that point she had no shares in ADOR, no agreement with HYBE's indefinite non-compete clause. She could walk anytime and I'm sure a lot of people wanted her.

Then HYBE approached Min Heejin with the shareholder contract to give her 20% of the company. It's a classic 'carrot and stick'. The carrot was easy to see. Apparently offered her the shares at a very low price, apparently Bang PD even lent her the money to buy it, for a valuation that HYBE considered more than generous, he was in her KakaoTalk chats buttering her up with those godawful emojis lmaooo. He was selling that shit hard. The stick in the contract was the poison pill which essentially tied her to HYBE for as long as they want her.

Perhaps she was aware of the pill and signed any way because at that point they still had good relations with Bang PD and HYBE in general. But according to her, Bang PD kept wanting more control over NewJeans the more successful the group became. Realizing she had to do something about the poison pill, she sought to negotiate, and as is typical in these sort of situations, you fight greed with more greed.

Asking to bump up the multiple on the options from 13x to 30x is frankly ridiculous. For a male CEO I can see it being considered... maybe, but for a woman? In Korea?

I'm sure when the other suits at HYBE heard that's what she was asking, at least one of them almost had a stroke. The logic is simple though: start crazy high and end.. just high. If HYBE was looking to exert more control over NewJeans (for example, every sub-label and group in HYBE changed to using 'bio-paper and ink' for their albums starting in 2023, to help HYBE meet their ESG targets. The only company that's not made the switch yet, is ADOR. Given how carefully MHJ controls branding and album design for NewJeans, I can see this minute detail being a massive thorn lol)... anyway, if HYBE was indeed looking to gain more control, the fact that they'd have to pay 30x if MHJ exercised her options on a whim, would serve as a very strong deterrent.

Given what I understand Korean corporate culture to be like, I doubt she had any friends in upper management to start, but with a demand like that, practically all of them would turn enemies in a heartbeat. It's the sheer audacity lmao. My guess is she would've eventually negotiated down, at least once she was assured real creative independence from Bang PD. But at some point, rather, quite predictably given this is corporate Korea, the need for control and the egos involved decided she had to be cut loose now and perhaps taught to not bite the hand that feeds her.

It's not a sentiment limited to the suits at HYBE. It's followed her since SM and the general public would hate it too, which is one reason I think it's only a matter of time before the narrative switches again to HYBE's favour. I promise you, most regular men in Korea would go red in the face, eyes bulging out their heads, drool and spit shooting out like projectiles, at the thought she would dare to demand such a thing. And in a way they'd be right. It's an insane amount of money for female creative in Korea, but I think given everything else, it also seems like a gamble she was taking as a means to an end. A simple negotiating tactic, given what she keeps highlighting as her main goal - unimpeded and full creative and managerial control.

Bang PD wants to build a 'forward-thinking' company comparable to Western conglomerate juggernauts like SONY and Warner Music, but I don't think these Korean men have the chops to do it right, just yet. I've had that impression of Bang PD for a few years now. He's been getting results, but they are inconsistent and he's got the biggest 'surety' in a sense with BTS, so he's been fine, and will continue to be fine for a few more years at least. But if they are messing up this spectacularly with their first female executive and one of their most valuable IPs, over... an options price negotiation?

And they want to pretend to be better than any other corp in Korea?

Lol.

Anyhoo.

I sympathize a bit with how you feel, but as a Korean woman, I guess I'm numb to it. There's a reason I've never chosen to work in that country, there's a reason why the birth rate is nearing the negatives. It's really unfortunate, and I'm sorry you're seeing a prior expectation you had getting blown up this way. And this latest hatefest on BTS has been quite ugly and isn't near done yet. This whole situation is gross, and even more so when the motivations behind it are so... banal and backwards.

But these are undercurrents that are too simple and boring for the average stan. Burning the witch who is responsible for masterminding the demise of a virtuous group is far more exciting. And so that's how the story will go.

I just hope that by some miracle, NewJeans turns out okay and manages to thrive after this. Because in all of this mess, they will deal with the implications the most and for the longest time.

[hirik0]

Catch me if you can part 1

Ghost/Roach | Celebrity AU

Gary 'Roach' Sanderson on Tiktok know simply as 🪳Bugboy 🪳 has one of the biggest fan edit accounts for popular actor Simon Riley best know for his roll as 'the Ghost' in a action movie the first project he worked on after his long child actor career. It was quite a change seeing him going from being the love intressted in teenage movies to a wanted CIA agent that got dropped by the agency. Roach liked both versions what maybe is related to the celebrity crush he has since he is 12. Earlier this year Simon Roley returned to the popular cop show 'The new Sherlock Holmes' he left to film a movie trilogie where he was a Knight fighting in a medieval war. Being the well beloved leader of the SWAT team, Martin Jackson, from new Scotland Yard. It honestly was a hugh suprise he returned but he told in interviews its a fun project while he looks for other interesting projects.

"Stalking Rileys social media again, Gary?", Rodolfo his colleague and best friend asks amused. Having a steaming mug with coffee in on and and an appel in the other. He places the appel on Roaches desk. Roach shakes his head, he is in fact working, staring at the grafic hes making for the past 20 minutes, trying to figure out how to make it that dont causes him to have remake it again in something way worse then what he has.

"As if you dont do the same with Alejandro Vargas", Roach retorts amused, trying to think like the higher-ups, how a social media of a sports team should look like. He knows how to run a successful account, has even a degree in it, but the higer-ups have very diffrent views. So everything has to be done 3 times till they found a compromise, so they are always 3 weeks behind trends, having to prove a trendy audio will give them engagement. God if he finds the person that put such a short leach on the marketing team, he will murder them. They work for a very old and traditional Cricket Club, emphasis on old some of the higher ups probaly where alive when the club was founded.

"Do you rember the teribel joke Mr. Henderson told last week? I need it for a post, asking people to share their own bad jokes for engagement bait." Rudy gives him do you really want to do this look. Nobody laughed about that joke, not even the old men at the top.

"Honestly my brain has a filter for his jokes so no." Roach groans dramatically, throwing his hands in the air, mumbling a I can't work like that. Bitting in the appel in frustration. Now he has to ask the man what will lead to him needing 20 minutes explaining how engagement on social media works and why it's so important. Already hearin Hendersons back in my day peopel listened over radio an we needed no silly dances on the internet, back in his day the steam maschie wasn't invented yet. Taking another bite from the appel, not liking its taste, the free fruits had better quality ones.

"Just tell him it's so good he needs to share is with the fans." Roach gives him a sceptical look, because that won't work right? It can't be that easy. Roach is ready to leave the office, when Rudy is winking him over. Rudy is curently frowning over an e-mail he got. He start reading it crossing his arms in front of his chest a cooperaton with another firm. Rudy is scrolling down to read the rest of the mail. Roach is resting his read on the back rest if Rudys chair looking over his right shoulder. Flying over the opening to were the mouse pointer is.

As i mentioned above I work at a for hire PR-Firm and are mainly know for work at Galas, Award cerominies and other red carpet events, but recently get the chance to work in other areas. We will mangaging the official Tiktok and Instagram for the hit TV show "The New Sherlock Holmes" for the up comming season and for the entiere UK and rest of Europe tour for a K-pop band. We would really love to work with your Tiktok and Instagram team to learn how they are making the short videos. We offer helping your Team for big gala events of the Club to get better resultes.

with warm regards

Valeria Graza

"Did she ask us for help and then insulted or work?", Roach is asking frowning. Finishing up the fruit.

