#this reminds me that the reason i am into kpop is because in the year 2010 at the height of my Supernatural phase

[peachandpinwheel]

a confusing day for Thai BL The Sign enthusiasts here on tumblr dot com

[ditizygirl]

Editblr is a breeding ground for idolatry, ableism, racism and so much more all for a community about putting images together.

I've been here for only a year but I feel like I've seen it all, and the excuses oh my god the excuses. You are all 15-19, you should not have the mental capacity of a 8 year old. Your common sense is non existent and almost all of you guys are so fucking stupid it's pissing me off more than any god can understand. You are old enough to have logical thinking skills, you may have a disorder and it may be a reason but not an excuse.

Alot of you have forgotten the saying "Think Before You Talk" and I've sure as hell done alot of thinking. This is my deep dive into editblr.

Ableism

Typing quirks are a way of personal expression but why do so much of you hate to add plain text. I can understand to extent because plain text hates my head because of how long it can be but I'm not gonna act like a little bitch about it. I'm gonna add my typing quirk or even fonts itself to it.

I'm gonna ask someone to help me, or to do it for me. Stopping making excuses for ableism. Alongside with the typing quirks, your psds are ugly and eyestrainy. Psds also fall under racism because I have no idea why you guys are ignoring the fact some make dark skin characters lighter but in the case of ableism most of them are really bright and makes it hard to see.

Orange and brown? Green and yellow? Blue and brown? Why are you putting colours that can be so much eyesore together? And won't even tag as eyestrain and when someone does ask you only do it for one post.

Romanticization

This one is weird as fuck and I see no one mentioning it. Editblr highkey has a ddlg problem, this "little girl" aesthetic you guys have going on borderlines ddlg alot and its icky. The baby talk typing quirk is disgusting, stop it.

I'm not one to judge how someone copes with their trauma but what I DO judge is how you act when majority says its uncomfortable. Now this section I'm a bit unsure how to phrase it, gotta love dyslexia, but that isn't going to stop me.

There's alot of very uncomfortable romanticization of stalking which I've seen so much of alongside abusive relationships and the justification of these things.

Racism

Really can't escape this one unfortunately. Many of you are like kpop idols, you're too dyslexic towards the difference between appropriation and appreciation. Incase you forgot let me remind you.

You can not gift japanese names. Gifting names is a native practice therefore you can only gift native names. Also I've noticed you weirdos befriending people just to use their cultural names. I can't even say it east asian fetishization because its only Japanese.

Also for the love of God can you guys stop saying nonmem and non women especially when referring to sexualities. It's not hard to simply say "queer attraction to women" and "queer attraction to men".

Coming back to the "gifting" names thing, I think it's interesting how all of you conveniently have a Japanese friend who "gifted" you the name of a cute pink anime girl. Maybe I'll do a post later on how much of a bad liar you guys are.

Closed symbols is also another big problem you all have. No matter how much times you're told you can't use something you always cry "but my friend from xyz culture said it was ok!" One person can't speak for a whole culture. You're nothing but a coloinzer in disguise hiding behind the idea of aesthetic. If you want to know if a symbol is closed just use this site.

Goddess Personas

Yea this one is getting a whole section of its own. Like any people I am uncomfortable with goddess personas, especially being someone with biblical sources. Now the idea that a teenager on the internet is making people call them a goddess is strange isn't it?

In my opinion, they're all annoying, copy and paste, and I think not a lot of people talk about how the really bad ones get. You all love to indulge them, make them think they have power over them. You put them on a pedestal and praise them and get surprised when it all goes to their head?

Stop giving 14 years old power, stop indulging in their habits and letting it go their head. Forcing people to refer to you as their goddess? Their Lord and saviour? Their idol? Someone they must listen to? It creates a power inbalance which always leads to the weirdest of manipulation. Also all the engagekiss copiers are so obvious why would you want to copy the identity of a groomer? It says alot of about yourself if that's what you think is ideal.

Callout Posts

Now, personally, I believe that the only reason a callout post happens is because someone was affected, does it not? Very rarely would a callout post would be a fake one, especially if someone has more then one. If you defend someone who has more than one call out post that's on you and you're gonna end up making one some day I can genuine you that. People don't make them for no reason.

This is all I have to say for now. I hope you guys really consider what I have written here, or not, considering the fact you guys have shown multiple times you lack reading comprehension

@starriesse @dollicous @doveinne @firstgf @kiochisato @lamboll @cherryshh @narcbf @lavendergalactic @npditary @sprinkleoverdose @necroangelz @eskeys

[bunthebreadboy]

so i’ve been on my atla bs once again, and while rewatching today i got the lovely thought that azula reminded me of a specific kpop idol and spiraled from there. so. here’s my personal list of kpop idols as atla characters!!

these are mostly based on vibes and/or visuals. by no means do i mean to make idols i think are similar to the show’s antagonists out to be bad people!!! i will give an explanation behind my thoughts as well.

also disclaimer, i know next to nothing about boy groups, so please spare me lol

anyways

seungkwan (seventeen) as aang

- once again, i know nothing about boy groups

- i did however watch the devil’s plan (amazing show by the way, it’s on netflix) and the positive but still very determined vibe seungkwan brought to the show reminded me of aang

- also, this selfie of him reminds me of the one scene with aang in the flower crown

jihyo (twice/soloist) as katara

- extremely hard workers who trained for years to get to where they are now

- have natural leadership abilities and are total mom friends

- would cuss someone out if they were very annoyed

- thanks to jeongyeon and her water bottles, jihyo is actually a pro waterbender already (jeongyeon is pakku but without the misogyny. the entire pakku/katara fight is just a compilation every single concert encore where jeong and jihyo bicker)

chan (skz) as sokka

- this honestly just felt right

- every time i see a clip of chan on a live i end up laughing

- i have also heard from stays that skz would collapse without chan and i very much think the same of sokka since he’s the ideas guy

- also aussie sokka lmao

hyunjin (loossemble) as toph

- competitive level 1000000 (please watch one episode of loossemble assemble and tell me i’m wrong)

- would do something out of spite but is also very protective of friends

- cannot be left alone without causing hazards

- theft (“stealing can be fun” -hyunjin)

- chaos reincarnate when younger, calmer (a bit) when older

- toph would also wear that shirt and pretend she didn’t know what it said even though sokka told her

heejin (artms/soloist) as suki

- i mostly thought of this because heejin and hyunjin are former loona members and good friends. which would make the scene where suki saves toph from drowning even funnier imo

- but also have you SEEN this woman’s muscles??? i have full confidence that heejin could handle her own in a fight

- every sapphic i know who’s seen atla had a crush on suki growing up and every sapphic loona stan i’ve met (which is most loona stans) has had a crush on heejin

- heejin’s lore in loonaverse is basically being a god and i personally equate that to suki

- also, they’re dorks

siyeon (dreamcatcher) as azula

- LITERALLY THE REASON I THOUGHT OF THIS POST (specifically vision era hello???) LOOK AT HER

- siyeon is at the scene of the crime like 90% of the time something chaotic happens in dreamcatcher so i can fully imagine her cosplaying azula and running around with sparklers or something

- she’s also very good at looking evil in mvs so i think she could play azula

- that scene in the deja vu music video right before the last chorus when fire shoots up from behind her? she’s literally a firebender

seonghwa (ateez) as zuko

- i know absolutely NOTHING about ateez aside from a couple of their title tracks but this man looks so much like siyeon i couldn’t resist

- idk i just feel like they’d be good at being the fire disaster siblings

- he also looks like he’d eat up the “the scar is not on the wrong side” line for some reason???

- was probably an angsty teenager at some point

miyeon (gidle) as ty lee

- nobody can out femme either of these two

- cute extroverts who could also be deadly (like imagine x-file miyeon during boiling rock)

- i feel like ty lee would LOVE doing dance challenges with anyone and everyone

bibi (soloist) as mai

- i am fully aware that bibi isn’t an idol but i couldn’t resist

- she just gives the mai vibes honestly. you know that trope where the guard asks the character to hand over all of their weapons and just stands there and stares as said character pulls out knives from everywhere? that is both bibi and mai

- bibi is also the queen of every concept so i fully believe she could probably play the entire cast of atla in a chaotic one-woman show

anyways i hope you enjoyed my chaos rambling and i kind of want to do this with other shows so if you liked this please leave me recommendations!

[emotionallychargedtowel]

shuffled (sort of)

I was tagged for this by @lurkingshan and it looked like fun, so I made up a way to participate even though I don't listen to music on any of those services that people tend to use for these things. The closest I get is listening to things on youtube so I made a list of songs the YT algorithm suggested to me. That list was a bit long so I used a random number generator to pick ten. Well, I really hit paydirt. I couldn't have come up with a better list if I had chosen it all myself.

And then weeks went by and I sat on this nearly-finished post for no good reason! Now I'm dusting it off and getting it out of my drafts.

I'm never big on tagging people on these things, it makes me incredibly anxious. But after this much time has passed, I really can't imagine doing it. That said, if anyone reads this and feels inspired to do it too, please consider yourself tagged.

Orange Juice - I Can’t Help Myself

One of the best tracks on my favorite Orange Juice album. This is a really good distillation of their sound that shows their influences really clearly (postpunk, classic soul, the Velvet Underground, Chic, the Buzzcocks, etc. etc.) while showing how they did something with them that's completely their own. It doesn't hurt that no one sounds quite like Edwyn Collins.

SZA - Ghost in the Machine

For a couple of years now I've been trading song recommendations with a close friend of mine. In other words, we take turns giving each other a song to listen to. It's been great, in part because our tastes are pretty danged different (though with enough overlap to have common ground). I've found out about a lot of amazing stuff through her but I don't think there's a song that has stuck with me more from this project than Ghost in the Machine. This song just keeps giving me goosebumps after...it's been a year and change, I think.

Taemin - Criminal

Years ago I asked my old internet friend Kate (who I've been interacting with since our livejournal days) about kpop. She has always been better than I am at keeping up with new music and I knew she knew a thing or two about it. She gave me a short list of songs to check out and Criminal was on it. It didn't quite click at first but it stuck in my brain somehow. I came back to it later and boom. It clicked big time. It reminds me of a few things. The la-la-la part definitely has a debt to Kylie Minogue's Can't Get You Out of My Head and the lead-up to the chorus reminds me of Roy Orbison's I Drove All Night. It has a retro quality that probably makes it more palatable to a middle-aged listener like myself but when I hear the synthpop tones of my childhood through a contemporary filter I don't get nostalgia so much as a distorted time-warp feeling (in a nice way).

