#not us

[wilsons-three-legged-siamese]

my nan gives off cuddy vibes so bad help ive just realised?

she looks a bit like her (just blonde hair), shes one of the top managers of a health organization for people who struggle with addiction ect ect (used to be a manager at a hospital), dresses similar-

AND THEYRE HOTH CALLED LISA

GUYS MY NAN IS CUDDY WOAJ

[gaykornography]

im just a…->

[anntickwittee]

[storkmuffin]

Watching the Western and Non-Korean fandom reaction to a recent fan protest by the fans of Riize has been fascinating for how much they entirely miss the point and indulge in a very specific kind of Western misogyny, which comes down to God Forbid Women Do Anything. I'm Korean and in Korea and I find these Riize fandom girlies hella impressive. I understand why they did it. It's fucking enraging to be a Korean woman, for one thing, and their protest was elegant and effective. Kudos.

TLDR: A 7 member boyband, Riize, recently had one member go on a 10 month leave of absence, grandiosely calling it a Time of Reflection, because photos of him lying fully clothed in bed with a girlfriend during his pre-debut preparation-stage era became public. The group went on working as a 6 member group for a while. Their fans stayed loyal. Then SM, the corporationthat employs these singer/dancers, tried to bring Seung Han back to the band, to regroup. The fans of Riize who really found this kid (he's 21) unacceptable sent 1,000 standing funeral wreaths to form a giant, silent, terrifying forest of death in front of the SM corporate HQ, with messages attached. You are dead to us is the personal message to Seung Han, but the more important message, addressed to SM, is The fandom would rather throw $30,000 on the street than have SH back - do you not want this money as your income? Within 48 hours, Seung Han withdrew from the group. His career as a Kpop Idol is probably now completely over, just over a year of his group's debut.

The not-Koreans flipping the fuck out about this are completely missing the point. They call it cyber bullying. There's foreigners yelling at young Korean women for being sexually pathetic or something which I find very hilarious. Foreigners think this is about sexual desire for Seung Han, or some sort of demand that he stay a virgin, or that the women (and it is women) who did this have some sort of sexual parasocial relationship with this particular boy Idol. With due respect, Nah. They are all completely wrong.

Pre-debut doesn't mean someone who wasn't in the pop business. Pre-debut means being a Trainee in the specialized academies run by record label/promotional companies (all publicly traded), akin to the state sponsored ballet academies where they create ballerinas in some countries. The reason that Koreans, who spend all their youth, from first grade onwards, desperately preparing for their college entrance exams, permit the Idols to have the glamour and the money and power is that they too are supposed to go through a grueling prep process for 'debut.' That's where the identification and love come from, and it's both parasocial and it's not. Debuting as an Idol is a 10,000:1 sort of competition, like the way those people who can't be showbiz or Olympic athletes have to compete to the death to get into college and then into white collar jobs. You are me but in a different field is the parasocial relationship that Idols sell to the Korean consumer.

Furthermore, if you're debuting as part of a group you owe it to that group to stay within the very clearly delineated rules for correct behavior. It is imperative that you do not get caught fucking around. That's what the Korean fangirls are furious over. If you date, if you sleep around, if you drink or party - all the stuff that studious college prep people also want to do and sometimes engage in - then don't get caught. Be very, very careful. Don't take photos with your girlfriend in bed. Your being a violator of the rules ruins it for your group. You are disloyal and irresponsible, and therefore not worthy of the riches and adulation that is given to Idols. It's a matter of qualification and principle.

Seung Han is disqualified from being an Idol, because he's either extremely entitled (unacceptable,) irresponsible (unacceptable) or thoughtless (also unacceptable) and disloyal to his 'team members' (unforgivable). That's what he's being punished for - he took the opportunity to be where he is from at least 10,000 other boys who wanted a spot at the training academy for Idols, and then he fucked around and found out.

