#kpop essay

[nayeonline]

Why 'GLITCH' - KWON EUNBI Is The Greatest Song Ever Made

One of the most common arguments against k-pop that isn’t ‘it’s cringy’ is that it is the peak of capitalist pop culture, and the whole affair was solely designed to manufacture idols the teenage girls of South Korea (and now the wider world) will become obsessed with, and where there is obsession, there is money. Lots of money. For years there have been discussions in the online community about if k-pop has stopped being about the music; about what idols we think only debuted because they are attractive, as opposed to talented; about the companies that buy views and sell a hundred different versions of their groups’ albums to drive up sales. We say that all of this makes k-pop annoying, repetitive, and a vacuum for creativity, but then we scroll away and retweet the next twenty Wonyoung fancams we see. I’m guilty of this too, we all contribute to this system by buying the albums and liking the fancams and watching the music videos, because k-pop is fun and interesting and all encompassing. But sometimes, I get so caught up in the repetitive, standardised releases that I’ll tune into a comeback and it will absolutely floor me. K-Pop capitalism may not usually breed innovation, but this time it had. I was listening to ‘Glitch’ by Kwon Eunbi -  the greatest song ever made. (Yes, I’m being hyperbolic, modality makes for a boring essay)

Let’s begin with Kwon Eunbi herself. As I am sure you are aware, Eunbi was the leader of IZ*ONE, and since the group’s fateful disbandment in 2021, she joined Woollim Entertainment as a soloist. Eunbi is of course a highly talented and skilled dancer, but for me her real star quality comes from her voice. It is so unbelievably unique in its formation. Her tone is thin and soft and delicate, but her vocal power is incredible. This dichotomy in tone and power gives Eunbi’s vocal performance an almost uncanny edge, it has an aura you can’t quite place. In some songs, like her debut title track ‘Door’ this can be a hindrance - the listener is left wanting a more fuller tone to match the power of her range and the 1920’s-esque jazz instrumentation, but since her debut, Eunbi’s songs have evolved in such a way that every element of the production highlights and celebrates this quality, instead of trying to cover it up as ‘Door’ does. ‘Glitch’ epitomises this concept.

Generally speaking, mainstream K-pop production is rarely spectacular; a catchy bass line, some trappy percussion, synth melody in the chorus with a more subtle 80’s disco feel is the go to for many a kpop producer. ‘Glitch’ definitely involves elements of this, but employs them in a far more intentional manner. The song opens with an 8-bit video game-esque melody that briefly teases the chorus, then transitions into an extremely minimalistic bass driven verse mainly led by the vocal melody. The opening melody returns with some new snappy percussion, the layers build, the vocals get more frantic and fast, and the listener realises unlike most kpop songs that begin working up to the hook in the pre chorus, ‘Glitch’ has been building its layers since the first second. The synths stack up, the percussion quickens, everything is going a mile a minute and with Eunbi’s spoken ad-lib “It’s definitely uncertain, that’s who I am” the listener holds their breath for what they assume to be the inevitable and-

The wind is utterly knocked out of you. That full to the brim chorus you were expecting is not here, instead we get this bass beat that evokes a glitchy (ha) speaker, and Eunbi’s ethereal vocals. Anti-drops have existed before this song, but I reserve that this is the peak of the sub genre.

The song continues to add layers of production, the verses and pre choruses bringing more and more urgency as they go on. The most frustrating part to your average anti-drop song is that by the end of the song you are in the same place that you started in - they are so afraid to build as the song goes on. ‘Glitch’ is not fazed by this pitfall. The bridge is ethereal and half time, and the listener is struck with the feeling that something is brewing. Eunbi whispers “disappear”, and the wire snaps. Everything explodes in a technicolour paroxysm, and what was a vibey down beat song becomes wondrously anthemic. The release we have been building since that mesmerising introductory melody is here, and before you know it, it’s gone. Replaced by a lilting, indistinct melody that fades in and out of existence, leaving the listener in pure awe.

If you were to cut a single part out of this song, it would not work. That is the genius of ‘Glitch’, to listen to only a single part of it is to misunderstand the song; it is impossible to condense. In the sea of kpop songs manufactured to be in 30 second sound bites that go viral on TikTok along with the point choreography, ‘Glitch’ uses every second of its 3:45 runtime expertly and efficiently. And yes, I am aware that there was a #Glitch_Challenge, but I like to imagine that this was a feeble attempt at marketing from Woollim Entertainment, rather than something in the forefront of the minds of the highly talented producers. (They were Corbin (NEWTYPE) and TAK.)

If it hasn’t clicked yet, I really fucking love this song. I love its construction, its instrumentation, and of course I love Eunbi. She is such a powerhouse and her discography is so amazing. My favourite release from her is the ‘Lethality’ mini album, which includes ‘Croquis’ the mesmerising sonic sequel to Glitch that is also produced by Corbin and TAK. If you have never listened to ‘Glitch’ before, or you heard it once or twice when it came out a couple years ago, I would heavily encourage a listen; it truly hasn’t aged a day. And for the initiated among you, go check out both ‘Croquis’ and Eunbi’s latest comeback, ‘The Flash’. Or go stream her whole discography because it definitely deserves a listen. Thanks for reading, and if you have any K-pop related topics you want me to cover, or albums you want me to review, let me know in either the comments/reblogs, or in the requests section of my blog.

#eunbi #kwon eunbi #izone eunbi #glitch #eunbi glitch #kpop #kpop girls #kpop gg #kpop review #kpop rant #review #music discussion #kpop essay #glitch eunbi #kpop gifs #wonyoung

[redpiperfox]

I love Mera.

She never fails on a video essay of dissecting the obvious and sounding like a poet blessed by the muses while doing it. And she makes me think, which I find harder and harder to find in youtube videos (...or maybe my class of youtube videos has become stale and needs to be revitalized, idk)

This video in particular, did a brilliant job of laying out Itzy’s image as it’s given to us through it’s music videos, and called me out as writer by showing why we see the members in a certain way due to their music video coding. But more than being stunned that the characters I draw from them to write about, it validated and inspired me, and gave me direction for the personas I had created from their coding palette. It felt like a library archive, some secret wisdom I had stumbled on as a fanfic writer... 