Brave Girls - We Ride

A while back I was emailing back and forth with another friend of mine who I talk to about music a lot--wow, I didn't know that was going to be such a theme here, but I love it--and we were talking about new and old East Asian pop genres. He made me a list of a few recent kpop and jpop songs that he thought were reminiscent of city pop, an 80s genre out of Japan that's a favorite of his. There were quite a few winners on that list but this song is the one I've listened to the most. There's another theme: sounds from my formative years filtered through a contemporary lens. I can see why my friend associated it with city pop. The combination of disco/funk elements (like that choppy Nile Rodgers guitar part) and soft pop (the harmonies, the synth strings) fits right into that category. These elements were everywhere when I was a kid but they didn't get put together in this way.

Tsunami - Be Like That

This song about a has-been ex-boyfriend is more relatable to me in my 40s than it was when I first heard it in my 20s, but that's how old Jenny Toomey was when she wrote it. I've never gotten super into Tsunami despite liking a couple of their songs quite a lot (this one, and Valentine, from their album Deep End). I should probably revisit them. They always had a way with washy guitars and interesting chords, and Jenny Toomey's voice is legendary for a reason. (The version of I Only Have Eyes for You that she recorded with Grenadine, her side project with Mark Robinson from Unrest and the drummer from the Eggs, makes really good use of that voice. It's fucking exquisite and literally gives me goosebumps.)

Spoon - Me and the Bean

This one's a bit personal. I was active in the indie rock scene in Austin in the early 'aughts when Spoon was transitioning from their status as a cautionary tale of major label abandonment* into the period where they reached greater heights on an indie than that major label ever would have allowed. That scene wasn't very big so it's not surprising that in addition to Girls Can Tell-era Spoon being nearly omnipresent for a period of my life, I also have some personal connections there. Anyway, people seldom notice that this song is a cover. I never saw the Sidehackers, the band who originally performed the song (I'm not sure if they even managed to record it). But if this song ends up being what people remember most about them, it would make a respectable legacy. I don't know the later Spoon stuff as well as this era, but back then, there weren't a lot of Spoon originals that were as overtly emotional as this one. (You didn't typically hear a line like "I have your blood inside my heart" in an original Spoon song.) Britt Daniel may not have written this, but he doesn't hold back in his performance. So I always appreciated how it balanced out the more emotionally reserved style of the other songs on Girls Can Tell.

*They channeled the experience into songwriting to good effect. "The Agony of Lafitte," about the A&R guy that signed them to Elektra before the label screwed them over, is probably my favorite Spoon song.

the Chills - Pink Frost

I feel like so much has been written about this song that there isn't much point trying to say anything about it. It has a truly important place in the history of New Zealand indie music, and the events surrounding it are pretty interesting. But mostly it's just a really well-crafted piece of dark, sneakily poppy post-postpunk. Among people my age with similar tastes to mine, I can't think of a song that ended up on more mixtapes. (Though a friend of mine always used to say he regretted that he couldn't really put it on mixtapes for girls he was interested in because of the whole murdered girlfriend aspect of it.)

Veronica Falls - Misery

This song is obscenely catchy. It only takes one listen to get me singing it to myself in the kitchen for months. It's pretty fun to sing to oneself, in the kitchen or otherwise, but I'm sure it would be a million times more so if you could reproduce the harmonies with a partner. Veronica Falls really are unparalleled in the harmony department, and it's even more enjoyable because they usually use those pretty harmonies to sing about morbid, depressing things. And that juxtaposition never feels like a schtick to me, which it easily could in the wrong hands.

Bolbbalgan4 - Dream

I've gotten into quite a few songs because they were featured on kdramas, but this is the only song where it happened the other way around—I liked it first, then watched Hwarang because of it. There was a video for it on youtube with clips from the series and the song made the show seem more interesting. Not to imply anything negative about the series, I think there's a lot to be said for it. But it was this song that made me want to watch it. I love this kind of super emotional kpop song that's so plentiful in kdramas. Maybe it's because during the decades when rock music was de facto banned in South Korea the country's dominant genre was the ballad. Maybe it's because of that particular brand of despair that kdramas excel at so much, coming up in a slightly different setting. This type of song is just more emotional in a certain way that any other genre I've run across. And this particularly example is, to my mind, the pièce de résistance.

Shearwater - Breaking the Yearlings

This is one of the highlights of Animal Life, which is my favorite Shearwater album. It took me a while to warm up to Shearwater. The thing that really sold me on them was going on a whim to see Jonathan Meiburg play a solo acoustic set in front of a tiny audience at the Cactus Cafe. I think maybe some friends of mine opened for him or something, because something must have gotten me in the door. I ended up being really glad I went. Meiburg's set was downright mesmerizing, and I was sold on Shearwater from that point on. This particular song gets in my head a lot because the washing machine in my building puts out this one repetitive tone when you're starting a load of clothes that is really close to the opening notes of this song.

[pascaloverx]

FELLINGS — EXO K.J

PREVIEW

Summary: You and Jongin live wanting what you two can't have. For example, he wants to win over your best friend and you want him.

Warnings: This fanfic will describe some hot romantic moments and use of inappropriate language. In the future there may be both smut and moderate use of violence. Readers are warned. This fanfic will feature some members of EXO as characters but they are not part of a Kpop group in this scenario.

CHAPTER ONE

The imperfect day definitely exists. Not that your routine days are good, but today is proving to be a challenge. Your best friend was late to tell you that there will be an engagement dinner tonight. She is engaged to her newest boyfriend, who, by the way, despite being handsome, is also controlling. While I was responsible for confirming who will appear. You then went to the office where you work as a secretary for one of the most renowned businessmen.

"You're late, you know?" Kai says as soon as you enter the office. He is wearing a suit that is somewhat clinging to his body. Not that you should notice your boss's body.

"It won't happen again, sir. But I must point out that you almost lying under my desk is unprofessional." You say almost laughing, very subtly. He looks at you with a knowing look as if he liked what you said.

"Blessed is the day I accepted you into the company. That way I wouldn't have met one of the best people in my life and fortunately because of you, I met Luna." Luna is your best friend. Kai is kind in thanking me for having met Luna, as they actually knew each other before I became his secretary. Luna is a friend I made at school where I was a scholarship student during my adolescence. Kai and she were neighbors before Kai's parents sent him on an exchange program to a foreign country, and they lost touch. Years later, at a company gathering, Kai and Luna reunited because of me.

"I don't know if you can thank me for that. I was just the reason for your reunion. Which brings me to remind you that Luna invited you to her engagement dinner. Yes, I've already checked your schedule, and you have the evening free. In fact, you have a meeting with the majority stakeholders in an hour and lunch with that international model who was being considered as our next spokesperson. And your tie… it's a bit crooked." You speak while looking closely at Kai, reaching for the iced Americano he drinks every morning in Kai's hands, fixing his tie and collar. You can never quite explain it, but your fingers always tremble a bit when you touch your boss.

"What would I do without you?" He asks, genuinely smiling, of course, trying to pretend that Luna's wedding isn't affecting him.

"Probably get your own coffee and check your own email. Should I have someone bring your fancy black suit, in case you decide to attend the dinner?" You say as you finish tying Kai's tie. He looks surprised that you already know he's going to decline the invitation but will likely reconsider later.

"Am I going to be judged if I don't go?" He asks, and you laugh. How could your opinion matter in a matter that doesn't concern you?

"Kim Jongin. You're a grown man, and Luna is a grown woman. You have a past that I can't even specify. How could I judge you for not wanting to see the woman you have feelings for getting engaged to someone else?" You speak in an authoritative tone while staring at Kai with the most judgmental facial expression you can muster. After all, shouldn't he be the one to swallow his feelings and witness the person he desires loving someone else, just as he can't see an old flame getting engaged to another?

"I love it when I stress you out enough for you to call me by my name instead of the nickname. Go ahead and have them bring the gray suit I wore to that dinner where I reunited with Luna. I'll be at the damn engagement dinner. I hope you'll be there too," Kai says seriously as he sips his coffee, and you step back a bit. Knowing him for so many years has given you a certain confidence in predicting his actions.

"I'm the maid of honor, of course, I'll be there. But I'm not sure about the time I'll arrive; my boss tends to be very relentless and bossy. You might get there before me." You say in a playful tone. He looks at his phone, replies to two messages, and then turns to you as he prepares to enter the meeting room.

"Send me the address of the dinner, and you can take the rest of the day off. I'll be looking forward to seeing how you handle being a maid of honor." He says seriously, watching your reaction. You shake your head in disbelief.

"I don't need the day off; I'm perfectly capable of handling both business matters and personal affairs. Thought you knew that already." You say, not wanting to spend the day overthinking the upcoming dinner. Kai smiles slyly, as if to say he knows you quite well.

"Y/N, you're my employee and friend. If I give you a day off, just say thank you. And if you want, I'll let you buy a new outfit with the corporate card as a bonus for the hard work you've been putting in. Now, I'm off to my meeting, and if you're not heading home, consider yourself fired. See you later." He says authoritatively, staring at you. You're left speechless, and he walks away while you accept the offer. Sensing that tonight promises several complications, you grab your things and head home.

Continues...

[absolutebl]

Kpop end of 2022 shows

In which I mostly slam 4th gen boy groups, so if you’re a stan skip this post or go in prepared to be offended. I am aware that this is off brand for this blog. But I’m also aware that I have a number of followers who are as deeply into Kpop as me, and...

who probably will unfollow me after reading this. Oh well, I’m gonna do it anyway. This is my tiny corner of the internet. MINE I tell you!  

Look, there was no Between Us airing today, and so nothing for me to get my watch-along snark out on except for the 2 Kpop shows that Viki popped into my feed. So skip this post if that’s not your thing. 

2022 Gayo Daejeon (stadium event) 

OMG! Either mic them properly or don’t mic them at all! This is a music concert, right? Why can’t Korea ever fucking get the sound right in these goddamn bonanza shows? I had this problem with Kingdom (arguably more of an issue since that was supposedly made for TV) but it’s 100 times worse with this show. It’s so frustrating. 

For example, with NCT, why is Johnny’s the only hot mic in the group? Sound tech on stuff out of Korea is mind numbingly confusing and ear wrenchingly annoying. I am reminded why I never watch the live shows and never go to Kpop concerts.

And now, here’s some offensive thoughts and unpopular opinions:

Yeonjun of TXT is one of the best 4th gen dancers ever fielded, and one of the better all rounders. But Kpop stylists gotta learn how to dress a dancer so that they can be properly watched, ya know, WHEN THEY ARE DANCING. No puffer vests, you brainless fashionista numb-nuts. Poor thing kept having to do wardrobe adjustments. Honestly, this plus their red carpet looks this year? 