"She sure did", Rudy say while forwarding the E-mail to their boss Kate Laswell, in the end its her choice and not theirs. Roach signs there is no more time to stall to get this stupid joke from Mr. Henderson.

"Better get the joke." He says before leaving the office to go to the elevators.

"Dont get stucked in the 1850s, while you there", Rudy is shouting after him. Rudy reads over the mail again, his eyes falling on to the name of the TV show, the chance for Roach to meet his celebrity crush, sometimes live is unfair.

[beardedmrbean]

South Korean pop star Hanni has made a surprise announcement, saying she will testify to the country's National Assembly in a hearing about bullying in the music industry.

The singer, who is part of the girl group NewJeans, said she had made the decision without telling her managers or her record label, Ador.

"I believe going forward is the right thing to do, no matter how much I think about it," she wrote to fans on social media.

It comes after she and the other four members of her band raised concerns about their treatment by Ador during an impromptu YouTube livestream on 11 September.

The group were the eighth biggest-selling act in the world last year, scoring international hits with feathery, throwback songs like SuperShy and OMG.

However, their mentor and record label chief executive, Min Hee-Jin, was removed earlier this year over allegations that she had planned a hostile takeover that would make NewJeans and Ador independent of their parent label, Hybe. Min has denied the accusations against her.

In the band's YouTube video, which has since been deleted, they demanded Min's reinstatement; and made claims of workplace harassment.

Hanni said that when she greeted the members of another band at their record label offices, their manager had instructed them to "ignore her".

The 20-year-old reported the incident to Ador’s new chief executive, Kim Joo-Young - but said her concerns had been brushed off.

“She told me it was too late and that I had no evidence. Seeing her ignoring the issue made me feel like there was no one to protect us,” Hanni alleged during the livestream.

The accusation sparked a war of words between fans of NewJeans and the girl group Illit - who were rumoured to be the antagonists.

As the row escalated, the agency managing Illit, Belift Lab, was forced to issue a denial.

"Illit's managers never instructed anyone to 'ignore' NewJeans members, and the Illit members have always greeted NewJeans when passing by," the agency said.

Belift said they had reviewed a video that showed Illit's members bowing to Hanni on the day of the incident - but that footage of their subsequent interactions was not available.

The agency also denied claims from the parents of NewJeans members that this later footage had been deleted on purpose.

The row eventually caught the attention of South Korea's Environment and Labour Committee, who have summoned both Hanni and Kim Joo-Young to testify to an audit on workplace harassment later this month.

In her statement, Hanni told fans: "I've made my decision. I'm going to go the National Assembly. A parliamentary inspection!

"I'm going alone. They still don't know... neither my managers nor the company."

The singer thanked fans for their support, and reassured them that they don't "need to worry".

"I'm doing this for myself and for the members [of NewJeans], and also for the Bunnies [fans]," she added.

"No, it's not difficult. I want to do this."

[bluwavez]

DeepDive began their journey originally in 2014 under the publicly known money laundering flop company Stormedia with an original five-member lineup. The group was in the pits of nugudom, only having four releases and a consistently rotating lineup. Son Jinhwa, the former Angelico CEO, would buy the rights to the group in late 2015. Nothing is ever simple with Jinhwa. DeepDive would go under an intense rebranding, where not only all the content and music they made under Stormedia was wiped from the internet and is now considered lost media but would also put the group through a survival show where the lineup would be remade.

Many fans believe that the official start of DeepDive was in 2016, excluding the ones who have been following the group for almost 10 years. They consider the true original lineup to consist of Han, Jisung, Blue, Noah, Woojin, Kiwoo, and Finn. Unfortunately, the group faced some difficulties when Woojin left the lineup in 2019, and he was quickly replaced by Jacob Lee, a former member of Wanna One. The last lineup change occurred in 2023 when Han exited the group due to their contract being acquired by Flowerbank Entertainment.

Though the group's history is a complete mess, there is one undoubtable fact: The music goes hard.

THE SOUND OF DEEPDIVE cannot be described as one sound but as cohesive noise that is regarded as one of the best and most diverse boy group discographies in Kpop.

2016 — WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT ENERGY ?!

Debuting three months after their survival show concluded, the now seven-member piece would come out the gate with the physical single "Energy," which, despite being a banger, was overlooked by most of the general public.

While not having a strong debut like they planned to, DeepDive would come back with their first mini-album, "Happiness," promoting the title track "Get Around" relentlessly just to end up with the same disappointing results. The mini album would perform better than their debut, but that's not saying much since Energy didn't chart anywhere, and Get Around only managed to hit 103 on the Goan digital chart.

Their last release of 2016 would still stick to the sweet and fun concept, dropping the once nugu beloved hit "Daisy Dayz, " the title track from their second mini album of the same name. Daisy Dayz would manage to break into the top 100 but would only hit #89 once again not meeting expectations.

2017 — OH...THEY'RE TRYING SO HARD...

The boys stayed on a consistent release schedule shockingly enough. Ushering 2017 in with the floppiest single, "Sweat," which fans don't even remember, nor do they rarely bring up when discussions of their discography arise. It seems the hundreds of fans they did have were over their sweet concept despite most of the boys being teenagers at the time. Listening to fans, their first full album, Our Ocean, would have a more "mature" concept.

It became clear with this shift in sound and concept that the problem with DeepDive's lack of success hadn't to do with their music quality but with the fact the oldest member at this time would be barely 20 years old and the youngest, turning 16 that year. To put it bluntly, they looked silly singing these grown ass songs with their baby faces, and everyone saw it! Still, this didn't deter Angelico, and DeepDive would release another classic in their discography, "Bounce," which would gain traction amongst K-pop fans.

It's worth noting that the boys, primarily Noah and Finn, began producing the group's music during this time despite their young ages. Noah was just seventeen around the time of Bounce's release, while Finn was still 15.

Bling Bling would not receive the same amount of love Bounce did. In fact, Twitter would tear this song to shreds. Though hated at its release, it has become a beloved song in DeepDive's discography, notably being one of their most hyped songs to hear live. Fans blame Bling Bling for Angelico shipping DeepDive off to Japan the next year.

2018 — JAPANESE DEBUT (THE NUGU DEATH SENTENCE)

Desperate to make some money off this group, Angelico would give DeepDive a killer Japanese debut. "Ride or Die," would be a massive hit in Japan, securing DeepDive a strong and dedicated fandom in the country. This success would result in the group practically living in Japan for the rest of 2018. They were so famous in Japan, guys. Ride or Die was literally everywhere, they were on every variety show, they were performing concerts practically monthly at that point. They were finally reaching the success Angelico wanted with just one album.

So, of course, they released another banging album. "Burning Up" would be more successful than "Ride or Die," getting an English and Korean release due to its online success amongst international audiences. Becoming the face of K-pop in Japan, Sirens began to fear the boys would never come back to Korea which, honestly, a valid fear because they would release another Japanese album that year.

"Reaction" was a more controversial release but successful nonetheless. Nothing notable happened with this release.

The boys returned to Korea in December after spending 11 months in Japan. They released their second full Korean album, "Click Play," with the title track "Click." Due to their massive success in Japan, this release actually broke into the Top 50 on the Goan chart, a first for their career. Click would be a notable turning point for their career, seemingly starting their rise in Korea.

2019 — WE'RE PICKING UP STEAM NOW ...