Now. I don’t often stand to disagree with Mera. She’s brilliant at what she does, and I am learning from her every time I watch her videos. She’s much wiser and more educated than I, and it feels like an honor to sit at her feet and listen to her speak. 

...but I feel the need to be in defense of Cheshire.

The core of Mera’s video had been member coding. She took the cinematography and laid out how it presented each member-- a brilliance in the way that Itzy’s core of different and unique and self-confidence stemmed from individuality, and tangibly allowing the audience to feel that with each member. From the costuming, to the camera angles; from the sets to the storylines. The status quo can be rejected, and it doesn’t have to look the same; Ryujin the in-your-face, anti-authoritarian punk; Lia the queen bee, glittering high class in playfulness; Yeji and her feline maturity, aloof and unaffected; Chaeryeong with introverted confidence, girl-next-door, the quiet but no less strong (I... might’ve gotten emotional during this section); Yuna the teenage hero, pop-star-by-night, bubbly, comfortable-in-her-own-skin persona. If I started thinking too hard, I started wondering--

https://twitter.com/redpiper3/status/1610070731932553220?s=20&t=2N_36_XfCJ3X9zGrldQacw

But that’s besides the point.

After Mera properly dissected and laid plain the coding Itzy had debuted with, she laid plain the tracking of this coding through her eras: the debut trilogy cementing their image and personalities as individuals, being vital to their identity as a girl group; the costume era struggling at first and at the tail end, but experimenting with it in new lights, and finding a brilliant visual playground in MITM; and then the shortcomings of the newest era, which floundered in Sneakers, done right in Boys Like You, and seems to break coding in Cheshire, allowing them to seemingly evolve as a group, and take a new direction.

Now, I will not say Sneakers was anything short of a Mess. I remember being glamoured by the costuming and ideas for sets, and then watching on twitter as everyone tried to pin down what exactly JYPe was doing-- a historical concept? Tracking strong independence through the ages and... ending on a sneakers commerical? Was this a branding deal gone bad that they had to rescue?

It feels, after seeing the Cheshire album come out, that something unexpected happened after the ten months of preparation. Their japanese titles were nothing short of brilliant (chef’s kiss at Voltage and Blahx3) but the Checkmate and Cheshire albums were... haphazardly done in planning. I have my suspicions about them feeling like they were supposed to be a full album together... Sneakers would have been a brilliant promoted b-side next to Cheshire: a bright summer song for the group while still maintaining their growth and maturation with Cheshire. Further, their promotional styling being similar before the album release... is suspicious. I have a sneaking suspicion that making Mama 2022 their comeback stage, and having a single release of Boys Like You that played in a different genre and soundscape probably influenced the Checkmate release to be what it was. They needed something before they went on tour, and the Checkmate album-- minus a few gold tracks-- gave them plenty to work with, and prepped the audience enough for Boys Like You. Mera compares Boys Like You to Blackpink’s release of Ice Cream, for trying a different color and taste with the freedom of a western release, and it’s almost for that reason I think the company might have pre-emptively struck with Sneakers-- I’m not into Blackpink and their fanbase, but I think I remember the general reaction of the public being confusion and rejection of Ice Cream due to the strong ongoing themes the group had. And if Sneakers is nothing else, it’s a play with the public. 

Now, I am also going to assume that budgeting works like this-- Sneakers had expensive and shiny sets, and Mama pulled certain budgeting, and between time and money between a world tour and preparing for year end stages, the filming of Cheshire was just between a rock and a hard place. I... am probably wrong, but that’s the kindest assumption I can give to the company :)

So with all that in mind-- Cheshire.

Mera noted in her video that Cheshire leaned more into the flashy editing and the concept of “true or fake?” and group styling similarities more than their general member specific coding and the usual showing, not telling, of individuality. She thought the group is maturing, evolving, and doing away with their original debut codes to do it, seemingly meshing with the rest of 4th gen girl groups, but still standing out because they’re Itzy, and everyone knows them, and they’re on top of the generation anyway-- all of which I can agree with.

Something could be said about the company sending out feelers whenever they feel their girl groups are getting stagnant in concepts and want to try and mature them... something could be said. We won’t say it here.

I might have been a little too much in love with Cheshire. This is my sin-- the vocal maturity and the subtlties of it, the playing into each members’ vocal strengths, it all just makes me very happy and excited for the group as a whole and where they’re headed. 

And I can’t stop listening to the song. And watching the video-- first time through I felt... underwhelmed? And not I catch something new everytime I watch it, it truly a testament to subtlety and blink-and-you’ll-miss it messaging. The members don’t seem to own any place of their own, interrupting each others’ sequences and shots, until you watch through and follow each thread.

But when it comes to member specific coding, Cheshire seems to take what we know and play deep into it’s roots, and seemingly turn everything on it’s head as it projects us into the future of this group as it matures. Let’s go member by member, and each “cheshire cat” as they present themselves:

In our game show of discerning lies from reality, Lia has her little corner of comfort, like the princess she is. She’s playing with practical illusions, things that can only be see properly from the correct angle, and she’s playing with facial expressions that make it hard to pin down what her intentions are or how she’s looking at us. There’s something cynical and mean about her from her first scene... darts fall into her set and we’re brought to Yeji’s set.

Later, a piano drops and shatters in the middle of her set (another non-CGI effect) where she tells us she’ll give us a hint and she’s interrupted by MC Yuna, who’s telling us to watch closely. 

We move past the game show into the world of the cheshires-- Lia’s is surpringly calm next to some of the other members, giving a disinterested vibe through a computer shot. 

But the important scenes are the ones we end on, where we revisit the members in their initial solo sets, and Lia is lying on the couch, everything a mess around her, and we dive into her mind through her ear. There’s rubble falling on top-- this is right before the piano had dropped. It seems like it’s going to drop right on top of her!... except we know from the earlier scene-- she isn’t there. Her final set shot is the piano destroyed at her feet, and her looking up from where we’ve been watching.

It’s just a trick. Lia’s played with us. 

Yeji has one of the more key roles in the plot of the music video, and unlike loco, they aren’t using the grand sets and obvious styling to scream CAT! CAT GIRL! CAT WOMAN! in our faces. 