TXT desperately needs a new stylist.

Stray Kids

As a group? They really can’t sing very well or consistently, their strength is in their performance and rapping. And their rappers MUST to be micced hot for live - just KILL 3racha's backup recording, okay? They can handle it. Otherwise please just let them all lip-synch so we can watch them perform. It’s a much better experience.

NCT

Yuta has more charisma in his little finger than Taeyong has in his whole entire body. Doyoung is an incredibly underrated vocalist. Their’s was some of the worst miccing and sound of the night (which is saying a lot considering how terrible it was the whole time). Fantastic use of the stage tho. One the best stadium performance I’ve seen since GOT7. Also, 2 Baddies is an objectively terrible song - which is probably why it’s so popular.

The Boyz

Definitely the prettiest, how are they consistently so glorious on their visuals? Sunwoo keeps getting hotter, it’s patently unfair. But, oh my god, if you are going to have a group sing ballads, then bring 2nd (Highlight) or 3rd (BTOB) gens up there don’t use The Boyz (or SK for that matter). No one wants to hear unstable vocals, even if it’s a CNBLUE cover. Is it weird that The Boyz make me miss Seventeen? Same vibe... better syncopation. 17 is not as pretty tho.

Who is? 

Well, UNIQ of course. But I don’t wanna talk about that. 

Ateez

Jongho is the only 4th gen idol in existence who doesn’t need a mic even in a goddamn stadium. He is insane. But there is a reason the boy likes a handheld mic, because he takes his vocals seriously. And still the sound tech didn’t trust him enough to leave that mic hot? Frankly, it’s a crime that Jongho’s voice is wasted on a performance group. (Yes, I said it.) But Ateez did give the best stage of the night. They really are one of the industry’s hardest working groups at the moment. I’m a little worried they’re being pushed too much.

Enhyphen

Actually singing for a change *gasp* what will they do without auto tune? Ooof, I’m hella mean tonight. And... they seem to have been practicing their vocals since last time. Honestly? They lack the stage presence of some of the more experienced 4th gens. NCT fucking EATS up a stadium. Enhyphen looked a little sad up there by comparison.

MBC 2022 (New Year's showcase) 

Much better sound (mostly lip-synching) and most groups handle a showcase stage better than a stadium. 

The MC team was better on this one. 

Any time the Boyz and Ateez would like to dance together, I will be happy to watch it happen.

I’m not particularly interested in either of them, but Tempest and Kepler covering Pretty U was pretty damn cute. But younger boy groups + younger girl groups intermixing on stage always comes off as awkward. Dancers should be dancing together when they share a stage together. It’s weird when they are clearly afraid to touch each other. 

Hanbin is such sunshine, so pleased to see a Vietnamese idol at last.

As expected the bands doing live Krock had the best music performances. Well and the opera singers, of course. 

NCT’s Jungwoo is Taemin’s little brother, they look too much alike, you cannot persuade me otherwise. 

It’s a sin that Jeahyun hasn’t has a break away acting role yet. No babies, he really isn’t going to do us a BL. 

It’s always great when the surfeit of music shows at the end of the year forces a group like NCT to divide and conquer, because we get to see some of the lesser publicized members do some killer performing. 

NCT’s choreographer is phenomenal. Best in the biz? 

A sexy cover of Love Killa is fine but if you can’t go hard on Monsta X’s raps then why bother? This only made me want to go watch the original. Which I did. 

I’d like to see SK cover Monsta X but that’s about it. Maybe P1H.

Speaking of MX. Why did they cover a song where Kihyun (one of the most consistent voices in Kpop) mostly has to sing falsetto? What a damn waste. 

Fun to see IM getting more confident in his vocals but I’d still rather see the MX maknae line rap. 

And… thank you for doing an end of year stage Monsta X! Holding onto my beloved 3rd gens by the skin of my teeth here. Look I just love them, okay? Even down 2 members Monsta X goes harder than other groups, but effortlessly. They gave the best performance of my whole night, both shows, 6 hours of content and I’m just left wanting to watch MX comeback stages.  

Am I 3rd gen biased? 

Probably. 

Bite me. But only if you can do it as hard as Monsta X would. 

[reflections-in-a-critical-eye]

https://www.tumblr.com/lokisasylum/728596853469413376/all-jokes-and-memes-aside-lemme-address

I’m a pjm myself but this post is literally so ridiculous 😭 This is some peak stage of twitter’s mind corruption and being out of touch with reality 😂 I can’t speak about the others but I was following you for more than a year and you wrote some of the most interesting posts about jimin’s art I’ve seen here. I may not share all of your views about jimin but to call you a jimin anti is just kinda insane

What should I do? Is it time to call my mom and tell her that I am finally infamous on tumblr.com? Should I pop the champagne?

I will not comment about this blogger's page and its discourse in general, nor about the other people mentioned in the post.

But I will say something first about one person. Peppertaemint is my friend, not my moot. I know, hard concept to understand. Our friendship does not rely on us being kpop moots because we're a lot cooler than that. We're also music fans, not multi stans, but I see that for someone chronically online, this is impossible to understand.

As to me being accused of being a Jimin "anti", I'm genuinely shocked. Because if there's one person that I'm singing praises too as if I'm getting paid (I'm not), it would be Jimin because I'm a weak bitch for the man. But I am not his stan, not his akgae, not his anti, I'm not Army, I'm not multi-stan, I'm not a jikooker, I'm not any other fandom-related label that it's being attached to me. I have my identity which is not related to kpop and I have other purposes in life that do not require for me to look for satisfaction within a fandom. I am merely a person with various interests, as I have been revealing more and more since I changed my blog's direction, who also happens to have one in kpop and some BTS members, with a particular emphasis on Jimin.

I have never "downplayed" his talent or made "shady" posts about him. On the contrary, I've always had to try and see things from a more objective perspective and sometimes I found that it was difficult because my bias towards him took over.

I am a supposed Jimin anti, but he's the only artist in kpop that I've written extensively about and trying to bring my own contribution by writing about his art. I am such a Jimin anti that I have spent weeks doing hours of research after finishing my work in order to be able to write something worth reading about his photofolio. I am such a Jimin anti that I almost cried out of anger when I couldn't access articles that I needed in order to understand some of his concepts. I had put myself voluntarily in a situation similar to my usual academic research at a point in which that type of work was detrimental to my mental health. But I pushed it because I loved that photofolio and it was one of those rare occasions in which I got reminded that there's still joy in doing that when the person I'm writing about is worth it and there's no outside pressure.

I always write about the projects he's involved with. During the time he was announced as Dior ambassador and went to Fashion Week, I have opened up the floor to those with more expertise so that we can take the discussion further and turn it into an interesting weekend debate.

Until I closed my blog on the day of Face's release for personal reasons, I wrote about his concept every single time when something was released. When idiots all over the internet were talking shit about SMFpt2, I had written extensively about the song and the music video. But I am a Jimin anti.

Fan engagement (not stan part of a fandom) can take many forms and we are allowed to do it in whatever way possible. I do not care what others are doing, if they think that their best way of having a contribution is by posting about streaming or reporting accounts. That is not me, it will never be me. The best I can do, and not based on some supposed stan duty, is to write about the artists I like in a way that makes sense for me.

I do not make posts for engagement, this tumblr blog is but one tiny bit in my life and I do not need that. I do not spend my time "dragging pjms" as if they're my personal target. Even when I voiced my complains, I then had talks with anons that brought their own perspective which I understood and made me see things differently. That happens because I am not completely out of touch with reality and I can behave as a normal person who can have talks with a variety of fans.

I'm not writing all this to justify myself for this blogger, but because I do not accept such a gross characterization and because I've put a lot of effort in so many posts I have written about Jimin and I find it completely unfair to be slapped with such ridiculous labels.

Anon, I understand why you brought this issue to me. But honestly, I'd rather not know what is out there. I have my own corner here, a sort of personal public diary. I like to share my thoughts about plenty of other stuff as well, make some jokes, hoping that some of the readers have a sense of humor as well and mind my business. I do not situate myself within any fandom and I refuse to be dragged into situations like these by people who cannot escape a toxic stan/kpop mentality.

[gluion]

HII 24, 48, 49, 53 FOR THE ASK GAME !!

hi hi kimchi!!! thank you so much for sending in an ask <3 i apologize for how long this will be LOL but i hope enjoy hearing my silly kpop thoughts heheh

24. your favorite debuts?

hands down, i love boynextdoor's mainly because their debut at least strayed away from the trend of boycrush music that's been happening in 4th gen grps, and it felt like a good way to start the 5th gen era. i also LOVE zb1's debut because the masterpiece that is youth in the shade as an entire album. i wasn't considering to stan zb1 mainly because i've had my fair share of survival show groups but literally sooo fucking good i couldn't help it. loona's debut will always hold a special place in my heart because the whole "girl of the month" concept really was sooo good. i remember when i first heard chuu's heart attack and i was sold. i stayed with them since. txt's is also my favorite. even if im a predebut stan, the way they really had such a distinct sound from debut that followed them until minisode era.... love my txt boys special mentions to golcha's damdadi, newjeans' debut, wannaone's energetic, and nct dream's chewing gum

48. a kpop group whose concert you MUST attend in your lifetime

boynextdoor! not only just because they're my ult group but they have been the only group (aside from bts) where i was okay to watch them over a day6 concert. and that's a huge deal to me. a lot of my friends know i've given up other kpop concerts just to watch day6 regardless of how many times ive seen them, but bonedo has been the only group where i felt like i can watch them over day6. (it's never happened with past ult groups like svt, nct dream, or tbz like its sooo srs to me if i would be okay watching another group over day6... my forever ult group for life)

49. your favorite kpop songs from this year (2024)?