Okay, so, Click's success wasn't enough to keep them in Korea long because the boys were back in Japan with an EP within two months. "Love Fire," is a deeply beloved title track by fans but nothing notable would occur during this promotional period except that fans feared they really were staying Japan for the rest of their career.

The last Japanese release would be "Your Love," another beloved song by Sirens. The song is one of their softer and cuter ones, as well as being the last release with member Woojin before he was removed from the group.

Desperate to come back with a bang, adding newest member Jacob Lee to the line up, the boys would touch down in South Korea and release "FIRE" a single that would grab the attention of the general public. FIRE is notable due to it selling 65,000 copies, the highest amount of sales they've ever reached as a group. DeepDive was becoming known at this point, being called "up and coming" or "on the rise" despite being well into their career at this point.

No Pressure would be released to much fanfare, finally fully catching the attention of international audiences, specifically those in America and Brazil. They say that once you're famous in Brazil, you're famous for life, and DeepDive was famous in Brazil! Still, they were just under the mark of making it in Korea, but just barely.

Then...

2020 — DASHI RUN, RUN, RUN OUT OF NUGUDOM !

NUGUDOM IS FINALLY OVER! THE BOYS MADE IT! RUN would be the song to break the glass ceiling, truly. Topped every chart, won them their first music show award, and won them a MAMA award––Baby, they were everywhere and the standard. DeepDive became the poster child of "Rags to Riches" and was soaking up every second of fame they could.

Refusing to be one-hit wonders, the boys came back swinging. "New Things" would become a viral hit as well, with every idol and their mother doing the choreography, which was created by Jisung. Another point that made DeepDive so unique is that they created everything they ever put out. Music, album designs, choreography, they used to edit their vlogs––They are those boys! Always have been! They were working their asses off for this type of success.

Call Out My Name was a moment. Everyone was talking about it. It was on the radio, it was on your timeline, it was winning awards, and covers of it were everywhere. You could not escape this song, but it's not like you wanted to because it's a banger through and through. It was clear these boys were going no where.

2021 — DAMN...THAT'S LOUD AS FU—

So, this era is interesting! Finn and Noah would take a break as the producers of DeepDive, leaving Jacob in charge for the first time.

Then...Sticker was born.

Sticker, as you can imagine, was highly controversial and is still being discussed to this day by K-pop stans. Due to it's controversy, yet success it was literally super successful, Finn would return as DeepDive's producer.

Still, the music from this time would be notably noisy and divisive, but they were from at a point in their career where it didn't matter what kind of music they released; they were topping the charts.

2022 — THEY'RE THOSE BOYS !

You'd brag, too, if you were in DeepDive! There's not much to say here except they were still topping charts, selling out arenas, hit over 50 million albums sold overall. They, again, could've released Finn banging spoons together and it would've been a hit but they weren't! At least not this year! They released hot girl music and went on their first worldwide tour with 120 dates! Great year for DeepDive!

2023 — GIRL, WTF JUST HAPPENED ?!

Then the storm hit! Flowerbank Entertainment scooped these boys up and basically tried to ruin their careers! They only had two releases this year and barely any promotions because Flowerbank sucks at their job and was sabotaging them.

Notably, Han would leave the group this year, and Woojin rejoined the group. Which is literally the only good thing to come out of this year.

2024 — OKAY, BACK ON TRACK !

And we're at the current day and they're killing it again!

MOST RECENT RELEASE :: TAX WRITEOFF

[chaos0pikachu]

tldr: censorship fucking sucks and word of honor and xena are mlm/wlw solidarity 

okay this was a random thought that came to me during a combo of rewatching of Word of Honor and reading a post that declared Word of Honor “didn’t count” on their BL list of whatever the fuck and here’s the thought, here’s the vibe, Word Of Honor has a lot in common with Xena: Warrior Princess

Hear me out

Everyone kinda knows that Xena - and by extension Lucy Lawless - as a bisexual/queer woman icon, and that Xena/Gabrielle is probably still one of the most prominent wlw ships in western canon. That’s a huge part of the shows iconography in pop culture. But like, if you rewatch the show, things between Xena and Gabrielle are kept pretty ambiguous but in that ambiguously totally gay way (like WenZhou!). 

The network was actively against Xena and Gabrielle being more than, what fans would probably call nowadays, bait. An executive told producer Rob Tapert that by making Xena and Gabrielle explicit there would be a surge of interested followed by a sharp decline. 

It should be noted that Xena was already a controversial show for it’s era - not just for the gay subtext but under fire from religious groups, anti-feminist groups, and others. 

The showrunners and producers also didn’t intend for Xena and Gabrielle’s relationship to, eh, blossom the way it did. Fans ran with it. Ironically, the intention of the show was to push Xena’s men of color love interests which also made the network gun shy (remember folks racism exists alongside homophobia!). 

Xena and Gabrielle operated in a highly censored space (that still exists in American media btw!! Take it from someone who knows first hand) that was beholden to network hand-wringing, capitalism, and societal homophobia at large.  So their relationship could only live within an ambiguous space. Ironically enough, just like WenZhou, Xena and Gabrielle are also referred to as “soulmates” in the text of the show. But ya know, sometimes soulmates are platonic, sometimes romantic. Which are WenZhou and Xena/Gabrielle? Well that’s up for the viewer to decide b/c the production teams hands are tied. 

Even so, even with the censorship, we all still view Xena as legitimate queer representation within the pop culture space. Why? Why Xena and not Word of Honor?

For me, they both count, especially WoH because it’s source material IS queer. But the filter of censorship snipped and cut the text away so everything would be forced to live within that ambiguous “up to the audience aka gotta make the advertisers comfortable” space. 

I don’t think it’s fair to throw WoH out because the production couldn’t, like they were not allowed, to showcase text on screen. Similar to Xena queer fans knew that her and Gabrielle were in love, soulmates (romantic) by the end (where Xena dies, like literal for reals death she’s ashes carried on by Gabby at the end btw spoiler alert for a 20 year old show at least WK got silver hair and immortality out of his death experience). 

Queer fans appreciated and cultivated what Xena gave us because, no offense but what the fuck else was there? Not a lot, and even less in the fantasy space. Hell, there’s still not a lot of queer representation in the fantasy space we’re only just now going “hey maybe Tolkien’s ultra white British view of things is not the only way to do things?" And now House of Dragon has Black actors in terrible wigs (they’re so fucking bad rip) in 2022. Woooo~ most queer chars in western fantasy media are mainly found in kids cartoons - which, fucking aces there but also - probably why there’s so many adults in those spaces in fandom (not my bag personally) and why I think the popularity of danmei, c-dramas, and k-dramas is on the rise. People are hungry for epic fantasy content, epic romance content, and queer content. 

but like, I think about queer folks who live in China, who watched WoH (ya know, the intended audience, not Americans) who are probably feeling the same thing people felt when they watched Xena. Yeah, Mr. Advertiser Xena and Gabrielle are soulmates (platonic) wink wink, Yeah Mr. Network ZZS and WKX are soulmates (platonic) wink wink

and I think that’s still valuable. idk I just don’t think it’s right for foreigners to be like “no you’re queer media doesn’t count actually because I deem it so” when the reason for the relationship being subtextual is literal censorship. And yet the text is hella gay anyway!! like at the end of the day we’re all battling the crushing weight of homophobia but not everyone’s fight is exactly the same especially country-to-country and I think that should still be respected. given how damn gay WoH is anyway I imagine the producers fought really fucking hard to give audiences what they did. Just like the producers of Xena fought against the network to do what they could. 

anyway, thoughts and shit

[tomorrowxtogether]

Go Behind the Scenes of Tomorrow x Together's 'Dream Come True' Collaboration with the Jonas Brothers (Exclusive)

The K-pop stars and the pop-rock trio have joined forces on "Do It Like That," a dance floor-ready summer anthem

Tomorrow x Together and the Jonas Brothers turned to Ryan Tedder to produce "Do It Like That," their new, disco-tinged summer anthem.