They use the more subtle web-plucking.

She’s introduced top down on Lia’s set, and she’s throwing darts at a dart board, in a cute little set-up that spells out YOU. She’s hard to pin down, and she’s playing with the audience the entire time. She steps into the middle of Yuna’s curtains pulled back to peek into Chaeryeong’s scene, she’s popping on all sides of the frame in the office scene, and she’s the one who pulls the plug of this operation when the illusion goes way over our heads. You could even say she’s the top down shots looking at Lia-- maybe she dropped the piano herself.

Yeji’s running this operation. 

Out of all the girls, she’s the one who’s directly looking into the character, directly taunting the viewer, deciding when they’ve gone too far into the illusion, when they haven’t looked close enough at one of the girls’ sets, and takes the final bow when all the trickery is finished. She’s in front of the target, twiddling the dart like she could do this all night. She’s the final playful shot before the cat tail teases us, and she’s pulling all the strings.

Ryujin’s speeding down the freeway in her truck, and nothing’s going to stop her.

...except she isn’t.

She’s the first one to tell us it’s not real, her car parked, stand-still in front of the set, as she rolls the windows up on us. Windows, it can be noted, that are covered in stickers. This car isn’t meant for driving at all, but Ryujin doesn’t care.

Ryujin is the cat that spoils the ending, the first to make us question everything. She’s the second computer screen, who deletes the background and shows us what’s fake and what isn’t in their MC group dance shot-- and it isn’t much! Only the question marks and arrows, that had been CGI-ed to confuse us on what was up and down, had been untrue. Everything else on set had been...

Then we get to her cheshire in the snow, and she’s not playing. She’s got an icy playfulness that’s asking “why so serious?” before Yeji pulls the plugs, and then she’s the one right in the middle of the gameshow, spinning the wheel and making us question every one of the initial solo sets. She knows, and she knows we don’t know. Her final shot is her sitting on top of her car, twirling her hair and smirking at us for trying so hard.

She’s taunting us. And she knows we’ll let her get away with it.

Yuna’s the hardest cheshire to pin down-- because she shows us her tricks right from the beginning.

She’s the one running the lights, switching us between the game show and the CGI transition to the cheshire snow world. She’s in front of the curtains, and we don’t know what her deal is, except for one unavoidable fact-- she’s moody. She’s either introducing the game show, or morose and haunting. We don’t know whether to be excited or scared at what’s about to happen, we don’t know whether being fooled should terrify us or enchant us. 

And Yuna wants us to remain in that uncomfortable place of not knowing. 

In her cheshire scene, she’s still playing with lights and shadows, and dancing like a teasing cat. It’s a little scary, but she tells us in this way “someone might find their path.” 

When everyone is playing their final trick, she doesn’t offer us a smile, only throws her arm up to present the acts before stalking off and letting us figure it out for ourselves. There are no light switches, nothing to hide or seek, just what’s before our eyes that we still won’t be able to understand. 

In her final scene, she laughs at us, but she’s not our friend. She’s almost looking down on us.

We’re not friends.

Chaeryeong probably lays it out as obviously as possible in her solo set.

She gets her own room, and not happy: she’s crying, doesn’t want to talk to us, and wants to lie in bed all day. Moving outwards, two members immediately clue us in to know that this isn’t true-- Yeji stands by the curtains pulled back, to show it’s only a set, and Yuna wears identical fake tears to Chaeryeong’s, only to pull them off and show that they’re fake. Chaeryeong even gives us a smile while she wears the fake tears.

Chaeryeong isn’t upset, we’ve just been manipulated into thinking she is. 

As a cheshire, she’s the one who makes us see “true” and “fake” for what it is. She shows a cheery doll can really be something plain and ordinary we’ve been made to believe is something of comfort, and playing catch can seem like a bomb thrown in our face.

Exaggeration and lies. 

She throws her bedsheet up to show she wasn’t even in the room in the first place-- the editing leaving her shadow walking out from behind the falling sheet to let the illusion properly register for us.

In her final scene, she’s having fun jumping on the bed and making a mess of the feathers and pillows, no tears on her face. 

She was actually having fun with it all. On her own.

Now what does this all have to do with anything? I haven’t proven or disproven anything, I’ve just spelled out what we’ve seen. Let’s draw some parallels--

Lia: preppy and pretty and playful-- check, check, and check. 

Yeji: in command and unaffected and mature -- check and check, and I’ll concede the maturity is a little muddled, but we’ll revisit that in a moment.

Ryujin: anti-authoritarian and punk -- well, you try driving anywhere with stickers all over your window. Or taking over a game show by driving your car right into the middle of it.

Chaeryeong: quiet, introverted but with an inner strength and self-confidence -- check, she certainly wasn’t trying to prove anything to us.

Yuna: teenage hero and bubbly and perfectly made for what she’s doing -- I don’t know if you’ve met a teenager, but they’re angsty as hell.

But she’s not quite the dalla dalla Yuna is she? In fact, scrolling back up, none of these are quite the coding of the girls we debuted with in the debut triology are they?

Now, here is where cinematographic coding and members’ personalities and company advertising could all blur, so I’ll only say this before we stay in the cinematography: I’d like to think JYP gives their groups as much freedom as Stray Kids gets, but you never know. But in a perfect world, Itzy played a hand in their own concept building, and their own very real individualities bled through to build their concept. But if it did or not, Dalla Dalla gave them sets and outfits, fit with colors... and then let them build the scene. The attitudes they brought, the way they commanded presence and attention? Music video building after that worked with the energy they brought to the screen. The confidence, the character, the individuality itself. And the girls have grown a lot in the industry and as individuals since then. These aren’t hot rookies with headlining reputations and everything to prove. These are women who’ve established themselves and been burned in their industry a couple of times.

Subtle maturity is a beautiful thing. 

Yuna is still perfectly made for what she’s doing-- only it isn’t showing all of her bubbliness to you. (Side tangent: stop chasing my girl for every little thing she does. She can say “bless me” and cover Love Dive without being put up against impossible standards, alright?) Being in the industry is playing your character close to your chest, and Yuna is made to be an idol. She’s no longer a teenager, but she’s every young girl you know, and she’s impossible to be, and someone only to look up to with awe. 