THE ENTIRETY OF BAND AID ALBUM. I LOVE YOU DAY6. i literally could not stop listening to it. its such a perfect album personally because i have always been a big lover of their more rock-leaning tracks. i am literally still struggling to rank these tracks like i love that album to Bits. but special mentions to monster and counter like wow. i can ramble on and on about day6 but i wont. (like. theres a reason why my user is GLUION.) happy and get the hell out by day6.... wow i just LOVE day6 im sorry but literally saved my soul. fourever saved my soul it did. come back to me by rm really did genuine emotional damage to me. like i love the whole right place, wrong person album but that track in specific has such immense impact on my soul and i think its because the mv reminds me of myself. the entirety of the TRIGGER ALBUM BY THE BOYZ. BUT ESPECIALLY slip away and re-wind by tbz is so fucking good like i am still so gagged. honestly THE WHOLE ALBUM IS SOOO GOOD. it is one of my highly rated albums from this year. ist went all out because they know tbz is leaving LMFAO. good so bad by zb1 is like textbook defintion of a day6 track filled with youth and nostalgia but more pop. like if you listen to it, you will UNDERSTAND. i cried to that song because the production of that track is so day6. i also fucking LOVE insomnia like its the perfect bside imo like i went crazy in the concert and i always go back to it killin' it by p1harmony was also sooo good. that went platinum in my household. i love piwon sooo fucking much. le sserafim's crazy honestly such a banger track. i am still listening to it. i am still at the club. i love that song and literally just been a fan of ssera's sound also love love LOVE riize's impossible, lucky, and boom boom bass. i love house music, and boom boom bass was stuck in my head for a good chunk of my life. i love riize. special mentions to yoyo by rescene, supersonic by fromis_9, crazy by le sserafim, love wins all by iu, and dash by nmixx

53. tell me your unpopular kpop opinion!

omg crazy take but people need to stop killing people over album/music preferences. like sorry but music is subjective and youre not better if you like all or none. like SORRY!

[bookaddict24-7]

REVIEWS OF THE WEEK!

Every week I will post various reviews I've written so far in 2024. You can check out my Goodreads for more up-to-date reviews HERE. You can friend me on Goodreads here.

Have you read any of these? What were your thoughts?

___

345. XOXO by Axie Oh--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Some of my friends had read XOXO a few years ago and had really enjoyed it, so I was both excited and wary when I started this one. I went in completely blind and I was pleasantly surprised by all of the tropes--moving to a wholly new place for school? Meeting a Kpop Idol that is otherwise unavailable, but somehow still falls for the MC? Befriending the unfriendly girl who is secretly a cinnamon roll?

Yes, please, and thank you!

And not only did those tropes exist, but of course our MC meets the guy who ghosted her in this random arts school. It was just so much fun seeing these two fall for each other, while also navigating the difficult world of Kpop idols and romance. It genuinely felt like a K-Drama in a book and gave me those same fun butterflies I get when I know I'm going to enjoy whatever I'm about to watch/read.

I was heavily reminded of how much I am NOT a young adult anymore by some of the choices the MC makes as the book progresses--like prioritizing the boy over her own needs, which I know is a good lesson for teens nowadays to not do this, but as an adult with hindsight, I can see how easy it can be to fall into a relationship and situation like this.

But this book was more than its romance. XOXO had some great friendships and explored a very complicated generational relationship in the MC's family. Her mom was a single mother who is a workaholic trying to give her daughter everything she needs, but is also a woman trying to escape the grief that plagues her. And even though she has her reasons for staying away, the MC's mom returns to South Korea to take care of her estranged mother (and I LOVED seeing that relationship between the grandmother and the MC). The relationship between the two was an interesting parallel to that of the MC and her mother because they also have a relationship heavy with miscommunication and distance.

There is also a highlighting of identity and what it means to belong to two different worlds, but still identify with both--even if you're still learning about one half of you.

XOXO was a fun read for its romance and friends and travel and tropes, but it held its depth in the relationships explored and the examination of complicated familial relationships and, ultimately, the power of grief--both in the actual loss of a loved one, and the aftermath of that emotional storm.

___

346. Sanctuary by Paola Mendoza & Abby Sher--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Once upon a time, a book like SANCTUARY would be one of those dystopian stories that would have sat well with all of the other big names that came out in the early 2010s. But now reading SANCTUARY feels like one of those stories that is a little too close to reality.

And I'll be honest, sometimes those dystopian novels that are one or two decisions away from becoming a reality are the ones that really keep me up at night.

Incredible, jarring, emotional, and traumatizing, Mendoza and Sher have created a book that I think should be read by everyone. We all watched the news as families were torn apart in the States by drones in suits that loved to exert power. This is the perfect story to remind readers that this horror has happened and has truly hurt many, many, many people. It was incredibly powerful and heartbreaking--especially as we watch the teen MC trying to keep her brother safe in her ever-worsening world.

This isn't the first book I've read like this and it definitely won't be my last. I think these stories are important and must be added to every TBR to help with empathy regarding the topic of immigration and those fleeing from a place that threatens to steal their rights.

SANCTUARY has many layers, but one of the ones that hit me the most were the people the MC and her brother met and lost. Their lives were transient for the majority of the book, but these people they come across each pack a punch. If these characters were real, I know they would be haunted by the memories of the people they met along the way.

Again, this book is NOT an easy read. It is gritty, real, and heavy--that's why it's so important. But sometimes the hardest books are the most impactful, poignant, and timely books.

I'd recommend this one, along with SOLITO, WE ARE NOT FROM HERE, and OUR MISSING HEARTS.

___

347. Sandcastle Beach by Jenny Holiday--⭐️⭐️⭐️

In my opinion, SANDCASTLE BEACH is the weakest book in this series--which is sad because it had the potential to be the best one of the whole series, especially because of how much build-up and hinting there was in the other two books.

As a result, this was just okay.

I almost DNF'ed this addition to the series a few times, but I continued because I truly did want to know how this couple got together and overcame their differences. And though it wasn't a favourite, I'm glad I did continue because I ended up actually enjoying the second half of the book. This was truly a slow burn romance and though I normally adore these, this one lacked that cute spark the other two books had. I didn't feel that urgency to read their story, or those butterflies in my stomach I sometimes get when I know a story is going to be great for me. My main issue was probably this lack of spark because it held me back from getting invested in the story and that's probably where that urge to DNF came from.

But despite the lack of a spark, I did like how these two characters ended up coming around to liking each other. Every bitter word, petty argument, and moments filled with sexual tension led up to some pretty fun scenes. This is one of those couples that takes a bit of work to fall for and whether the story pacing and mood was meant to mirror that or not, it inadvertently made me feel the way I did. It was like I had to actively work through my disinterest to finally see the potential for these two characters.

I did like the communication and how quickly things would be resolved, and the romantic moments were sweet. Like I said, once I got over the midway hump, I was finally all in with this couple.

I'm sad to see this Canadian series end, but I am also very happy to finally be able to take them off my to-read shelves!

___

348. The Pretender by Katherine Applegate--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I think that this one might have been one of the most in-depth books in the series so far, especially when it comes to the exploration of the emotional health of one of the more affected characters. Also, that twist...WHAT. Probably one of the bigger and more emotional ones of the series, too.

But while I liked how we got so into the mindset of one of these characters (maybe even to the point where I find it hard to have thought that this series didn't grow up alongside the readers back when they were first releasing), there were definitely still parts that made this feel like a filler book. Although I'm sure many of the reveals in this one will lead into bigger topics later in the series.

Also, this was, of course, another great example of how anti-war the author is and how timely it really, really is in today's current political and social climate. I think one or two or a few world leaders would benefit from reading this series.

Will of course be picking up the next book!

___

349. The Dangerous Convenience Store Vol. 4 by 945--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

THE DANGEROUS CONVENIENCE STORE is probably one of my favourite on-going series right now. These two have so much dang chemistry and I am always hoping that they can get over all of the hurdles they face so they can have their own version of happy ever after.

This series is usually super spicy--sometimes a little too much of the spice, tbh LOL--but this volume didn't have as much as usual because it focused so heavily on the complicated emotions between the two and the very dark past of the older MC.

I really, really liked this volume. It taught me so much more about the brooding MC who always keeps his secrets so close to his chest. It helped me understand him so much more and how much he truly cares for the other MC. We also see that sometimes love might overcome the morally grey situations in a darker life.

And that cliffhanger? Excuse me? Well, good thing I have volume 5 preordered.

___

350. The Passing Playbook by Isaac Fitzsimons--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

THE PASSING PLAYBOOK was a bit of a refreshing read because a lot of the LGBTQ+ books I read in YA featuring Trans characters are usually really traumatic. I liked that this book featured a character who had a supportive family (even if it was to a fault) and that he was a younger teen (a lot of the others I've read feature older teens). This book was one of the first that I've read in a while that actually felt like it was really for younger teens. I find that a lot of YA books are geared towards mid-to-older teens. That awkward stage between 13-15 is sometimes bypassed in favour of what the 16+ teens might want to read. That representation matters.

This isn't to say that there weren't some tougher scenes to read--especially as the MC navigates his new world with new people, and consequently, the lives of those new people he meets (and falls for). I think it was especially poignant to show the contrasts between the MC's family and his love interest's family and how complicated it can be for a teen stuck between the family and religion he is a part of and the very problematic and dangerous beliefs they harbour.

I liked that the MC had so much support, but that he also had to find himself and his voice in his journey. And because he is so young, he has so much more to discover about both himself and the world that awaits him.

I loved the characters and the roles they played in the MC's life and how even the most supportive people (his parents, for example) can be wrong. We are all flawed and all have the opportunity to grow, but this book shows that it isn't a smooth process--it's a journey full of mistakes, understanding, and learning opportunities.

___

351. Carnal Urges by J.T. Geissinger--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I liked CARNAL URGES more than book one, simply because it was easier for me to believe that this FMC would fall for this killer. Also, I liked their dynamic a lot more. They worked off each other a lot better than book one. And it didn't feel so insta-love.

Also, the MMC? Sounded really attractive. LOL. Not even going to lie. I liked that there were quite a few layers to him that he hid really well from everyone (including the readers) until it was time to reveal them.

The FMC was so entertaining and I loved her outspoken personality. She was one of my favourite characters from book one, so when I learned this book would be her love story (after she confessed she didn't believe in falling in love), I was doubly excited. She didn't disappoint! But I especially liked that alongside her sassy and no-shits-given personality, she was also kind and intelligent.

I was thoroughly entertained by this one. There were some pretty great surprises I didn't see coming, but I liked how this couple worked through it all. There was a level of understanding and communication between them that immediately further endeared me to them.

The spice was SPICY, phew. But it also wasn't everything. There was actually substance in this one, which I love in my romance books. It was very much a reminder that this is the kind of dark romance I like. The chemistry between these two? Yes, please. AND there's an age gap? Yes, thanks, papi.

Needless to say, I enjoyed this very much. I laughed, had to fan myself, and had small moments of anxiety as shit hit the fan. Read this series if you want a dark romance that isn't super dark, but still has bad boys, mafia, and mob love interests.

___

352. Attack of the Graveyard Ghouls by R.L. Stine--⭐️⭐️

I don't even know.

The concept was interesting, but it just...didn't really strike a note with me. I think it would have been more interesting to me if of the decisions made weren't so questionable, or if the beginning part wasn't so rushed.