"Jonas Brothers were so welcoming and it was an honor to collaborate with them," says Soobin, 22. "We look forward to another exciting opportunity to work together again."

The South Korean K-pop band, who released their fifth EP, The Name Chapter: TEMPTATION, in January, are more than ready to share their latest bop with the world.

"I very much enjoyed singing alongside the Jonas Brothers," says Yeonjun, 23. "'Do It Like That' will make you want to get up and dance, so we hope our fans truly enjoy it!"

Both groups united on a music video for "Do It Like That" — and for Taehyun's sake, here's to hoping it won't be the last time they join forces.

"Jonas Brothers were just as cool off-screen as they are on-screen," the singer, 21, says. "We would love to perform on stage with them in the future!"

For Hueningkai, the chance to work with Kevin, Joe and Nick Jonas was the opportunity of a lifetime.

"As someone who looked up to the Jonas Brothers when growing up, this collaboration was a dream come true for me," the 20-year-old star says. "'Do It Like That' is an upbeat song that you could listen to anywhere, anytime this summer!"

At the end of the day, it's all about having fun for Beomgyu!

"From start to finish, everything about working on 'Do It Like That' was an incredible experience," the singer, 22, says. "We would very much appreciate your love and support for the track! It's such a joyful song that we had a lot of fun at the music video shoot."

Joe, 33, Nick, 30, and Kevin Jonas, 35, recently released their sixth studio album, The Album.

The record contains hits like "Waffle House" and "Wings."

Tomorrow x Together debuted in 2019, and recently released their second Japanese album, Sweet.

Their album, The Chaos Chapter: Freeze, came out in 2021.

The Jonas Brothers have a fan in Beomgyu.

"I was amazing by all of the little gestures and expressions the Jonas Brothers made in their performance in the music video," he says. "It make me realize again what a great band they are."

The Jonas Brothers and Tomorrow x Together announced the song was available for pre-save back in June with a cute Instagram video that showed both groups jamming and dancing in the studio together.

Joe Jonas announced his excitement for the collaboration on Instagram in June.

"So pumped to be working with @txt_bighit!!" he wrote. "When @ryantedder brought us TOGETHER for #DoItLikeThat we immediately said yes!"

[starsinkpop]

KPop Game

Thank you @hy0ung for tagging me. I think we have a few things in common which is lovely 💖 since I’m not following any other kpop blogs besides the one who were already tagged, feel free to join if you’re a follower, i’d love to get to know you guys better too.

1. When did you first get into kpop? 2012

2. Who was your first ultimate bias? jimin

3. Who is your current ultimate bias? wooyoung

4. How did you get into kpop? Youtube recommended me a kpop mashup that was an absolute banger and made me check out the groups in that mix

5. Favourite girl group? everglow, aespa, 2ne1 (they probably don’t count but xg are my current number one, their songs just slap)

6. Favourite boy group? ateez, the boyz, monsta x

7. Who do you stan right now? mainly ateez and the boyz

8. What's your favourite kpop ship? i’m not into ships

9. Give an unpopular opinion about something kpop related? most people go to concerts for interactions and y/n moments only and don’t really care about the music or the artists.

10. Favourite solo artist? taemin, but i prefer krnb soloists, so let’s just add dean as well

11. Own any merch? if so, what? yes, it’s too much to list it here lol

12. If you could date one idol, who would it be and why? wooyoung, we have very similar interests and opinions and he knows how to treat people well. plus we can cook together and he knows how to take care of himself unlike most men lol

13. Last k-pop MV you watched? jimin - who

14. Favourite kpop songs? Take me home, mist, halazia precious and horizon by ateez & shine shine, insanity, russian roulette and scar by tbz (this list could be endless but i’ll stop here)

15. Do you prefer the old generation of kpop, or the new? if by new gen you mean all the kids debuting these past two years i’d definitely say old gen.

16. What is your most favourite kpop song? take me home by ateez

17. Favourite school themed MV? the real by ateez

18. Would you ever debut in a group if you had the chance? nope, but i’d love to work in the industry as a dancer/choreographer or makeup/nail artist

19. What's your favourite photo of your ultimate bias? you’ll see at the end of the post (the whole bias line hehe)

20. Your favourite group leader? hongjoong and chan

21. If you could meet one idol and one idol only, who would it be and why? hongjoong because he’s one of my biggest inspirations

22. Would you date you ultimate bias? yessss

23. If you could see one group live who would it be? ateez, tbz, svt, shinee or 2ne1

24. Can you do any k-pop dances? a few of them, yes.

25. Which idol would you love to go on a date with? san and hongjoong

26. What'd your opinion on non-korean idols? what matters to me is talent, not a nationality or ethnicity. gives the groups a nice spice

27. What idol would you like to be bestfriends with? keeho

28. which groups do you think deserved better? every group which is not part of big4

29. Name an underrated solo artist? not really underrated but i wish more people would love them, dean and sunmi

30. What was the first kpop MV you watched? bigbang - fantastic baby

31. Who is the prettiest female idol in your opinion? karina, momo and sunmi

32. Ever written a fanfiction about your favourite idol? if so, what was it about? yes and i’d like to keep this chapter closed

33. Do you prefer cute or sexy concepts? sexy

34. If you could say one sentence to your ultimate bias, what would it be? thank you for being your amazing self

35. Which MALE group do you think has the strongest visuals? ateez, the boyz, monsta x

36. Which FEMALE group do you think has the strongest visuals? aespa

37. How old were you when you got into kpop? 19 or 20

38. Do you have any friend at your school/work who are also into kpop? nope

39. Do you consider yourself a kpop fan or a kpop STAN? a fan

40. Do you prefer english songs or kpop songs? i like both

41. Who is the most handsome male idol in your opinion? chanhee from tbz

42. Any groups you think deserved a certain award they didn't get? again, almost every group outside big4 lol

43. Any kpop songs/groups you cant stand? txt, nct dream and ive

44. Kpop song that'll never get old? wonder girls - tell me

45. Ever met a kpop idol/group? if so, who and where? not in person outside of a concert, no

46. Are you planning on seeing a group in concert soon? YES (next concert is changkyuuuuun)

47. Any idols that have retired from kpop you wished would come back? nope

48. Favourite song by your favourite solo artists? want by taemin and die 4 you by dean

[outsidereveries]

but i dont get this outdated pov either, for instance idols dating is a scandal rather than something thats accepted or foreigners becoming more popular is just proving that kpop hasnt been as successful as it wouldve thought with korean only groups. then there is the clear ageismt among who gets to debut some idols or trainees being deemed too old after 20+ year old it feels like they often advertise younger age groups to a certain perverted crowd. but they do lack variation that they claim to have and its quite um obvious when they have a stigma against something

this time i can understand the female idols' worries because it's all about the industry they work under. i do agree there's that "outdated" vibe in their thoughts as they were (intuitively) quite harsh (and r@c1st, again, censoring myself on purpose) when it comes to, once more, non-asians. with "international" groups like how katseye is aimed to be (in where idqk where's the international thing and i blame this suspicion on hybe rather than on geffen) i understand that it's a rapid change. it looks like the female idols are afraid them being labeled as "k-pop" will change anything. that's fine as long as they try to be respectful, however them being harsher just won't do both sides well in the longterm future. again, that's not about non-koreans, it's about non-ASIANS.

the cultural difference from koreans' side is pretty much understandable, there are traditions and generally a value system (roughly translated) that cannot be changed in the most part. that's the issue even in political matters where it'll be more visible and obvious with the time by. the non-asian fans are adapting to the korean culture in a way but if the other way around's not happening, that'll be a bigger barrier in the future, and if for some things that we cannot understand, the other way around. this applies to the industry itself too and to every other thing possible no matter if it's about the k-pop industry or not.