Ryujin is still the punk who sticks it in everyone’s faces, but now she’s got a driver’s license. She’s not playing your game, she’s making her own. 

Yeji is still mama cat, she’s still cruella, and she’s still the icon of maturity, targeted for the older age group. But she doesn’t need to prove it anymore-- she’s the oldest who’s taking care of everyone, running the show, and she can have fun while she does it. 

Chaeryeong is the girl-next-door, quietly confident in herself, and throwing the stereotype of what we think introverts are so much in our face, it’s almost as though she knows what we think, and has the confidence to rewrite that trope for everyone. (And I love her for it. Mera’s chapter on her in her video made me so emotional, we need to open the conversation about individuality and confidence and strength in the quieter people, and stop trampling over girls who don’t present the way we expect when we see powerful women.)

And Lia is still our princess. She’s got a more mischievious side that’s flaring more now than it did in Icy, but it’s there nonetheless.

The coding isn’t just in the styling, it’s in the subtleties of the members.

And it’s not the same as debut era, it’s growing.

Mera has another video I adore, where she praises Twice and their femininity. Twice as a group matures and their music evolves and tries to find where to go, but the feminine beauty of it remains the same at it’s core.

I think the same could be said of Itzy. Individuality was something they had to scream when they debuted, but now that they’ve told us who they are, and they settle into who they know they are, they show us the nuances and subtle beauties of individuality. 

Individuality doesn’t pretend to be anything for anyone, it doesn’t have to play all it’s cards on the table and show who it really is, it’s full of joy in it’s maturity, and while it can be fully rebellious in it’s own rights, it can also be full of life from the comforts of home, where knowing who you are and being strong in that is enough.

#itzy cheshire #music analysis #mera #kpop essay #Red's thoughts #written for the intellects but namely me the intellect who's actually stupid #NOT AGAINST MERA AT ALL I love and respect her #Just wanted to essay my love and appreciation for all the work put into cheshire that I've been able to unravel

[babyleostuff]

brain fluff rot. cause red hair sulky baby cheol is on my brain.

you were working at home because its a saturday. so while you and cheol is at home. he decided to be clingy while you do your project at your computer. he would pout tho when you stop petting his hair. (so beware!)

- 🖼️

i love your brain so much, how do you always come up with the fluffiest and cutest ideas ever 🫠

okay, so finally the day has come - you and cheol are both at home, at the same time, together. he has a day off, doesn't need to worry about anything (except for if he should get up at 4 or 5 pm or maybe stay in bed for the whole day), and he has a whole day for you and kkuma with no schedules.

except you decide to be a responsible adult and do some work which is so??? hello, he's right there, half naked in bed, all warm, bulky and cuddly, and you still prefer to work on your project instead of cuddle him in your bed. this is unacceptable, and cheol does not tolerate this behaviour.

you don't have to be looking at him to know he's pouting, with his lower lip jutted out adorably (do i have to mention his big sparkly eyes, begging you to come back to bed?). and oh my god, why are you so stubborn? he's been looking at you like that for the past hour and you still don't pay him even an ounce of attention. and choi seungcheol, general leader of seventeen, age 29 needs attention. a lot of attention.

at this point his hands are itching to touch you, like he's practically screaming "PLEASE HOLD MY HAND, BABY". eventually, he somehow succeeded in persuading you to come to bed with your laptop, mumbling something about it being more comfortable than your chair (even though he himself bought that chair, the most expensive one, to make sure it would be very very very comfortable and good for your back).

the second he covers you with the blanket his head is on your chest, and arms are tightly wrapped around you (he won't let you get away for the next couple of hours) (the rest of the day probably), and as a cherry on top he places your hand on his head clearly signalising he wants his head pats.

and you do just that, a bit amused with you boyfriends neediness. nonetheless, you keep patting his head, and running your fingers through his red hair strands that have already began fading, and stroking his cheek, and running your thumb over his hand that is resting on your tummy. all that to make up for the audacity to leave him alone in bed.

dare to stop petting his hair, though, and you're met with a very very whiny choi seungcheol, who starts talking in pout how you have betrayed him, and that you don't love him anymore.

this man just wants to be babied, i don't care if he's a hard dom or whatever - CHOI SEUNGCHEOL IS A SULKY BABY.

EXHIBITS OF POUTY RED HAIRED CHEOLLIE:

#this week has been very rough for me but writing this made me smile so much #thank you anon <3 #could really use a pouty and sulky cheol rn #clingy cheol is something i could write a whole essay on #seventeen #seventeen kpop #seventeen reactions #seventeen carat #svt reactions #seventeen imagines #seventeen x reader #seventeen fluff #seventeen x you #svt fluff #seventeen seungcheol #choi seungcheol #seungcheol fluff #seungcheol x reader #scoups smut #scoups x reader #scoups #cheol #seventeen scoups #seungcheol

[shua-ssi]

　　　☆ 🍵 𖥻 ＜꒱

　　　☆ 🌸 𖥻 ＜꒱

@h-ao

#[ꕥ] :: nymph oasis #seventeen #svt #useryenas #blue spring : event #wish i could write theses on mbs btw..... i have a whole essay planned for ehy this looks like this #what is a coffee date if not being bright and cute and the epitome of young love dates??? so ofc its nothing dark aes but more soft n cute #svt moodboard #seventeen moodboard #joshua #joshua hong #svt joshua #svtsource #hourlyshua #joshua moodboard #kpop moodboard #joshua icons #seventeen icons #svt icons #seventeen layouts #svt layouts #coffee date #spring moodboard #kpop #moodboard #messy moodboard #aesthetic

[sphericalbee]

#kpop #eunbi #kwon eunbi #izone #iz*one #chuu #kim jiwoo #loona #howl #loona 1/3 #red velvet #irene #bae joohyun #yeri #kim yerim #seulgi #kang seulgi #wendy #son seungwan #joy #ha sooyoung #chill kill #baekhyun #exo #underwater #polls #music #writing a whole essay damn #i think rv will win but chuu deserves this cmonnnn