Also, the adults were annoying again. I don't know why it's always so popular to make these parents so unwilling to listen to their kids in middle grade books. I think that part was the main thing that I disliked about this book.

I can, however, see how this would be a creepy read for a lot of people--especially younger readers. I definitely would have been scared of this one if I had read this as a kid, but as an adult, I REALLY had to suspend my disbelief LOL.

___

Happy reading!

[solarwynd]

Could you please enlighten me on PJM lore? Clearly PJMs are the most organised solos, not just in BT5verse, in probably all of kpop. I have been a pop fan for over a decade to see and know a group when they sorted and good at supporting an artist. PJMs are very much similar to Ami, which isn’t surprising (most of them came from there) and remind me almost swifties or barbs. How did they get so organised?

Ps. I am a solo Stan myself. I have only ever liked JM, and Hobi. The rest is bleh to me.

I’m still fresh-ish over here so I couldn’t really go into detail on pjm lore. But jimin being ostracized by armys and the company are always gonna be the main reasons because we knew we’d have to pick up the slack. His journey is very similar to how bts’ was initially just on a soloist scale. (And probably even to a worse extent imo.) It also definitely helps that a lot of us used to be armys and were for years beforehand so we know the ins and outs.

I think out of all the major solo fandoms I’ve come into knowing, they all suffer because 1. either the fandom is too small to make a dent, even with organization or 2. the music doesn’t hit (which is the case for 80% of these idols) and because the music doesn’t, they have to rely on other means to get whoever they stan to a better position. The fandom might be big too as well, but no one’s interested in streaming the music. Which is why they always have turn to something else to fill that disinterest. Fashion, acting socmed engament etc.

The comparison to barbs and swifties is interesting though. The organization on the barbs end i get, but for swifties I don’t think they’ve ever needed to be tbh. They have the luxury of being able to sit back and not have to be on their toes. Her core fanbase could stop streaming all together and she’d probably still pull similar numbers cause she’s the most GP artist out there right now.

[studentcarat]

Is SEVENTEEN Worth Seeing Live?

Short answer: Absolutely.

Am I going to sound biased? Probably. But I fully believe that even if someone who was not into K-pop went to a Seventeen concert, they would enjoy themselves. Seventeen has amazing energy and you can truly see their passion of performing and of their music. Seventeen is at a place in their career that we have seen other groups stop trying as they know they have a strong fanbase, but Seventeen continues to put their all into everything that they do. They sing very well live and not to mention they are dancing while doing so.

Most people who follow kpop know that or have heard that Seventeen is considered one of the most synchronized groups in regard to their dances. Let me remind you that there are 13 of them and yet they all move as one. Seeing them dance is very satisfying and you know you will get a great performance from them.

Their dance and performance is a big reason why I got into them in the first place. I have really big respect for those who look like they enjoy performing and you can really tell that all of them love what they do.

As I said in my first post, I was lucky enough to get to see Seventeen twice. I saw them at K-Con NY 2019 and then their Be the Sun Tour last year in Newark. For K-Con unfortunately Seungkwan was not there, so the Be the Sun Tour was when I was able to see all thirteen of them! Again, I find myself very lucky because some members were getting Covid-19 but they were all able to perform at their last stop in the United States.

When I tell you my jaw was just dropped the whole time for the concert... yeah. Literally speechless. Their energy and passion just shines and it was so shocking to me that I was just in the same space as them though far away. It was so hard for me not to scream the whole time as I hate the sound of my voice and would rather not hear myself with the many videos that I took.

Seventeen is a group that I would 100% see again. I would even consider getting a closer seat as they do great fan interaction throughout the show.

To sign off this post, I have added some of my concert pictures and a video of part of their opening song!

[boysplanetrecaps]

Boys Planet: Unaired, unaddressed auditions, reviewed

Hey there. So, these are the auditions that we didn’t get to see more than maybe 1 second of, if at all. I’ll let you know what I think of them, and/or give you info to aid you if/when you watch the videos yourself on Youtube. When I give an age, it will be in the international system; when I say “currently ranked,” I mean, as of the end of Episode 1/ beginning of Episode 2. Here we go!

Attention

The performers: 

Seo Won is 22 years old and currently ranked 18.

Jang Ji Ho is 18 and currently ranked 72.

Both are in the nugu group NINE.i, which debuted in March 2022. Winnie, the Thai idol who performed in Kokobop with Nice, is also in NINE.i. 

Seo Won -- that’s his full name -- is a dancer, per kprofiles dot com, and is apparently really into makeup, so there’s that.  Jiho is a rapper and is the younger brother of Go_U from Blitzers, if you follow them. If you’re wondering, Winnie is listed as a rapper. So none of them is known as a vocalist. 

The Song: 

Attention by New Jeans, which was the song of the summer for me in 2022. Fucking love this song. I actually am not wild about most New Jeans songs but I could listen to this every day and never get sick of it. 

My take:

I love the song, and I respect what they were going for, but this performance didn’t work out. I’m evaluating them as much for the practice video as for the actual Star Level Test (SLT), because they did much better in the practice video, and we know they may have been completely exhausted during the filming of the SLT. 

One big problem in the official SLT is that they transposed it to a new key and then the boys couldn’t find the note to start with. It was all wavery and wonky. I don’t even know what note they should have started with, but not that note. I’m not even sure whose fault it is. Considering, however, that neither of them has a vocalist position in their group, I actually think they have vocal potential. 

It’s especially a bummer because I think they could have killed it if they had just started on that right note, and it looks like they were maybe doing something interesting musically. I actually really like how it sounds in the practice video -- it’s kind of cool. 

As for the dancing, Seo Won was noticeably better than Jiho. He does that body bend to “Attentionnnnnnnn” much better. His angles are sharper, he has more power and looks more comfortable on stage. 

Side note: I am super over what I guess I’ll call “Blood Sweat and Tears” style choreography in Kpop. A great example of what I’m talking about is the choreo for “Sugar Rush Ride” by TXT. Love the song, love the guys, hate most of the choreo. It’s all that shoving your arm forward, touching your body, touching each other, putting your hands over each other’s eyes, making it seem like you’re using magic to move each other’s bodies, all that shit. It was perfect in “Blood Sweat and Tears” and now I wish it would cease. More importantly, whatever they were trying to do didn’t fit the spirit of the song. It reminds me of when Lovelyz did a weird “sexy” version of Achoo for Queendom. It was a big mistake. You have to honor the lyrics of a song -- if you do a different version, there has to be a reason. 

That’s not exactly their fault, though. I bet they prepared this themselves, without any help from an agency or choreographer, and while it interfered with my enjoyment of the performance, I’m not going to ding them too hard for it. 

The judges said:

Seo Won 3 stars ⭐⭐⭐ 

Jang Ji Ho 2 stars ⭐⭐

It seems fair to me, actually.  

It’s weird because this was presented in the show’s editing as if it were terrible -- we in the audience saw Jiho getting his 2 stars, not Seo Won getting his 3 stars. MNET!!! :: shakes fist:: 

Should you watch it?  

I’d watch the practice video instead, in which they both sing so much better. If you watch it, Seo Won is in the purple and Jiho is in the gray. 

Bloom Bloom 

The performers: 

Cha Woong Ki age 20, currently ranked 10. He used to be in T01 under the name Woongi, where he held the position of “vocalist.” 

Oh Sung Min age 21, currently ranked 17. He used to be in T01 under the name Jerome, wher he held the position of “vocalist/visual”. 

They’re both signed under WakeOne, just like the team that did ATEEZ’s The Real, and the Global Team with Min, Hikaru, and Anthonny, who did Glitch Mode. They’re actually the same age as or older than all the members of The Real, but are dressed to look cuter and younger. I don’t know why. Sung Min in particular looks much better when he’s styled to look his age. 

I mean.

Quick note on T01: 

This group was the result of a survival show called World Klass and was originally known as TOO. They had some rough times and were treated really poorly by their agency, there was an agency dispute, they changed their name, etc. You just get a bad vibe from the whole thing. But TOO had potential. I think their cover of TVXQ’s Rising Sun for Road to Kingdom might be one of their finest moments. If you want to look for our two trainees, watch the bottom left corner where the singer and lyrics are shown. Sung Min’s stage name Jerome looks like this in Korean: 제롬  and Woonggi looks like this in Korean : 웅기 

Oh, and Pentagon went on Road to Kingdom, as well, which means that Hui has likely met both Woong Ki and Sung Min before, if only briefly. 

The Song: 

Aww, Bloom Bloom pow! It’s a cute song and I’ve always liked it. But like most songs by The Boyz, it’s a bit too high pitched for most boys to sing comfortably. Spoiler alert, I guess. 

My take: 

Quick reminder: Sung Min is in the suit, Woonggi is in the hat. 

They really throw themselves into it, bless ‘em, but at times I see fear in their eyes. For the first minute or so, Woonggi actually has better vocals, and then as he tires it gets worse and worse until it’s really sad. Sung Min, to his credit, executes a difficult vocal run at about 1:09 in. As for the dancing, it’s not bad, but doesn’t seem like the world’s most difficult choreo, and Woonggi gets really out of breath even though it’s only 90 seconds long. 

The judges said:

Cha Woong Ki 1 star ⭐

Oh Sung Min 2 stars ⭐⭐

Again, it seems fair to me, but pretty depressing for debuted idols who already won a reality show.

Should you watch it?

I’d say no. It made me sad. The practice video is moderately better, if you have the urge -- not nearly as cracky. If you watch the practice video, Woonggi is in pink. 

Freak

The performers: 

Han Seo Bin is ranked 70th.

Park Ji Hoo is ranked 47th. He’s the one who told Hui “I just got here!” in episode 1. He looks different here than he did there -- I guess he did his hair differently. 

Both are only 16 years old, and both are signed to H1GHR MUSIC, which is known for being focused more on rap. It’s home to Code Kunst, who basically never makes a bad song. So it makes sense that they’d rap for their audition. And it makes even more sense that JiHoo wouldn’t want to sing to Hui. 

The Song: 

I hadn’t been familiar with this song before, and it didn’t exactly catch my fancy. Sorry, Zico fans! I guess I’m more of a Loco fan. 

My take:

They’re not bad rappers, gotta say. I don’t know Korean nearly well enough to tell how good their pronunciation is, but their tone sounds ok to me. They also really threw themselves into their performance, acting out the lyrics, really going for it. 

The choreography isn’t necessarily super difficult but they make big movements and their balance is good. Seo Bin gives it more in the dance department, lifting up his legs much higher, making bigger reaches. 

The few lines they sing don’t sound great, but they’re here to rap. 

The judges said:

Han Seo Bin 4 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐! 

Park Ji Hoo  4 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐! 