[thunderstomm]

Penguin Band + Cadence Gijinkas & Headcanons !!

Headcanons under the cut (:

Headcanons from left-to-right of drawing order.!!

Franky

19 Years old, the youngest member of the penguin band

He/Him, Trans Man

Bisexual

Afro-Canadian

The lead singer of the Penguin Band, and the most versed in instruments. Typically plays the keyboard when performing with the band, but can play the guitar, bass, flute and violin.

He likes to invent in his free time. Fixes the other band member’s instruments and Cadence’s turntables when they break.

Used to work at the Pet Shop, where he’d often sing to the Puffles when he found himself alone with them. This is where he met Petey K, who was the one to later invite him to join the band.

Like the book “Franky’s First Show” suggests, he joined the band at a later date, after it had already been founded.

Despite this, he’s the “most popular” member of the band, according to tabloids and teen-scream magazines.

Likes to wear warm clothing, and lots of layers.

While he seems very chill and calm, he still gets nervous before every show.

His favourite genres of music are Hip-Hop and Pop

Stompin’ Bob

20 Years old

He/Him, Cis Man

Bisexual

African-American

The bassist of the Penguin Band, but he also likes to rap!

He writes the songs for the band, finding his inspiration from a multitude of places. He sometimes helps Cadence write her songs too.

Tough, and loves to adventure around the island! From going camping in the woods, to beating penguins at the toboggan races, and even trying to learn Card-Jitzu, Stompin’ Bob loves to spend his time having fun.

He used to work at the lighthouse, as security before starting the band.

The first of the members to move to Penguin Island, and one of the three founding members of the Penguin Band.

Upbeat and rowdy personality!!

Loves to dress in fishnets, ripped shirts, and studded accessories. Never seen without wearing his favourite eyeliner.

His favourite genre of music is rock! But he’s not a genre snob, and enjoys writing a multitude of genres for the band, but has a fondness for writing pop-punk, as he thinks it suits Franky’s vocal style best.

Petey K

20 Years old

He/Him, Cis Man

Gay Man

White, British

Plays the Electric Guitar for the band, previously played the accordion!

Composes most of the songs for the band, and works alongside Stompin’ Bob when it comes to the early conception of the band’s music. Often works on music for Penguin Island’s parties, to earn extra income.

Used to work at the Pet Shop, alongside Franky. Quit after the band began to gain traction.

A bit of a “Hipster”, Petey K is very witty, and enjoys going to art shows to find inspiration for his music. Loves to go to the Coffee Shop and listen to the music of upcoming penguin artists.

Cannot see without his glasses.

A bit of a self-proclaimed funny man, Petey likes to make jokes and quips in interviews, and plays pranks on his band mates, to varying degrees of success.

Likes to thrift all of his clothes!

His favourite genres of music are Cool Jazz, Garage Rock, and R&B.

G Billy

21 Years old, the oldest member of the Penguin band

He/Him, Cis Man

Gay Man

White, American, from the south.

The G is for “George”.

Plays the drums for the band, but can also play the bongos, and the flute!

The band was his idea.

Strong believer in “good” luck and “bad”, he always wears his lucky bandana to shows and concerts.

Used to ride horses ! Has been kicked by a horse before in his past. He grew up on a farm!

A foodie and talented chef, he used to work at the pizza parlour !

Honest and loyal, but also friendly and playful.

He books the band’s gigs for them, and is the best with time management.

Hates to disappoint people, especially his fans.

Likes to dress in plaid, and leather boots.

His favourite music genre is country, which is why it’s no surprise that his original vision for the band was for them to be a country one.

DJ Cadence

18 Years Old

She/They, Non-Binary

Bisexual

African-American

A DJ, singer, rapper and composer!

The younger sister of DJ Maxx (from Penguin Chat 3).

Her family owns the Night Club, where she hosts the Dance-Offs, and got her start in sharing her music!

A total scene girl, she loves to listen to loud music, make kandi bracelets, and attend raves.

Bad at controlling the volume of her voice, often is yelling without realising it.

Brings her pet Puffle, Lolz, with her everywhere.

Dislikes when her hair grows too long, as it causes her discomfort. Loves to dye her hair !!

Eyes are naturally brown, she wears contacts.

Loves to dance, releases detailed dance tutorials for all of her songs for her fans to follow along to and learn.

Is never seen without her scarf, no matter how badly it clashes with her outfits.

Dresses like she’s about to go to a party ! Loves bright colours, clashing patterns, and statement accessories.

Her favourite music genres are rock, indie, hip-hop, eurodance, and J-Pop !

[prettyrealm]

Long rant ahead! Watch out!

When will people realize that at the end of the day, men WILL ALWAYS be men. Obviously not all men are the same...but A LOT of them are.

Giiiirrrrl honestly, don't these kpop fans and stans feel embarrassed? Personally as I'm losing ALL interest in celebrities and I'm just starting to see them as people who have more money and fame than me, the way these fans and stans be acting is honestly concerning. Korean celebrities especially idols have said time and time again how their companies will literally assign them roles to play in their groups. Do y'all really believe that most of these idols -especially the male ones- are completely genuine? Have y'all forgotten that South Korea is a conservative, homogeneous AND misogynistic country?

Kpop fans/stans will use the excuse of these idols being from a conservative country to excuse their racism, colorism, homophobia etc but at the same time will deny the possibilities of these idols being misogynistic? Shit babe just like how majority of these idols are most likely racist, colorist, and homophobic...they're most likely misogynistic as well. It is what it is. Y'all will watch vids of Korean women themselves telling y'all the truth about living as a woman in South Korea and y'all will agree yet at the same time say "bUt NoT mY bIaS/iDoL" but I'm never surprised because I also believe that most of these fans have internalized misogyny as well. Just because you're a girl/woman doesn't mean that you can't be misogynistic OR have internalized misogyny.

Also have you not seen the OBSESSION with these idols "future spouse/twin flames" or whether or not they'll date "foreigners?" there's nothing wrong with being curious about celebrities but whew! 😭😭😭 a lot of fans are just too fucking obsessed. Why are you more concerned about someone else's future spouse/twin flame when you have your own? I could NEVER be 20+ years old and worried about JK or V future spouse/twin flame, I'd be worried about my own future spouse/twin flame. TF!