[gaybearwedding]

hi hi hello i have been gone forever due to various reasons such as “work” and “mental illness” and “having developed a kpop hyperfixation that has been occupying most of my attention recently” but i need everyone to know that i saw off book live twice last week (in philly with a friend and then in nyc with my girlfriend) and it was truly so everything. i didn’t get many pictures but i did get a few and none of them are very good but one of them is of jess’ amazing stool balancing act and that’s all i need really

#flow of the rings a volcano story i love you forever and ever #tryin’ the musical i love you also #also i asked a question during the talkback at the philly show :] #if it gets released as an episode and you hear someone named will asking about the hedgefrog logo that’s me <3 #i want to be active on here more i miss it #i’m thoroughly enjoying being a little unhinged about kpop with my friend bee (the one i saw the philly show with actually) #but it does make a little sad that i haven’t been as fixated on zach and jess lately #they are still everything to me though don’t get it twisted #it’s very much a Special Interest TM so i will probably have other z&j phases #but regardless i do enjoy this silly little corner of tumblr #and i love that pibe has like Actual Fan Content now it’s beautiful #and i AM going to finish and post my malpal fic i PROMISE i just. don’t know when 😭 #accidentally wrote an essay in the tags whoops #anyway i can’t promise i won’t disappear again but i’m gonna try to be more active #mine #off book #play it by ear #pibe #zach reino #jess mckenna

[fcble]

THE PROBLEM WITH FABLE is a video essay uploaded to YouTube on November 19, 2023. Despite being the channel’s only video, it was quickly picked up by the recommendation algorithm and gained nearly half a million views in its first week. The half-hour video examines and critiques Fable’s concept. Sentiments in the comment section were almost evenly split between agreeing with the video’s premise, and 2000-word essays about how it's wrong. Three days after the video was uploaded, the comment section was disabled.

CHAPTERS AND SELECTED EXCERPTS

THESIS STATEMENT [00:37 - 1:04] … The problem with Fable has always existed. It’s built into their concept—the very foundation of any group. A single concept doesn’t have to be a bad thing, if a group can properly execute and then push the boundaries and truly explore their concept. Fable does none of that. They get on stage in their hanboks only to perform pop song 8265734—now with gayageum.

THE ONLY GOOD PARTS (WHEN THE QUALITY IS BAD?) [03:42 - 6:29] … Before we get further into the bad, there are two—and only two—parts of their Korean concept that make sense. First, Korea has become such a large part of their image that all of their endorsements and brand deals are with South Korean companies. Hell will freeze over before a single Fable member represents a Western brand or product. Second, their dedication to Korean song titles is unmatched. In a surprising power move, Zenith Entertainment usually refuses to provide English translations.

PROBLEM #1 [6:30 - 15:44] … The greatest problem with Fable's concept is their inconsistency. It's been five years and they can't make up their minds about what they want to represent. They cherry pick what they want to represent. An instrument here or an outfit there. Slap a traditionally significant symbol—tiger, magpie, persimmon—on the album cover and call it a day.

For Fable, Korea exists in a bubble, which is obviously not the case, eschewing centuries of cultural mingling throughout East Asia. Their album titles are sajaseongeo—four character idioms—with roots in Chinese chengyu and similar to Japanese yojijukugo. Far from unique. For another example, Confucianism plays a major role not in their music, but in their variety shows and other content. As the state religion and governing philosophy throughout the Joseon dynasty, it was obviously highly influential on traditional Korean culture and eventually Fable. But in their promotion of the ideology, they miss out on swaths of history. While Confucianism’s five constant relationships permeated every social class, philosophy and learning were restricted to the upper class yangban. Which of course, Fable loves to represent themselves as. They’re always kings and noblemen and scholars—without a single mention of the common people. 

Aside from ignoring social class, they also ignore half the population—women. It was, for lack of a better word, shitty to be a woman in Confucian society, and it continues to be shitty to be a woman in a society still strongly influenced by Confucian values. And yet Fable glorifies this past, where women were subservient to fathers and husbands and sons and not much more than property. To make matters worse, they do this all in front of an audience of teenage girls and young women. It’s doubtful that the people in charge of Fable’s creative direction and marketing have ever felt the touch of a woman.

PROBLEM #2 [15:45 - 22:39] … While Fable hasn’t figured out what they’re representing, they’ve certainly figured out who’s doing the representing. The treatment of their two diaspora members—gyopo, dongpo, whatever term you want to use—stands out from the treatment of the rest of the group. Andrew has expressed his frustration with not being able to participate in the group’s music as much as he wants to. And then there’s Mingeun. It’s impossible to talk about Fable without talking about Mingeun’s scandal at the peak of their career, when it was revealed that he had pretended to be a South Korean national for two years. That supposed secret alone should make it obvious that when it comes to the two of them, something is different. It speaks volumes about their goals as a group—fully Korean, for Korea, to the point where even diasporan Koreans don’t belong.

In an ironic twist, their refusal to entertain anyone other than “pure” Koreans becomes even more representative of contemporary Korean society. As the nation’s economy becomes increasingly more globalized, its social attitudes still remain firmly in the past. In Fable’s single-minded focus on Korean history, they continue to perpetrate such ideas. While one kpop group is not going to solve racism in South Korea—an issue deeply entrenched in their hermit kingdom past and the years under Japanese occupation—it becomes hypocritical for them to work so hard to export their culture while being intolerant of others.

CULTURAL REPRESENTATIVES [22:40 - 27:03] … No exploration of Fable’s concept and marketing would be complete without a mention of their nickname. In 2021, they became known as the “cultural representatives of kpop” by netizens. They've seemingly embraced the nickname since, if the way they've never switched up their concept is any indication. Which begs the question: why are they so intent on this direction? Kpop—with its idol culture inspired by Japan’s idol industry and the very industry inspired by the American one—is distinctly un-Korean. Kpop is instead a hybridization of cultures, with musical genres invented by Black Americans and its commodification of art invented by American capitalists. If Fable is really so intent on representing traditional Korean culture, then where’s the pansori song or sijo lyrics? Being the nugu face of the tourism industry—next to much bigger groups like BTS and Blackpink—is not enough. They need to do something other than appear in a Korean Air commercial and gush about how nice Jeju Island is at this time of the year.

SMASH THAT LIKE BUTTON [27:04 - 29:12] … The inconsistency and hypocrisy of Fable’s concept does more harm than good. They promote a glorified version of history completely inaccurate to the actual past to impressionable young people and kpop stans incapable of thinking for themselves.