I think I would have gone more 2-3 stars -- I’m not convinced they can sing on key, or do more difficult choreo. Maybe 2 for JiHoo and 3 for SeoBin. 

Should you watch it?  

Considering that the judges gave this 4 stars, maybe you should!

Gambler

The performer: 

Lee Ye Dam is 20 years old and is currently ranked 45. He went on the show LOUD, in which JYP and Psy both judged and picked their favorite trainees… and both of them picked him! He ended up picking Psy, and then getting eliminated in Round 7, so he did pretty well. 

He’s signed with LM entertainment, which was founded to manage former Wanna One members Yoon Jisung and Kang Daniel -- they seem interested in soloists, not boy groups, so it makes sense they’d want an all ‘rounder and that he’d audition on his own.  

The Song: 

This is the song that made me a Monbebe and was my most-played song of 2021, so…. yeah. Think it’s fair to say I love this song. If you’re not familiar with it, watch the dance practice for it -- it’s much better than live versions because one member got injured and didn’t perform live and blah blah just trust me. 

My take:

Jesus H Christ. YeDam goes out there and raps like Joohoney and then sings and dances like Shownu, all by himself. This isn’t an easy passage to rap, and this isn’t easy choreo to pull off, but he does it. Yeah, he started to run out of air here and there, he needs to work on his breath control, some notes were too high for him, but this was tough and he did amazing. Listen to the Space Council roaring with approval in the video. This was a really impressive audition. I think I would have given him 4 stars. 

The judges said:

4 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐! Sanity reins!!! 

Should you watch it?  

Fuck yeah. 

Love Scenario

The performers: 

Choi Seung Hun is ranked 46, and at 14 years old, is the youngest in the competition. His slogan, per his intake form, is “I’m not good enough, but I’ll do my best.” He has been an actor since he was 6 years old, and has acted in around 30 drama series and 3 movies between then and now, working steadily, usually playing the young version of other characters in flashbacks.

Jeon Ho Young is ranked 81, and is 18 years old. He’s also an actor, having appeared in 4 or 5 dramas and a movie. 

The Song: 

A classic, and for a good reason. One of those songs that after you’ve heard it a few times, you almost can’t imagine a world in which this song doesn’t exist -- as if it’s always existed. 

My take:

Oh, this is really bad. Ho Young in particular looks terrified, and little Seung Hun sort of executes dance moves without actually dancing. Ho Young’s vocals are actually pretty ok, if you listen past the terror. Seung Hun’s vocals were within range of the key, which is better than some of the other auditions.

I checked out their practice video and Ho Young’s vocals are much better there, enough for me to feel like 3 stars wouldn’t have been insane. But their dancing and performance is still quite stilted, especially for little Seung Hun. 

The judges say: 

Little Choi Seung Hun gets 1 star ⭐, and I agree completely. Like obviously not ready to debut, but not 100% hopeless.  

Jeon Ho Young gets 2 stars ⭐⭐, and again, fair. Someone who has displayed some skill acquisition in progress, though they are equally not ready to debut. 

Should you watch it?  

No, don’t bother, unless maybe you know them from their dramas. 

Lullaby

The performers: 

Jung Ho Jin turned 20 on Feb 27 of 2023, and is ranked 48th. His hobbies include eating and talking, and he used a ton of exclamation points on his intake form.

Kim Min Hyuk is 23, and ranked a sad 90th out of 93. He likes learning new things. 

Park Gwan Young is 22 years old and ranked 61st. He was on another survival show called Stars Awakening, and made it close to the end. His motto is, in English, “4 Seasons Boy 4 You!” 

*Jo Eun Woo* is 18 and has already left the show. I think he left really early in the process, so we don’t even have info on his initial star ranking. 

The Song: 

Possibly my favorite GOT7 song, or at least, quite high on the list. Check it out if you’re not familiar. There is actually a decently non cringey English version, too. 

My take:

Jung Ho Jin in the blue shirt was, to my eyes, a pretty good dancer. Decent footwork, good angles, I don’t know, it looked good to me. He had a maniacal grin the whole time, and I think he’d do well to dial that back, but I’ll take that over stone face. He also mouthed along when he wasn’t singing, which I guess isn’t unheard of in Kpop but I disapprove of it. His singing was very weak. I’d give him maybe 2 stars, mainly for the dancing. 

Kim Min Hyuk did ok, I think. He hit that first note perfectly, and a lot of the time he sounded ok, though fell a bit flat when he was dancing harder. He also took the term “ad lib” seriously and didn’t hit exactly the same ad libs as the original song had, which I don’t hate, but maybe the judges did, no way to know. His dancing seemed good to me. His biggest problem is I don’t think he smiled once -- he looked miserable. 

Park Gwan Young has the most stage presence, and looked like he was actually having fun performing. His singing was in the vicinity of the key most of the time and sometimes actually on it. His dancing and footwork looked good to me, though again I’m not the best judge of that. Arguably the best in the group. Maybe his experience being on another survival show before helped him feel more comfortable than the others. 

The judges say 

Jung Ho Jin in the blue shirt earns 1 star ⭐. Enh, I see why. 

Kim Min Hyuk with the actual adlibs earns 2 stars ⭐⭐ , which seems basically fair. 

Park Gwan Young with the not terrible singing earns 2 stars ⭐⭐ . Yeah, fair. He needs to work on his pitch. 

Should you watch it?

I wouldn’t bother.   If you prefer, you can check out their practice video -- they’re more relaxed and rested in that and their vocals are much better. I mean, based on that video I might have given Park Gwan Young three stars (he’s wearing a tie in the practice video). He’s got a charm to him, actually. 

Maniac

The performers: 

Haru is 17 and is ranked 53rd. He’s not signed with any agency, and claims to be good at vocal mimicry. 

Riku is 18 and is ranked 93rd, aka, last. He’s also not signed with an agency, and his motto is “I will charm you with a lovely figure.” 

The Song: 

It’s not my favorite Stray Kids song, and I feel like it’s a tough choice for an audition song, because no one can do Felix’s deep parts but Felix (or maybe Wyatt from ONF?). But they probably didn’t choose it.

My take:

Neither of them hit the vocals quite right, though Haru was a lot closer. Both of them were better at rapping than singing. I actually think their dancing wasn’t bad, and they did seem to commit to the performance pretty well. I can see why this wasn’t aired -- it wasn’t nearly bad enough to be funny, but not good enough to be actually good. 

Judges say: 

Haru is given ⭐⭐2 stars.

Riku is given ⭐1 star.

That seems fair. I might have given them both 2 stars, but Riku’s pitch was a bit too shaky perhaps.  

Should you watch it?  

Enh, maybe, I don’t know, probably not. If you want to watch it, you may have to search for “스타 레벨 테스트 maniac” to find it. (that says “star level test.”) 

UN Village 

The performer: 

Wumuti is 23 years old and ranked 49th. He’s been on a ton of reality shows before this -- 3 Chinese ones and 1 Korean one (Under 19 -- one source says he withdrew early, but someone else says he made it to the end, I'll be honest and say I don't know).  Here’s a promo photo from one of his early appearances, and no, I have no idea what he’s wearing. 

The Song: 

I’m an EXO fan so of course I love Baekhyun, but this song was never my favorite. I don’t have a good reason why. It’s fine, just didn’t stay long on my playlist. 

My take:

Wumuti says in his intake form that this is one of his favorite songs, and it was an ambitious choice. It’s a difficult song to sing, and he does a decent job with it, considering. His vocal color isn’t nearly as thick and distinct as Baekhyun’s is, so his performance will never compare favorably to the original. He also has trouble with some of the highest notes. However, I appreciate that he held a real microphone and tried to show his vocal abilities. There wasn’t enough dancing for me to evaluate, really, but I get the sense he at least has rhythm. 

Judges say:

2 stars ⭐⭐. I think they may have dinged him for his lack of dancing, because I think these vocals should have earned him 3 stars. He does a bit untrained -- I wonder how good he could be if he can work with Solji and the other vocal trainer and learn how to support his higher notes. He also needs to work on his vocal agility (ability to move through many different notes in a row). 

Should you watch it?  

I think so. He’s pretty good.

Veil 

The performer: 

Wang Zi Hao, from China. He’s 21 years old and ranked 29th. He claims his specialty is Krump.

The Song: 

Lay, as a sorta-member of EXO, has all my support. He’s charming and multi talented. This song doesn’t quite catch my fancy, I’m sorry to say, but I could see how someone else would like it. 

My take:

First off, can we put a hard pause on head to toe black shiny leather? Sigh. 

Zi Hao is a big fan of Lay, which makes sense, and you can see why he wanted to do this song. Still, it was an interesting choice of song for an audition, because it’s in a mixture of English and Chinese. I think it *should* be ok for a trainee to audition in a language other than Korean, but you very rarely see it. (It’s possible he sang in English the whole time -- I’ll be honest, I wasn’t sure.) His vocals seemed pretty pitchy to me. I think the dancing was good --  his movements were big and sharp and confident.

Judges say: 

3 stars ⭐⭐⭐ That seems high to me because of his vocals, but he was on key some of the time, so I guess they were a little kind. 

Should you watch it? 

I’d say probably not, but I won’t warn you away from it or anything.

Who

The performers: 

Lee Dong Yeol is 24 and currently ranked 26th.

Lee Hwan Hee is also 24, and ranked 38th. 

Both are members of a relatively nugu group called Up10tion; Dongyeol goes by Xiao and is the lead dancer, while Hwanhee uses his real name and obviously is the main vocalist. You’ll hear his Baekhyun-eseque vocals all through their tracks -- in the way that some groups have a “face of the group,” he’s the voice of this group. You probably don’t know their fantastic song SpinOff, but you should, it’s good. 

UP10TION debuted in 2015, under T.O.P Media, home to TeenTop (check out “To You,” find a dance version) and MCND (Check out ‘Crush.’ I swear, it grows on you). UP10TION, as the name implies, was once a 10-member boy group. Several of their members have terminated their contracts with T.O.P., but a few of those stayed with the group anyway, so there are 7 members active now. However, apparently a bunch more will see their contracts expire in March of 2023, so the timing here is pretty obvious. 

(Side-note: When will K-Pop agencies learn not to put the number of members in the title of the group? Imagine if Exo had been called like, Exo-12. Sigh.) 

The Song: 

Enh? It's obviously trying for that quirky, stripped down sound, but it’s so stripped down as to be just that bit boring for me. I can see why they’d want to do a song originally performed by a duo, but with this song, there’s nowhere to hide, vocally. It doesn’t suit Hwanhee’s voice, either, for some reason. He sounds best when he belts. 