Also I definitely agree about the racist part too! There's a lot of infantilization going on as well. The way these kpop stans/fans baby these idols especially the adult ones, is just weird. Imagine "western" fanbases doing that shit. Imagine the beyhive calling Beyonce "baby bee😙😙" or some shit the way armies be calling JK "banana bunny cookie milk" or whatever tf they be calling him. Calling Suga, a grown ass man mind you, "Meowmeow"....WTF????😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😂😂😂💀💀💀💀 The way that K-pop stans and fans go out of their way to defend these idols and excuse them for literally everything that they do whether it be racism, colorism, homophobia makes me believe that they really do view them as Godly beings that can absolutely do no wrong. Y'all DO NOT have the same energy for western celebrities- especially the black, white ones! Don't you realize that they're human just like you...damn...para-social relationships will have people going absolutely crazy over people that shit and piss just like every other human on earth. Luckily there are some kpop fans and stans that are completely sane and normal! Kudos to y'all! 💗💕💖

They’ll never apply “men will be men” to kpop boys because they don’t see them that way. These are not ordinary men, these are imaginary boyfriends. They’ll never be able to get that they can be just as bad as any other guy in their life. You said it perfectly, celebrities are normal people with way more money, fame & power than you and it’s crazy how people want to assume that somehow makes them better people instead of worse…& yeah i think a lot of that infantilization stuff mostly just come back to not seeing them as humans or normal people because no matter how fine my friends think a guy or a celeb is they’re not about to be calling no grown man no sugar plum or gumdrop idk..

I agree Internalized misogyny 100% plays apart as well, like the fact that I, a woman, receive hate from what would mostly be other women & girls for saying a man has misogynistic tendencies says A LOT.

People will make the argument that these idols are humans and you shouldn’t even entertain the possibility of them being misogynistic/racist/homophobic or whatever & I feel like that’s not only illogical, but dehumanizing in itself because like you said, we never see this grace being extended to non Asians or people outside of that industry. No matter how much these stans wanna yell “my idol is human” they don’t actually mean it or view them that way. They mean their idol is the PERFECT human that can do no wrong.

& that’s what really blows me is how OBVIOUS they make it that this is a racial thing. I didn’t have people sending me hate when I said Matty Healy, Timothee Chalamet & Blueface had issues w misogyny. Didn’t get hate when I said Pinkpantheress has problems with women either. Seems you just aren’t allowed to say it about Asian men 🤔🤫

But yes, luckily they’ll always be people like you and a few others who are actually able to see understand that these idols are just as human & flawed as your brother, sister, neighbor or coworker! Thank you so much for your support and taking the time to reach out! 🩷🩷🩷

[mrsfezziwig]

Confessions of a K-pop Fanfic Reader (part one)

So you are right there, you've heard the first few chords, vocals, rap and beat of a song and after capturing it with Shazam, you read the name of the song except... you can't.... because it's in Hangul; that's K-pop right? And disbelief with disappointment burrows and worms into your psyche. You only listen to English language music as there's no point in hearing something you don't understand, if you wanted something that had lyrics you didn't understand you'd listen to Gregorian chant songs. Still, you feel the need to find the rest of the track but something inside you lurches because K-pop is innocent, childish, nothing but ridiculous Crayon Pop bright colours and T-ARA's "bo-peep, bo-peep, bo-peep, bo..." or the unexpectedly self aware and satirical Gangnam Style (although you haven't necessarily read the translated lyrics yet).

You can't possibly be considering taking the 'genre' seriously? But, those infectious few English lines are stuck in your damn brain and you can't stand the not knowing anymore, so you sneak away to the toilet or claim to be doing some extra work so your discomfort at the possibility of someone seeing and mocking you for it is minimised as much as you can. Hell, you watch porn more openly than this but you still open the Shazam you made a few days or weeks before, knowing you are one click or finger tap away from being completely ridiculed by your friends or family or both for being even willing to consider taking actual time out of your life for K-pop.... But with a deep breath you plunge in, probably with a Stray Kids, BTS or Ateez song and suddenly you are breathless because although you don't understand everything being said, you are completely blown away at the MV quality, which is better than some Western movies in terms of storytelling and editing. Unbeknownst to you the artworks that this small Asian country creates come ready made with the captions in English, plus a few other languages yet it's probably for the best you don't know that because the simple quality of the video takes your breath away.

Wait up though... these people can't possibly be human! How do they all look so fucking good? And how old are they? They look like fresh-faced mid-teens only they can all sing and dance? Oh, but HOLY SHIT CAN THEY RAP-RAP! [Looking at you Rapracha]. It is just impossible that these humans not only exist but most of them dance hardcore choreo whilst singing live too. Nah, nah, nah... it's all bullshit. AI is so fucking good now that these people aren't real.

That's pretty much how discovering K-pop didn't happen for me, an adult old enough to have student debt until I die, who will never own a home because fuck you baby boomers, and finds children to be more like crotch goblins designed to test every last one of the few nerves in my battered self that aren't fucked up by my Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome.

My introduction was truly bizarre; I was married for 20 years - before my husband decided my disability meant he had free reign to fuck anyone who wanted him as I couldn't do it anymore - and my now ex-husband's co-worker had a daughter who wrote fanfics. Now, I was horribly, horribly naïve and rather dumb when I agreed to be a reader, editor and kind of coach for this girl. Not once in my entire life had 'fan fiction' come up in my bubble, I went into the whole endeavour genuinely believing that Seokjin, Yoongi, Hoseok, Namjoon, Jimin, Taehyung and Jungkook were Wattpad characters, not real people.

I thought they were like how Reddit has it's 'marriage counselling' and 'divorce' thing that everyone knows is said on that social media platform, or that Facebook has it's passive aggressive posts bitching about something, the baby daddy/mama drama fueled by said posts, the vague sympathy grabbing status updates and fake news, or X's hate trains. Having never heard of BTS (and by having done no googling beforehand) I went into it as if these weren't real people. To say the writing was atrocious from this teen was an understatement, and I was honest about it, figuring you don't ask someone for feedback if you don't want criticism. If all you wanted was read counts, votes and comments, I could have done that multiple times a day to boost you, which it turns out was pretty much exactly what she was really wanting.

Soon though, I was reading other books from the ones recommended at the end of my current read and it staggered me just how fucking good these books were. Some of them desperately deserve to be published in the conventional way with their highly detailed and provoking writing that I still return to time and time again. However, one glaring detail eventually stood out to me as I lay in a hospital bed with IV antibiotics in one arm and opioid IV in the other, having very, very little of importance to ponder, and one thing that stood out all of a sudden, and I couldn't avoid anymore, was how no one described the characters in terms of look and age; it was as if the writer assumed everyone reading knew what they looked like already...

Now my fucking dumbass was still thinking these were 'Wattpad characters', thus there would be a master document on the app with these details, right? Please bear in mind it had been a year or more that I had been living in the misconception fog thinking these weren't real people at that point, so a master list of characters to choose from simply made sense to me.

Yep, I am kind of stupid for assuming, and yep, I trawled the Wattpad help pages for far too many hours looking for this document or link to one, which admittedly gave me something to focus on as the cocktail of pharmaceuticals made me feel nauseous and also rather high. Am I just too trusting and gullible or can anyone else see my flawed logic here?

As it began to niggle more, seeing the references to South Korea (with the incredibly amusing American way of behaving ascribed to the country that was worlds different to the USA), with Seoul, Busan and Daegu all mentioned my singular lonely brain cell bounced around my skull sparking something off in there. That's when it dawned on me this could be a kpop thing and I finally googled the most common name from the stories, Jungkook, and felt like a bucket of ice water was tipped over my head as I realised that these people were real. Yeah, yikes 😬💀

It distressed me that I had been so blasé as to read these pieces without questioning the similarities. I was even considering becoming a co-writer for the first girl until that moment. Some of this can be explained by my condition during 2018 to 2019, with multiple hospital admissions due to infections or injuries from the Ehler-Danlos Syndrome. One of the infections almost killed me because it was missed for too long and had moved into early stage sepsis. There was no way I could focus on my normal book fare of Charles Dickens and thick, detailed history books and, being truly, truly frank, Wattpad saved my fucking sanity over those two daunting and harrowing years, never demanding more than my mind could handle with all the drugs being pushed into my system.