If you enjoyed this video and want to see more, make sure to like, comment, and subscribe.

#╰ to be written in ink is to be immortal — [ writing. ] #ficnetfairy #fictional idol community #fake kpop group #kpop oc #idol oc #thousand word essay with a bibliography and everything out here what the fuck

[sicasole]

Why I Love Kpop (I think)

I’ve joked before that everyone who likes kpop secretly wants to be in a polycule, but like most jokes the more I think about that statement, the more truth I find in it. After all, kpop disrupts the way we think about homosocial relationships, and it often presents queer dynamics for its audience to ponder and sometimes even obsess over. Lately, (and by lately I mean for almost 8 years) I’ve been captivated by the question of why I and so many other queer people love kpop so much. The following is a stream-of-consiousness attempt at answering that question. I’ll be speaking from the perspective of a queer femme fan who listens to and watches mostly male idols, but of course I know this topic is richer than just this one dynamic. I don’t speak for all queer people or all kpop fans.

For as long as I can remember I’ve been listening to, performing, and analyzing music, but when I think about kpop, I’m thinking about it very differently than any other musical media. Because yes, kpop is about the music but it’s also about so much else. It’s about queerness and bodily autonomy and relationships both toxic and beneficial. I, like a lot of queer people, love fantasy worlds and characters because they present their audiences with beings who live outside the norm, people and places unbounded by logic and social constraints. They offer us an escape from a world that is unaccepting of our ever-expansive queer identities, and a vision of the possibility for a better one.

But kpop occupies this intensely fascinating space between fantasy and reality. Fans online talk about idols more like they’re fictional characters than real people, frequently speculating about an idol’s time away from the narrative their company puts out the way someone might headcanon a fictional character. These group narratives a company creates give idols an air of fantasy and mystery, allowing for this fan speculation to run amok on social media as they attempt to “fill in the blanks.” But kpop offers a grounding in reality that pure fiction cannot. Here exists a fantasy world you can really see and hear and walk through. These characters you project onto are actually real people.

So why do I love kpop? The answer changes almost daily, but lately I think it's because in many ways, kpop seems to be made to be enjoyed by queer people. The 20th century had gay men who were devoted to Judy Garland, and now we have the Jungkook lesbians.

Queers have always dominated fandom spaces. As people who are more likely to lack role models in our everyday lives, we’ll often turn to fandom media for guidance about how to love and how to be. I think “straight” mass media lately is obsessed with being “relatable” but queer people don’t usually relate to the narratives put out by the heterosexual media machine. This is why kpop is really appealing to members of the community. It’s overwhelmingly uninterested in being relatable, instead, it's aspirational. This parallels the queer self, who is often more invested in the journey of becoming than it is in running towards a more clean-cut goal like home ownership or a nuclear family.

But when I think about kpop, I also think about my own body and its autonomy (or lack thereof). I think about the performance of femininity. This feels a bit strange and vulnerable to admit, but a part of me has always been willing to hand over my body in exchange for love and devotion. This is the kind of transaction a kpop idol makes when they sign a contract. It’s easy to criticize when we see it put in front of us so plainly, but queer people (especially trans people) and those assigned female at birth have always been aware that they don’t entirely own their bodies or decide their actions.

Idols capture exactly the level of freedom I believe is currently possible for me because frequently as a queer person and a feminine person I feel like the only way I can be accepted and safe is if I offer up my body and self in a way that is sanitized and therefore marketable and commodifiable.

Queerness is more accepted today than it was even a few years ago, but there are still limitations to that acceptance. Queer people who remind the dominant heterosexual power structures of tropes and stereotypes are more accepted than those who are living their lives in active opposition to straight expectations. Of course, we know that stereotypes are oppressive tools used to dehumanize people, which is why the pressure many members of the community feel to censor their identities in order to fit into these tropes and stereotypes (while often done for their own safety) is especially demoralizing.

Kpop also relies heavily on tropes when it comes to constructing the narrative of their groups’ dynamics. We know that much of this is done to make the group marketable and commodifiable. But one positive is that a performative self can protect a kpop idol’s privacy from a world that demands celebrities provide their fans with an endless stream of details about themselves and their lives. In the same way, a performative self can protect a queer person from persecution.

This begs the question of how much someone can stand to perform an inauthentic self, even if that performance helps keep them safe. Lately, this is where I see myself most in the idol on my screen. Like me, I feel he is constantly engaged in a horrific balancing act, asking himself how much he can stand to inhabit a performative self for his own safety. Like me, I feel he is questioning whether an authentic self even exists and if it does, will its appearance cut him off from the audience’s love? Like me, I feel he is screaming for a way out.

These men have been locked into a performance their overwhelmingly queer and female fanbases are all too familiar with. Their personal and financial livelihood depends on their ability to appeal to their audience just as the safety of queer people is dependent on the way they are viewed by the domineering heterosexual power. The relationship between idol and fanbase is both symbiotic and toxic. Idols become what they think their audiences want, and this performance is terrifyingly reflected in the lives of their marginalized fans.

This is the point in my thinking where I ask myself what I even hope to gain from this line of inquiry. Is it some sort of twisted self reflection? Is it an unhinged brain-ego trip? Is there even anything here worth exploring? I believe (and hope) there is. I and most people who analyze media today are pushing back on the idea that someone has to be exactly like you for you to relate to them. On the surface, the male idol is nothing like me, but the aspirational nature of kpop media invites me to see him and myself as more hauntingly alike than I would sometimes like to admit. He is androgynous in ways I could only ever dream of, yet he is yearning like me. He is queer like me.

One of the pillars of anthropology (so much so that it’s almost become a cliche) is that its goal is to make the strange familiar and the familiar strange. To the untrained eye, kpop might look like a shallower reflection of our everyday world, one that’s even more image-conscious and subjugated by the demands of capitalism. It certainly can be those things, but when I look at kpop I see the current human condition distilled. Most of us alive today have been trained to constantly seek validation from those around us. Kpop is both familiar and strange because it reminds us of the ways we perform for audiences either real or imagined. It can make us uncomfortable because it shows us just how much we are willing to sacrifice to satisfy the demands of those audiences. In censoring ourselves, we become our own voyeurs and are left wondering who has more power, observed or observer?