My take:

This made me really sad. I would like to believe that Hwanhee can do so much better, because I love his studio vocals, and I know how tired and stressed they’d have to be. But it sounds so strained and painful. And then Dong Yeol sounds like… well, it sounds like he better be a really, really good dancer. Luckily he is. Neither was very presentational -- it was like watching a dance practice, not a performance. It really seems obvious that that bit in the choreo where one sort of tickles the other one on the chin, that’s the “killing part.” And during that killing part, Dong Yeol doesn’t actually touch Hwanhee. Look, I don’t care about skinship or whatever, I care about committing to the performance. Either do that move all the way, or don’t do that move if you’re uncomfortable touching each other.

The Judges say: 

Lee Dong Yeol gets 2 stars ⭐⭐ 

Lee Hwan Hee gets 3 stars  ⭐⭐⭐

Yeah, I think that is actually pretty fair. 

Should you watch it?  

Probably not. If you do want to, it’s really hard to find when you search for it, so you can use this link. It’s not that it’s atrocious or anything, but I just have to believe they could have done better -- or maybe they can’t, and that’s sad too. 

And on that somber note, we draw this to a close! Hope you’ve been finding this all useful and/or fun so far. 

Click here to go to first half of the ep 2 recap.

Click here to go to the second half of the ep 2 recap.

[theangryjikooker]

“I’ve dealt with JJKs before, but PJMs are a whole different breed of terrible. How does the sweetest dude of BTS attract these losers? "

While i was going through your posts, i saw this and it reminded me of something someone said on once. “ARMYs are called the worst fandom because of how willing they are to fight for and support BTS. PJMs are called the worst solos because of how far they are willing to go to fight for and defend Jimin”. I am not a solo and i have never sided with solos and their views but this made a whole lot of sense to me.

So many times, we human beings only care after the reaction and rarely the action that caused that reaction. Take BTS for example. For the longest time, BTS has been the punching bag of not only the kpop industry but the entire entertainment industry. Everybody and their mama contantly came for BTS unprovoked. All kpoppies gathered in their numbers to try and bring bts down cuz they saw that bts were thriving. Even when these boys were still struggling, the always had it worse and I believe they have only told us a lil bit of what they actually went through.

Over the years, the group gained millions of fans. Some who loved their music, some who loved their messages, some who fell in love with them cuz of their personalities, others loved them cuz they were relatable, and others, others fell in love with bts cuz they saw how these boys continued to push despite all the forces that fought against them. These kind of fans grew really emotionally attached to bts and grew some rather strong protective instincts towards the boys. They felt that they had to fight for and defend BTS when they couldn’t do it themselves. Think of it as a mother ready to do just about ANYTHING to defend her kids, that was/is ARMY to bts. Because of these, ARMY is considered the most toxic fandom and is probably the most hated fandom. Is it necessary because they are really toxic or are they just toxic to some pple because they defend the boys?

Now take a look at Jimin. Who is the one kpop idol who constantly get hate for literally just breathing? Who is the idol that has always been the easiest target for hate and vitriol by not only kpoppies but the other artist fans aswell? Who is the member of bts who gets the most hate from his own fandom? Who is the member who constantly get called the most derogatory, nasty and disgusting names on the internet? Who is the idol who got dragged on twitter with almost 50k quotes cuz of malfunctioning in ears? Who is the idol who gets horribly dragged by JJKs and taekookers for breathing next to Jk? Who is the idol who for years has been accused to rape, called a sex offender, an abuser, a pedophile? Who is the idol who is constantly accused of sleeping his way into the group? Jimin said he had to stay with pdogg for 10 months to work on his album and what did people say? Pple accused him of sleeping with Pdogg and bang pd. And they do this openly too without a care in the world.

Now it may seem like i am telling u things u already know but i am listing some of these things out cuz u asked “How does the sweetest dude of BTS attract these Losers”

This is not me defending PJms, cuz u wouldn’t catch me dead defending a solo cuz all of them could be nuts, but the reason PJMs seem to you and many others like the worst solos is the exact same reason ARMYS are known as the worst fandom. They will go to any length to defend Jimin and his sweetness and kindness is ironically the reason he has these “losers”. He has a solo fanbase that is extremely empathetic towards the things he goes through on a daily and the empathy they feel for him drives them to those lengths. Are they toxic as hell? Yes they are. Touch a mother’s child and she will kill you without a second thought! Did she commit a crime? Yes! Do you understand why she committed that crime? I don’t know about you, but I personally understand why she did.

I don’t know if i made a lot of sense but this to me, is the reason why Jimin has the craziest of the bunch.

It was a rhetorical question, actually. I’m aware of their motivations, and while they may have started with good intentions and have kept the good fight going, they literally have no idea how to turn it off and to whom that righteous anger needs to be directed. Instead, they get mad at anyone who doesn’t uplift him 100%, using metrics they think are universal when they aren’t.

Many people don’t think Harry Styles is the pinnacle of success or doesn’t deserve it compared to his former band mates, but you’ll find people and an industry who disagree. Fans need to get it through their thick skulls that this difference in opinion and perception exist and to let it fucking go.

Yes, of course it’s a great thing that Jimin had PJMs in his camp from the very beginning, standing up for him when others came raining down on him with a fury. Yes, we know that the type of comments Jimin receives is particularly nasty, but that does NOT give you a right to liberally attack everyone. The fuck?

And to anyone who thinks other solos are somehow excused because I’m not directly referring to them, I’m not. In fact, the whole fandom and adjacent fandom needs to take a chill pill. But naturally, I’m going to address the issue of PJMs because they’re the ones out* with their pitchforks for the dumbest reasons.

* Edited for clarity: Out at me right now. Of course I know all solos are being asswipes on social media because no one has anything better to do. But in my blog? It’s ALL PJMs.

I will say this again: this fandom (and others as well) is WAY too sensitive over their faves.

[cloudsspoke]

Random talks about the Arg NT 🇦🇷 : part 2 - Football & KPop, when my 2 fandoms collide

This is another random Argie talk, but before I get to write about them, first I want to mention my other fandom (outside football), which is KPop, as a prologue.

Yesung from the KPop group Super Junior is my first KPop bias, when I first fell into KPop hole circa 2013 (though I never call myself ‘ELF’, am just a ‘Cloud’, a Yesung-fan). It’s only after I became Shinhwa fan (4 years later, back in 2017) that I ended up 'left' football fandom.

Quick introduction about Shinhwa, they are the longest KPop group that ever exists, the one with no members changing, and never disbanding either. One of the reasons I love them badly is because the bond between members. The way they get closer with each fight (the members fought a lot, and I talk about real fistfight), at the same time use excessive skinship method (kissing, hugging, cuddling, getting naked together, having a bath/poop/pee together) to strengthen the chemistry, and it's been like that since their debut, back in 1997-98. The chemistry which makes the 6 of them a really good pairing, either in a form of a duo (15 OTPs) or a trio (10 pairings consisting of 3 members).

In 2018 this group celebrated their 20th anniversary with packed schedules, that's the major reason I skipped World Cup (other than all my faves played badly; The Dutch didn't even qualify, Germany's early exit and Argentina made you question the coach 'Why???').

After World Cup ended, obviously I still didn't bother to watch football (club-wise, I'm a fan of United and Juve since 2003/2004) because Shinhwa took away all my free time, considering so many stories they've had within that 20++ years and I was obsessed to learn everything about them.

But in the midst of busy fangirling over Shinhwa, somehow, I managed to watch Copa America 2021 semifinal, although I couldn't recall anything about the match, or the players, but my old tweet reminded me that I did watch La Scaloneta unconsciously.

Fast forward to this Qatar World Cup, tbh I only started to watch La Albiceleste until they played against the Netherlands (I need a good night's sleep more than football, so mostly just watched the highlights), and when they advanced to semis I watched their Prime “Camina a Qatar” docu-series, and just like that I am trapped.

It's like, initially I came to see Di Maria (my love since 2008) but ended up stuck with the rest of them. And just like years ago when I ditched football for KPop, now it's the other way around.

Call me crazy but I can't help to feel/think La Scaloneta bears several similarities with Shinhwa.

The way the Scalo boys bonded thru truco games ((jackstones, in Shinhwa's case)), barbecues, drinking mate ((for Shinhwa it's soju or beer)), and using profanities as a way to show affection, not to forget Scalo boys also give kisses and hugs, being playful/cheesy to one another (both IRL and on their SNS), every players is shippable (OTP material, I say), their brutal honesty and willingness to protect and defend the team, Scalo boys just remind me of all the things I love from Shinhwa.

And tbh I don't think I've seen a football team/group like this before ((maybe in the good ol' days of Barcelona. I read my old diary, and there I wrote 'this team is like family, no selfish/individualistic players at all)). But a good thing like this sometimes, unfortunately, doesn't last long, no matter how sure we are that these boys will stay solid like this forever.

This, I learned the hard way from Shinhwa. Even with the 6 of them spending 20++ years together, I used to be so confident their friendship will be eternal, that nothing can break the members' bond, turns out I was wrong cuz time and situation changed it little by little.

(Until today the group Shinhwa is still not disbanded yet, but they've been on hiatus since the pandemic, and only came together twice during the event of their members' weddings.)

Now let's go back with La Scaloneta. The way I see it, it all started with a good internal relationship between players, coaches, and AFA's long-time staff. That positivity, combined with Scalo's ability as their coach, helped them to play well on the field and won some games. The victories then generated public support in which boosted players' morale, till they had 36 unbeaten games, and earned 3 major trophies in just 17 months.

Post World Cup, now they are superstars. All eyes are on them. Enzo already stirred something between him, Benfica fans, and Chelsea fans with his transfer rumor. Lautaro scores a goal for Inter and toxic people won't stop talking shit about him because of his performance in WC, all the while praising La Arana Alvarez. Then there's this growing public opinion about Macca being too good to play for 'small team' Brighton, Dibu too good for Villa, Moli Rodri should leave Atletico, etc.

My question, when there’s a thin line between ‘supporters’ and ‘haters’ since people are so easy to judge, and so quick to switch sides, will that stuff affect them?

Today they all can say it's a healthy competition among players about who gets to play and who stays on the bench. But will tomorrow they say the same too? Especially now they are separated for a while, focusing on their club with each of them pursuing different goals, will they keep the chemistry intact once they back to Ezeiza, or will they start to act more individually as time go by?

That's why the more I fangirl over them, the more I actually feel anxious about the future of Scalo boys (especially if/once Leo no longer there), simply because I want to enjoy this happiness for a bit longer since it's only fair cuz we’ve suffered for a long long time.