Plus there were hundreds of thousands of stories to pick from that weren't even Fanfic, about real people or other author's characters. Although I was careful as I was passionately determined to avoid anything that I would consider debauched and invasive, the mature content option was firmly turned off, and the first sign of smut had me gone! A few kisses or implied sexual conduct squeezed through but not full smut. Hello repressed religious trauma!. The amount of stories that were not flagged as Mature Content pissed me off then and pisses me off still.

Once the shock of finding out the truth was easing a little, I decided I needed to actually watch some BTS music videos to try and understand the craziness of it all. What I never expected was just how deep the songs were and are, nor how intellectual the entire industry is because who the fuck else is making music videos based around novels like Demian in the West?

I didn't realise in addition that not only Korean would sneak its way into my brain but that the whole idol industry is interwoven with its own language. This answered many questions I had about the common jargon such as comeback, lore, promotions, era, main, lead, sub, bias, bias wrecker/s, OT#, Big4, ult, PC (photo card), fan meets, Naver, Weverse, V-Live (rip to the GOAT), Chan's Room [*sniff* Baby, you aren't in any trouble, okay? Please just come home, we all miss you and love you, please, please come back!], 1/2/3/4th Gen, and more my messed up brain can't recall so late at night and after the various narcotics that I take to function.

And those narcotics are saying no more today!

So I shall see you in part two!

[lepartidelamort]

Infertile Korea Founds New Government Ministry Dedicated to Begging Women to Reproduce

Andrew Anglin

South Korea’s entire model for convincing women to have kids is based on the theory that they are not having kids because of economic concerns.

This isn’t going to work.

Seriously.

This is not an economic issue. That is a total hoax.

Women will not have kids unless you remove their options. You cannot talk them into it. That will not work.

Reuters:

As South Korea scrambles to halt the sharp decline in its birth rate, policymakers are having a hard time convincing many in their 20s and 30s that parenthood is a better investment than stylish clothes or fancy restaurants. Asia’s fourth-largest economy plans to launch a new government ministry dedicated to demographic challenges after years of incentives failed to ease the baby crisis. But for Park Yeon, a 28-year-old fashion Instagrammer and aspiring singer, spending choices are guided mostly by her appetites for clothing and travel, leaving little budget for marriage and babies.

HAHAHAHA.

Yeah.

The bitch is going to become a hit singer when she’s 34. At 28, she’s right on the edge of becoming a top world sex symbol.

“I’m all about YOLO (you only live once),” said Park as she sells her Supreme T-shirts at a thrift fashion festival in Seoul’s high-fashion enclave of Seongsu-dong. “There isn’t enough left to save each month after I do things to reward myself. Getting married might happen at some point but being happy right now – that’s more important, right?” South Korea continues to break its own record for having the world’s lowest birth rate, which hit a fresh low last year.

That is literally the mindset of 100% of women who are not compelled by circumstance to get married and have kids.

Women have free reign. They can do whatever they want. Life is a big party for them.

If you want them to have kids, you have to box them in somehow.

I prefer the Taliban method.

That is the ideal.

But you can manipulate women in a lot of different ways. The goal is simply to limit their options, to force them onto a path of marriage and children at a young age. Simply changing the way the university entry and professional hiring systems work would go a long way towards doing that. Massive social shaming of women would do a lot too, although that would be complicated in any of these countries with massive pussy-worship entertainment media industries.

I am aware that 95% of the readership of this site are K-pop fans, but it is a pussy-worship industry that tells women to “reward themselves” and “focus on happiness.”You would have to cut all of that out if you wanted to shame women.Probably, you could make the music all about getting married and having kids, and have all the K-pop idols be pregnant half the time. That might work. But you can’t have shame while the culture revolves around a bunch of skanks doing the slut-strut.But again, even if you didn’t have shame, if you just locked women out of the universities and most professions, you could box them into young marriage.The big thing is: it’s not about money. Money is not even the 10th thing it is about. The poorest women in the world have the highest birthrates.

“The birthrate is an economic problem” is a total nonsense claim, and it creates a stupid situation where governments are attempting to solve a problem that does not even exist. This basically comes down to men projecting masculine thought patterns onto women in order to try to understand them better, and they are not understanding them at all.

Women will tell you it is about money. But women do not even understand their own behavior. And they lie to men. Women saying the birthrate is a money issue is complete irrelevant to anything. It’s totally meaningless, as proved by the fact that women with no money do nothing but reproduce.

We used to talk about the fact that economic prosperity lowers the birthrate, now we’re talking about how we need more economic prosperity to raise the birthrate. It’s dumb. It’s incredible that people are still saying this.

You have to limit their options.

The Taliban is the most extreme example of “limiting options,” because they block women in at every turn, but if you don’t want to do that, you have to come up with at least some way to limit their options.

Banning birth control, including abortion, is a start. Blocking them out of school and work is a start. Social shaming is a start. You can come at this from all kinds of different angles. There are various things that would help, starting points to move from. None of them are related to economics.

Again, let me repeat: economic prosperity is what causes the birthrate to drop.

These women are living in absolute luxury, by any historical standard. If you doubled their money, they would double the luxury. They would buy handbags that are twice the price, sushi that is twice the price, makeup that is twice the price, etc.

South Korea is probably doomed already. They are on a path to extinction.

I do hope, however, that others can learn from these failures.

[reallyhardy]

It’s the very reason the group was launched in February 2021: while original P-pop music saw success in the late 1990s and early 2000s, support faced a steep decline once groups started modeling themselves after their Korean counterparts. The industry lacked diversity and by extension, a distinct identity: something Alamat has in spades. Today, they are ready to live up to their name (which means “legends” in English) as the first multiethnic, multilingual act in the Philippines.

Alamat came together from all over the country. Leader, main dancer, and sub-vocalist Taneo (22 years old) is from Tabuk, Kalinga, in the far North; co-leader Mo (20) is a half-Black American from Castillejos, Zambales; Jao (20) comes from Pampanga and the group’s center Tomás (24) from Tabaco City, Albay. Vocalist and visual R-Ji (23) is a Waray-Waray from Borongan, Eastern Samar, while rapper-producer Alas (21) is a Bisaya from Davao City. 

All were students with side jobs prior to joining the group, and while they all agree that this gig positively changed the trajectory of their lives, the journey was not without doubts. “Lately, it seems like Filipinos gravitate towards foreign influences more: our appreciation for our culture has slowly started to fade. So when we heard of the concept of this boy group, we couldn’t help but think it was risky,” Jao admits.

Alamat’s creative director Jason Paul Laxamana further outlines to Teen Vogue via email the complexities in P-pop and K-pop, and how they’ve affected Alamat’s reception in the country. “For Pinoy K-pop fans, they would judge Alamat based on their standards: glossy sets, Korean-style choreography, and even physical appearance like light skin and colored eyes,” Laxamana says. “Since Alamat doesn’t follow their formula 100%, many perceive them to be doing it wrong.”

