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Thinking about how kpop idols engage with their fandom, & something I've not realized before when I was a casual kpop fan without being deeply into a fandom.

The parasocial relationship that kpop idols have with their fandoms is really foreign to me.

I assume it's not just Stray Kids, it seems like a regular & expected thing.

When they get asked about romantic stuff, they talk about their relationship with their fandom. It's the main source of inspiration, main motivation etc

lirazel

@lookitmychicken That is VERY common in kpop and in fact it used to be even more common. It's actually chilled out quite a bit in the past few years.

In the early aughts and 2010s, idols literally could not date. Contractually, but also because of fandom backlash.

When the fandom found out that my boy Myungsoo was dating someone, the backlash was UGLY. Fansites shut down. And that was a common thing--that example is just the one I happened to see up close. (Will I ever forget the footage of him crying helplessly about being "thrown away"? No, I will not.)

Anyway, I think the "our fans are our motivation/inspiration" thing is partly genuinely and partly fanservice. But it is 100% expected.

@lirazel
It feels so *wrong* that some people can call themselves fans while also wanting their supposed beloved idol to suffer.

How do they not see their own cruelty?

When I'm a fan of someone, I want every good thing to happen for them, including happy, healthy relationships of all kinds.

I want to believe that most people feel the same way. And the current horrible system is just a freakish aberration that's on the way out.

@lookitmychicken If you think that's extreme, the situation in the aughts was so much worse. There were these fans called sasaeng fans that were so much worse. Literal stalking--Jaejoong woke up one night to find someone standing over his bed. And one of them almost killed Yunho--they poisoned his water. Things have calmed down a LOT since that time. I'm sure that idols still deal with stalkers, but they don't have to deal with a whole stalking industry the way they use to.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sasaeng_

en.wikipedia.orgSasaeng fan - Wikipedia