[aizenat]

@giftinguava What’s funny is I’ve been thinking a lot about kpop and why I don’t think it will ever be a staple of western/international music. Despite how big it’s blowing up rn, kpop companies are going to try to market more aggressively in the west and it’s not going to work for a host of reasons. I mean, just the other day, one of the stylists for Twice dressed one of the girls in a QAnon shirt. Their complete inability to understand westerners is going to be their biggest downfall.

But even more than that, the FANS are the biggest thing in the way of kpop being able to blow up genuinely and organically. It’s great to love this music and have fun with it; I was a huge jrocker in the 2000s and it also helped me connect to my hs crush when I was young. And being able to play songs from anime and belt it out with my friends is some of my favorite memories.

But this attacking behavior where you literally can’t say anything other than staunch praise is psychotic. It’s literal mental illness. It’s funny because when I was young, being an anime fan was cringe culture but now anime is mainstream and most anime fans do NOT act like…that. Like don’t get me wrong, there are still issues and they’re not perfect. But I feel like kpoppies have replaced weebs as the cringe youth culture, and yet they have none of the self awareness of everyone seeing them as cringe.

Like, when I was an anime fan as a kid, because there was so much dunking on weebs, I always kept myself in check so as not to be “like that.” It’s why I’m not into shipping and fanfiction and don’t make anime my entire identity; it was self policing so that I never crossed the line. It’s why when I learned about cultural appropriation, I didn’t have to make major adjustments because I wasn’t doing that shit from jump. I was always respectful towards Japanese culture. I sometimes say Japanese words, but I speak more French when I’m saying random shit in another language lol.

But kpoppies don’t do any of that. They do whatever they want, say what they want, harass whoever they want, and think they’re valid. There is no “am I being cringe” question through their minds. Like it reminds me of big mouth and the season the shame wizard comes to town. Obviously you shouldn’t live your entire life in shame, but a little bit if it IS good. It’s what stops you from harassing people all in the name of stanning. It stops you from walking your partner outside in public in a leash. If stops you from making these things so un-fun for casual fans that they just turn away from it instead of indulging more.

And that last point is the biggest thing. This rapid behavior turns people AWAY from kpop. Some people might listen to a blackpink song and like it. Some people might see Twice perform on the Kelly Clarkson show or where ever and want to check them out. Some people may see someone share a dance cover if a llesserafim song and want to check out the original music video. But you make people disinterested when they can’t even add comments without fear of getting harassed and attack. Fans like this don’t make kpop fans look good; they make them look cringe and most people won’t engage with something that feels and looks cringe. They just wont. They’ll write it off as kid shit the 12 year olds will get over and then they’ll ignore it and move on. This current hallyu wave won’t matter in the long run for kpop (and other Asian) artists being able to make it in the west if we cant even criticize them without insane amounts of harassment afterwards.

[shadowetienne]

Etienne’s Top Fives of 2022: Kpop Edition - Boy Groups

We’re on to Boy Groups as I continue down my list from the roundup post. This has in some ways been the hardest category to narrow down, specifically the order of 2nd-4th and who got the 5th spot (there’s a reason I’ve got 2 honorable mentions).

If a boy group has had subunits or members doing things solo, I consider that part of the group’s body of work for the year as long as they’ve also done some full group stuff. If only a subunit has been active, they’d probably get considered a boy group for the sake of this, and if only solos have been active, then they’d go in with solos.

The list with representative MVs is under the cut!

There were so many boy groups that did at least something that I enjoyed this year, including some that I hadn’t enjoyed anything from up until now. I think that part of the reason decisions this year were hard was that this was just an outstanding year for releases overall. Here’s a list of groups with songs that stood out for me this year in about the order that I heard them that didn’t make the list below: Up10tion (“Crazy About You” / "What If Love"), Onewe (“Universe” / "Montage" / "Still Here"), Drippin (“Villain” / “Zero” / “The One”), AB6IX (“1, 2, 3”), BtoB (“The Song”), Nu’est (“Again” disbandment song), Kingdom (“Ascension”), Ghost9 (“X-ray”), Just B (“Re=Load”), TXT (“Good Boy Gone Bad”), MCND (“W.A.I.1” < first time I’ve liked one of their songs), Vanner ("Rollin"), E’last (“Creature"), Omega X (“Play Dumb” < first song I’ve liked by them), TheBoyz (“Sweet” / “Timeless” / “Whisper”), Golden Child (“Replay”), Epex (“Hymn to Love”), P1harmony (“Doom Du Doom” < first song I’ve liked by them), and CIX (“458”).

Honorable Mention: Stray Kids

“Maniac” https://youtu.be/OvioeS1ZZ7o

If you’d asked me a few months ago, Stray Kids probably would have been making my top 5 hands down. I saw them live and they were amazing! They did a lot that I liked early in the year musically. I... didn’t like Maxident and especially the MV for “Case 143″ at all though (there’s... one song I thought was OK on the album), and it probably impacted their place here. I still love them! They’re among my top groups, but I was reminded that their music is hit and miss for me. It is good going back and listening to “Maniac” and remembering that I do love a lot of their music. I really wish that Maxident hadn’t felt so rushed for me because it definitely dampened my appreciation of their overall body of work for the year. They are incredible live though! And I appreciate that I’ve gained friends both on here and in real life over them.

Biases: Han, Lee Know, Seungmin

Honorable Mention: Ateez

“Halazia” https://youtu.be/SszP3hlQ55Y

Ateez came into this year for me riding the high of “Turbulence” that is probably to date my favorite of their songs, and I had high expectations. Their music so far this year has been interesting, but noting has quite caught me the way some of last years releases did. They were in very tight contention for making it into the 5th place, thus why I have these honorable mentions. I am very interested to see where they take their music and storylines next, and “Halazia” (linked above) was probably my favorite thing that they did this calendar year, it’s definitely an interesting sound and it may honestly grow on me further with more listens.

Biases: Seonghwa, Yeosang

5) Cravity

This has been a killer year for Cravity! I loved “Adrenaline” and enjoyed “Vivid” earlier in the year. They had a song all in English that I liked with “Boogie Woogie” (a rarity for me, often understanding lyrics impedes me ability to enjoy songs that I like auditorily). “Party Rock” (above) was definitely my favorite of their releases this year! It gets stuck in my head, it’s so catchy. I definitely replayed it a ton right after it came out too! Cravity has flirted with being on these lists since debut, but I think that the last time they made it on one was their rookie year (granted, they’ve not been around that long). I think that they’ve finally started to hit their stride, and I’m really hoping for more of them embracing this sound!

Biases: Jungmo, Minhee

4) Oneus

I’ve liked them since debut to some extent, and I’d properly fallen for Oneus as a group with “Luna” last year, but “Same Scent” and the entire Malus album was kind of what tipped them over from a group that I loved to one of my top groups. I had Malus on repeat for weeks. They’ve had a rough go of the past few months (don’t really feel like talking about this, I do have opinions, but it’s not a conversation I’m interested in having at this time), but they’ve had amazing performances since then. And I thought that they couldn’t make “Same Scent” better than it already is, and then they just recently released the traditional version (https://youtu.be/pIVfLX8zW00 warning has flashing lights), and it somehow makes the song even better. I love how they use traditional instrumentation and sound in their songs somewhat regularly!

Biases: Seoho, Leedo, Hwanwoong (I am aware that’s over half the group, no I will not narrow it down)

3) OnlyOneOf

I’m breaking my own pattern a little bit by putting “ズルい女“ (their Japanese MV) as the representative song, but it was my favorite of their full group pieces this year, and I think that it shows their choreo and how they make music, even covers, their own really beautifully. The real thing that put’s OnlyOneOf this high on the list is their body of queer work with the member solos this year in the “be” / “undergrOund idOl” series. “skinz” was important to me conceptually, but it’s one of my least favorite OnlyOneOf songs, and I feel like “ズルい女“ is more interesting to me than “Suit Dance.” I like their songs as a body of work immensely in general though! For the biggest reason that I put them on here, see the “be” series:

Yoojung’s “begin” https://youtu.be/MBx_9nygxaQ

KB’s “be free” https://youtu.be/WkKU-9VnNRU

Junji’s “be mine” https://youtu.be/fzEZeQBvVA0 (close contender for being my favorite)

Rie’s “because” https://youtu.be/6u_nwPzf3pI (my favorite, I love this song so much)

Mill’s “beat” https://youtu.be/H6qN9QFrOJs

Nine’s “beyOnd” is upcoming early in January 2023

They are exquisite storytellers in their MVs, and they have committed to telling compelling queer stories. They have incredible cinematic references throughout their MVs, and I just can’t praise their work enough as a whole! I have made so many posts about their storytelling and queer elements in their work, if you want to see more of my thoughts on them, just go digging through my OnlyOneOf tag.

Biases: Rie, Junji

2) Enhypen

It’s funny to me looking back that Enhypen didn’t make it onto these lists earlier. I was aware of them, and knew that I had some connections to them that made them appealing to me. (The one that I talk about more is that I watched Sunghoon and followed his career as a figure skater, I think that he actually made onto one of my figure skating lists when he was in juniors. There’s another one that’s more important, but that I don’t talk about as publicly.) I love the sound that Enhypen’s been living in recently, but they’ve overall had a sound that I’ve enjoyed from the start. I am very excited to see how they keep developing in the future! While I linked “Blessed-Cursed” above as my representative song for them (I’ve been going back to it consistently since it came out in January, it well deserves the spot), I want to also emphasize how much I loved “One In A Billion” (https://youtu.be/_ATqY9GFRh0) and “I Need the Light” (https://youtu.be/Pfq37N3eA7g) both of which are (at least kind of) OSTs.

Biases: Jay, Sunoo, Jungwon

1) Seventeen

Seventeen have been my favorite boy group since they debuted, and they show no signs of stopping that trend any time soon. I’ve loved their releases this year, among them another solo from Junhui with “Limbo” (https://youtu.be/k0sKWlEhVRk) which was a change from his usual emotional ballad fare, but let him show off his dancing and make an MV that was just incredibly gender. I also have a new favorite Seventeen song, dethroning “Home” in it’s long rein, with “Shadow.” I got to see them live this summer, and Redeim only partially managed to capture me losing my mind over them performing “Shadow” live. Their albums this year have been spectacular, and as always, I cannot wait to see what they decide to do next. I hope that I get to see them live many more times in the future (and if you get the chance to do it, they’re an experience).

Biases: Junhui, Wonwoo, Woozi

I would love to chat about any of the groups on this list! I had such a hard time narrowing this down to 5 this year, and it probably would have been easier to do a top 10. There was so much good music this year!