But these risks seem to have paid off, as they’ve built an impressive portfolio of songs that illuminate the Philippines’ illustrious culture. “Kbye,” for instance, is their debut anthem about ghosting sung in seven of our local languages. “Kasmala” — which recently went viral for its “f*ck colonizers” concept — references the 1904 St. Louis World Fair, where Filipino natives were displayed like zoo animals before a foreign audience. Their latest EP Pasulong has the sensual and bass-heavy “Aswang” as the lead single, where all six members fall for the country’s most popular urban legend: a bloodsucker that only appears at night.

[dailyexo]

[INTERVIEW] Kai - 230313 Recording Academy GRAMMYs: “K-Pop Veteran KAI Feels Freer Than Ever On 'Rover': ‘It's Going To Be A Very Memorable Period For Me’”

"On KAI's third solo mini album, Rover, out today (March 13), the EXO and SuperM member finds freedom through the multiplicity of sounds and concepts that have defined his 11-year journey.

When K-pop's emblematic group EXO debuted in 2012, each member was assigned a superpower as part of their overarching lore. Kim Jongin, then a fresh-faced 18-year-old, was given the ability to teleport, promptly appearing and disappearing throughout their many music videos. He also received an alias: KAI, whose Chinese character "开" means "to open."

Eleven years later, KAI has manifested his nickname; his individual success has opened doors to three solo albums, countless world tours as part of EXO and supergroup SuperM, and several luxury brand contracts (he is an ambassador for Gucci and a representative for Yves Saint Laurent Beauty). It makes sense that he sees himself as someone who can't be constrained — and that he named his third EP Rover.

As the title insinuates, embodying multiple things at once has always been KAI's specialty. He is notoriously shy off-camera, an introvert who stays silent unless spoken to, but who unravels in winding thoughts and warm laughs when comfortable. At the same time, he is also one of K-pop's most lethal performers, with a voice that is as soft as sinful, and ballet-trained movements that spellbind any audience.

Rover is KAI's latest self-actualization. In a Zoom call with GRAMMY.com, he is all smiles as he mentions that this album is the truest to his creative desires so far. Whether visually or sonically, the six-track collection (plus a second installment of his conceptual video series, FILM : KAI, to be released on March 20) fuses everything that he is known for: the teleporting, the hypnotizing dance moves, the many characters he can embody, and his versatility in approaching rhythms that go from reggaeton to R&B.

He ponders about the limitations of social media and receiving love in tracks like "Black Mirror," and "Say You Love Me," while longing for freedom in "Bomba" and the project's title track. "Here I am in your face/ Focus on every single expression/ Y'all buzzin', catch me if you can," he sings in the latter, making reference to one of his favorite movies. In the music video, he also hints at Billy Elliott, another formative movie in his life, while adopting multiple personalities and namesakes. There are no boundaries to KAI's artistry, after all.

Ahead of the release, GRAMMY.com caught up with KAI about the meaning of freedom, his relationship with social media, and how it feels to be an idol for over a decade.

You ask to be called "Mr. Rover" in the EP's title track. Who is Mr. Rover?

That's me! [Laughs.] [The song] has a story about a wanderer and a message of wanting to be free, and since I want to be free on stage, and as an artist in general, Mr. Rover is me.

What is freedom to you?

I put a lot of thought into that, but honestly, I still don't know. I do feel free, and I do feel freedom when I'm on stage, and in order to feel that true freedom, I think it's not just throwing away something that's inside of you. It's more like trying your best and putting more effort into that freedom that you're seeking.

A lot of my fans say that I seem very happy and free on stage. I really want to be like that. I realized that, in order to be free, there's a lot of things that I have to try harder behind the stage.

Indeed, one of your main characteristics is that on stage you are very confident and charismatic, while off stage you are a little more shy and warm-hearted. What's on your mind when you're on stage?

I don't think that much when I'm on stage. This is intentional, because I try not to think about anything and just do my best. Just enjoy that moment. If I think a lot, then it'd be difficult for me to concentrate. I really want to get to that level where I don't have any thoughts and I can just feel free and do the performance as it is.

On stage, you can usually see me smiling and laughing a lot, but that's because the more I get nervous, the more I start smiling and laughing, and the more I enjoy it. Once I feel a sense of pressure is when I truly start to enjoy [it]. I realized that I must be crazy to be enjoying all this nervousness. [Laughs.]

Besides freedom, what are three main words that you associate with this album?

The first one is "SNS" [Social Networking Service, or what Koreans usually call social media], because it's actually a theme in the album. To add up, the album also has a message of loving yourself and not caring about what others think.

As in one of my tracks, "Black Mirror," when the display screen is black, it tells you to see yourself reflected there and to love yourself more. "Say You Love Me" [is] a song about desiring love. On SNS, we care a lot about likes, followers, and what other people think or how they see us.

The second keyword is "performance." It is a very important part of this album, because I really did what I wanted to do. There are a lot of performances to see and hear altogether, so when I was preparing [them], I tried to show different aspects of myself.

And my third keyword would be "happiness," because that is the emotion I felt the most while preparing for this album. I really enjoyed it, and I felt a lot of happiness in my daily life. I think that it's going to be a very memorable period for me.

Since your first keyword is SNS, what is your personal relationship with social media?

Honestly speaking, if I wasn't a celebrity, I think I wouldn't have been using SNS at all. But since I am, I do have to [use] it, and I think of it as a way to communicate with my fans.

In my album, tracks such as "Black Mirror" or "Rover" have a message of being free and loving yourself, and I [prepared] a lot of curated content to show to my fans. I do have a desire for [my fans] to like that, but I want to say that it doesn't matter because, as a human, it's the same for me. I watch YouTube too, I watch all those [Instagram] Reels at night before I go to sleep. So you know, after all, I'm doing the same thing [as everyone].

Your second keyword is performance, and you seem very happy that you could do everything that you wanted for Rover. What new things were you able to show through your performances this time?

The ["Rover"] music video is very well-made and fun, and another FILM : KAI is coming out soon. The first FILM : KAI was released before my first music video [for "Mmmh"], so the role of it was to explain the whole concept and help the listeners understand what I was trying to say.

This time, FILM : KAI is coming out after the music video [for "Rover"], so I think it could be a chance for the viewers to organize their thoughts and compare with what they have been thinking while watching the music video, so they can realize some different charms [within it].

You talked about your first album, KAI (开), and now you're on your third album. What are some of the differences between them, and what have you improved on since your solo debut?

For the first album, when preparing the songs, it was more about finding what I wanted to do as KAI and what I'd like to show people. For the second album, it was more about focusing on what people would like to see and what they wanted from me. I did feel a bit pressured and stressed, but it was one of the steps in the process of trying to find what I really want to do.

For my third album, I was able to find what I want to do and start doing it. As an artist, I grew a lot, but that's why I think it was a new challenge. It's something new that I'm attempting.

If it wasn't for the first or the second albums, the third one wouldn't even exist. I even had some songs that I saved during the [previous] albums because I thought I wasn't prepared before, but now I'm ready to release them to the world. As a soloist and an artist, I'm just developing and growing. There may be a lot of lacking skills still, but this album is very special to me, and I like it a lot.

You've been an idol for more than a decade now. What is the most important thing you learned so far?

Being an idol is a job too. The line between my daily life and my life as a celebrity is very ambiguous. From time to time, I could feel more stressed out, and as it is a job where I can share emotions with the public, there's a bit of pressure on that too.

The most important thing to do is to take care of my mental [health] and mindset, and this realization was a chance for me to grow. I've been thinking deeply on how to become a better person, how to live a happy life as a human being, and I think that, as KAI, I really want to share more positive and happy thoughts with my fans and the people all around the world.”

Credit: GRAMMY.