So why do I love kpop? I’m not always entirely sure that I do. What I do know is that it’s not really about some fantasy of receiving affection. I don’t turn to idols for tenderness. I never wanted to feel loved, I just wanted to see something beautiful up close. I wanted to see someone who was suffering in the same way I was. I wanted to seek some unprovable personal truth, that perhaps this ethereal creature I saw on my screen was, in fact, just like me. Sure, they had a surface-level beauty I could never reach, but we were alike in all the ways that mattered.

And here I am now, with all of this behind me, wondering if I am (and continue to be) just some more than slightly messed up and lonely child looking for connection in all the wrong places. But then again, aren’t we all?

#kpop #bts #stray kids #ateez #tomorrow x together #essay #writing #queer #lgbtq #music #bodily autonomy #anthropology #fandom #social media #queerness #gender #androgyny #shinee

[kiitoskiitos]

i made a youtube video. pseudo-video essay speedpaint thing

#this is mostly to test stuff out. enjoyed making this a lot!! #it's me talking about few gender things in kpop and a speedpaint of that hyunjin piece i posted some time ago. #not eveyone's cup of tea but if you find yourself in the same crossroads of interests or like my stuff. maybe take a peek! #youtube #video essay #its not... but i tag still #kpop #stray kids #androgyny #does youtube nowadays download everrything in 4k and you can't change it? sorry warriors this thing is popably only 720p #hopefully 1080. #Youtube

[spop-romanticizes-abuse]

i've seen some other people do this, so let me share some songs that remind me of catradora.

Adora's POV:

“Her eyes and words are so icy

Oh but she burns

Like rum on the fire

Hot and fast and angry as she can be

I walk my days on a wire.”

[…]

The way she shows me I'm hers and she is mine

Open hand or closed fist would be fine

Blood is rare and sweet as cherry wine.”

— Cherry Wine, Hozier

•

“L-O-V-E damn 4 letters

You sugar-coat it with L-O-V-E every time

Selfish, I will never be enough

Even when I pour out all of myself for you.

[…]

As long as you love me

The good or the ugly

Everything is alright

It’s like you control me

Without you I’m lonely

But you don't feel the same.”

— Gunshot, KARD

•

“You said it was true love, but wouldn't that be hard?

You can't love anyone cause that would mean you had a heart

I tried you help you out, now I know that I can't

Cause how you think's the kind of thing I'll never understand.

[…]

I used to think I was smart

But you've made me look so naive

The way you sold me for parts

As you sunk your teeth into me.”

— Vampire, Olivia Rodrigo

•

“You only think of yourself

As if that’s natural

I’ve been foolish enough to try to please you

It tortures me, keeping me lonely till the end.

[…]

I have to adjust to you

Every time, that’s okay

It repeats like this every day

If you're taking advantage of my kindness

There's something wrong with that.”

— Egotistic, MAMAMOO

•

“The stars, the moon

They have all been blown out

You've left me in the dark

No dawn, no day

I'm always in this twilight

In the shadow of your heart

[…]

I took the stars from my eyes and then I made a map

And knew that somehow I could find my way back

Then I heard your heart beating, you were in the darkness too

So I stayed in the darkness with you.”

— Cosmic Love, Florence + The Machine

•

“Hey girl, wake up

There are better people out there

But even though he acts like that

There's still some good in him.

[…]

So foolish, I'm being manipulated

So stupid, should I break up or…?

This is the end, yes, bye bye

I want to say it but I can't

I'm frustrated but I'm stuck on you

I'm still into you.”

— TRAP, AAA (Misako & Chiaki)

(just replace “he” with “she”)

•

“I can’t stop, I found you

But feels like I’m the only one who feels this way, it makes me mad

I don’t understand

But hurting this much? I’m used to it

[…]

Don’t pity me, no, do as you always did

Because that’s you

Even if you break my heart

And spit out careless words

It’s only you for me.

[…]

I don’t want to be obvious

What if you think I’m weak?

I’m so pathetic, pathetic.”

— Love & Hate / Worthless, Moon Byul

•

“If it was for you I could

Pretend to be happy even when I was sad

If it was for you I could

Pretend to be strong even when I was hurting

[…]

Love you so bad

I molded a pretty lie for you

Love it's so mad

Try to erase myself and make me your doll.”

— Fake Love, BTS

•

“I’m falling endlessly

And you’re playing with me

You got me losing my mind, you intruder

It’s so dangerous I want it

Even if it costs all the pain.

[…]

Oh god, why are you leading me into temptation? Is it a call from hell?

Can’t stop, how am I going to escape from her?

The self-control you gave me has torn in pieces in the dark black hole

Can’t control myself, it’s like sugarcoated poison.”

— Oh My God, (G)I-DLE

•

“My sensitivity making me tense

Your honesty stabbing my heart

Why does this only apply to me? It’s too unfair

[…]

I’m not easy I hate that

I adjusted to you

I loved you more than me.”

— Easy, Wheein

Catra's POV:

“I'm breaking every rule

I want to keep tormenting you

[…]

Hate me as you want, I don't care

The more you break, the more you'll want me.

[…]

I swear I need you, my desires are growing

I’m playing with you like a kid

Hovering like your shadow and whispering to you

I’m your light and your darkness.”

— 28 Reasons, Kang Seulgi

•

“I don't want none, I just want you

If I can't have you, no one should

[…]

I might kill my ex, I still love him though

Rather be in hell than alone.

[…]

Now I'm in the basement, planning home invasion

Now you laying face-down, got me singing over a beat.”

— Kill Bill, SZA

•

“I’m creepin’ in your heart, babe

I’ll flip you over, break you down and swallow you up

I’ll steal you and indulge in you

I’m gonna mess you up

[…]

I’m a bit impatient

I’m not that gentle (I hated you)

But I want you

That’s right, my type

My heart doesn’t lie.”

— Monster, EXO

•

“You fuel my jealousy

Growing everyday

Following your shadow

I’m with you, in every breath you take.

[…]

Call me evil

I'll show you more

I get what I want,

but I can't get enough.”