Korean fandom is one of the very few ways that Korean women exercise any real power in our society. We're highly educated but the last hired and the first fired. There isn't a glass ceiling. It's not that subtle. We're slamming our heads right into brick ceilings festooned with spikes. Do you understand? Our childless president who openly hates women and married a plastic surgeried airhead keeps yelling at us to make babies for the republic. Do you understand? Korean women have among the highest disparity of income compared to men in any OECD country. Do you understand?? We're fucking pissed, all the time, nonstop. And there's nowhere to go, not really. We make it work the best we can where we are, but we are pissed. Kpop Idols make their money from women, OK? So if we're your market, then fucking cater to what we want. Moreover, we are going to act like the CEOs that we're not allowed to ever ascend to IRL in this one aspect of our lives where we can exercise some power. This isn't about wanting to fuck Boy Idols. This is about wanting some part of our lives to operate with principle. This is about protecting the rest of Riize, from what I can tell from the sidelines, for having been good, studious Trainees who abided by the rules like all of us do. Korean boys get yeeted to the military for a year and a half & come out complaining of PTSD for 30 years, and Korean girls are stepped on, stabbed, measured like cattle, disrespected and generally are fucking pissed off. Did I mention the anger?

The funeral wreaths cost about $35 per wreath, so sending a 1,000 of these will cost $35,000. Someone in the fandom raised the funds, called the funeral wreath distributors, coordinated it, figured out where to get them set up, and as soon as the SM released the statement that Seung Han would not in fact be joining, spent further funds to do a perfect clean up of all the wreaths. This takes enormous organizational power and discipline. I want to get to know this bitch. This protest was terrifying, but elegantly silent. Eloquent and violent. The imagination it took to do this was astonishing. This is a form of performance art, actually. I really wanna know how they put this together.

There's also a lot of foreign chatter about how the Boy Idol groups are going to 'withdraw' from their fans and 'punish' them. I bet the exact opposite. I bet Riize and all other groups of these upcoming generations are going to behave with ever more discipline and acquiescence given the example that's been made of Seung Han. These Riize fandom people have been mega enforcers of discipline in K-Pop in general. This is a new development, this 'enforcement' move, because previously, other fandoms just shielded and protected their Idols, no matter what the crime (some quite serious). I think this opens a new era. It's kind of exciting to look at.

Do I feel sorry for Seung Han even though I never heard of him or his group until this event? Yeah. A lot? No.

Oh and a final word to the non Koreans who are taking this chance to talk down to Korean women. First off, fuck off. Second, check your racism, your colonialist outlook thinking you know better and all that shit. And third, Korean female fandom caused the creation of every single part of the Kpop norms, genre rules and star behavior that you like so much. Be grateful, be demure, and shut up.

[estheticpotaeto]

Hey does ANYONE remember Eddie has a girlfriend?

[503week]

[simpjaes]

another jake fic again?

*sigh* i thought we’re jongseong biased here? we need more daddy jay!!!

eat my ass

[magnusbae]

love how the dream defense squad is all polite and really chill people until they think about how badly dream is treated by basically everyone and then it's a literal werewolf bloodbath

[apnourry]

me, in pursuit of a beautiful perfect wonderful CRITTER of a suspect at 2240 when I have assignments due in an hour and a half AND a half hour of driving until I even get to the location where I HAVE these assignments that I can submit???? better fuckin believe it, bud

[blmpff]

whomever would've thunk *insert surprised pikachu*

[pointless-letters]

“I can’t remember the last time my Stanley punished me via the back door.” said Mrs Edna Stamp, 86, as she was out buying her weekly turnip ration.

[empressofmankind]

I am sitting here, sniggering over the fact that the absolute best defence against Buggy being a lil' creepy post-show at the bar is just...

...the good old splash the dude with your glass of water, heckle & scram.

What's he gonna do, detach a hand and drag you back?

Oh w8.

He can't. 😆

[lastremainingbrainiac5fanatic]

little doodle I did during class. BTW there's a shooter loose in the town, last seen right by the campus, but we still have class.

[neo-shitty]

if you’re a stay smut reader reading thru my shit and finding a common denominator, no you didn’t 🤍

[ceo-of-pigeon-milk]

@precambrianhottopic

Many different species of lethal embarrassment in the world, but none quite so lethal as convincing a friend to sit down and watch a movie/show which changed your life when you first saw it only to realize with dawning horror that it's mid at best.