— Propose, Dreamcatcher

#there are a lot more but i don't want this post to be an entire essay lmao #HIGHLY RECOMMEND all of these songs btw go check them out! #also yes i listen to kpop a lot #spop critical #spop #spop salt #spop criticism #spop discourse #she ra #anti catradora #anti catra #anti c//a #anti spop #antic//a #anticatra #anticatradora #songs

[bountycancelled]

this is so... HUMILIATING for no fucking reason but tumblrs my biggest platform by far so I'm just gonna do it.

so, I made a video essay on parasocial relationships as a marketing strategy within the kpop sphere, obsession among fans and the consequences of the stan entitlement.

listen, it's... a little rough around the edges, we'll call it arthouse to spare my feelings, but in my defence I made the whole thing (voice recordings, editing, the thumbnail) on my phone because I don't have a laptop or a mic, but if you're interested in the topics i mentioned above, then you can watch it HERE!

(here's a pic of the thumbnail!)

I'm open to tips, comments, or if you wanna discuss with me further on here, and I appreciate any and every person willing to give it a shot, I promise that I will (hopefully) get better with time.

okay, okay, I'm done now, please watch it, thank you, I'm gonna go back to writing pjo fanfics now bye.

#kpop smau #kpop group #kpop #riize #enhypen #blackpink #bts #bts jungkook #jungkook #jennie #riize seunghan #tvxq #tvxq yunho #wonder girls #shen ricky #zb1 ricky #parasocial relationships #parasocial behavior #parasocial moment #video essay #youtube #kpop idol #the tags are all relevant to the video i promise #bountycancelled #bountyrants #stellaspeaks

[nayeonline]

[!!updated!!] stuff that's in the works

ranking every twice single

ranking every rina sawayama song ever released including the ones not on spotify

my top 15 taylor swift songs of all time (might postpone this one until after 1989tv comes out)

an essay about taemin and it might be specifically about move but i haven't decided yet lol

creating my own kpop girl group feat. concept + debut album (don't expect this one for a while lol)

#i welcome requests for essay topics or rankings or whatever #or music recs as always #twice #rina sawayama #taylor swift #taemin #1989 tv #move taemin #shinee #kpop #kpop gg #kpop girls #kpop girl groups #kpop essay #kpop ranking

[redpiperfox]

Cabin Fever listen-thru~~

This has been on the background of me studying, so it’s already embedded into my brainwaves. I usually do this on twitter, but it’s harder to find when I want it later lol SO~

Intro: Save Me -- All of Purki’s Intros give me “You have no business being this good” feelings. They’re always fully and properly creepy, and encompass the vibe of the title and album concept so fully and completely. We’ve entered the haunted hotel, and we’re tied to the chair. Lights off, ears open, we have a store to listen to, we better be listening.

Sweet Juice -- We’re back into the creepy, haunted, tempting concept. There’s a hint of high class power in the strings, a doomed tragic ending in the piano tumbling through the last lines of the chorus, and something slightly immature in the popping and snapping sounds that trick you into thinking you’ve stumbled into something less dangerous than it is.

There are times that I think the music video completely takes a different direction than the music itself, whether to explore a visual concept or match a cultural trend, but this music video does not fall for that. The snow, the pool, the hotel-- the sets, the outfits, everything is straight from the music. The time period the music wants you to sit in, the lighting and ambience, the slightly disturbed undertones, Purple Kiss will walk and show you exactly what’s in your mind. 

The plot needs dissection (yeah, didn’t do my homework, too busy sorry). Their creepier concepts in the alternating generally have this undertone that Purple Kiss themselves are being threatened, whether by their own development and evolution or something outside of themselves forcing their little coven to strengthen themselves. The balance between curious, scared, and outright powerful is a beautiful balance.

The song as a whole piqued my interest, but didn’t capture me fully (again, might be because I was busy, idk) until I saw the choreo. The chorus fell a little short at first, especially compared to the power in vocals and sound we’re used to getting from them. The popping and clicking felt a little too loud and didn’t let up as much as I would’ve wanted, but the closer and more carefully I listened, the video and choreo emphasizing parts of the music I hadn’t noticed initially, the more I love it.

T4ke -- Where Sweet Juice is subtle and quiet as it surrounds you, T4ke is very in your face. Heavy heeled boots, looming over you, looking down it’s nose, rather than creeping and haunting and showing up behind your shoulder. The song feels like a cursed promise, spoken on a winter wind. It’s powerful and it’s powerful and very brash about it. The little bell and melody from the beginning that had called you goes from an unexpected-hotel-pit-stop-in-the-night-during-a-vaction to cursed-plain-cursed-haunted-no-happy-ending-here Maleficent vibes very quickly.

Autopilot -- The witches either take an 80s retro trip, or a trip into the cyberverse. This was my favorite, first listen. The chorus opens up a vulnerable, regretful villian tone in the lyrics and sound, like a high-speed chase and almost-death experience, the nearing of the climax brought the guilt of the antagonist out. It ends on a sunset beach, bleeding out, defeated and sorry for what they can’t change.

agit -- It wouldn’t be a Purki album if there wasn’t the “Besties on a roadtrip vacation” song. Maybe a club, or an outdoors restraunt with all the lights strung up, the music loud, people up and out of their seats, drinks in their hands. Dressed up but shoes off. This song turns up it’s bass-beats, fuzzy sounds, and parties in it’s freedom.

So Far So good -- The staple chill Purki album song, found it! This is slow, soft snowfall, cozy fireplaces and plaid blankets, warm mugs and pinky promises that have grown into something more mature. It’s the reassurance of a relationship that will last for a long time, that things are still good and the future is still enchanting ahead.

The  stages this era remind me that Purple Kiss are performers, and show me that well-rounded artist image that pulled me pre-debut. It’s interesting, and feels a little like there’s a missing puzzle piece with Jieun’s departure, but no less fully and essentially Purple Kiss. 

#Red's album dissections #Red's thoughts #kpop essay #Album Listen-Through #Purple Kiss are queens #actually they're witches but they're dressed in broken crystals and smiling through cracked mirrors and we love that #red's album listen-thrus

[aurorasandsad-prose]

One of my biggest pet peeves is this trend where people would put a caption like "The feminism leaving my body when....." and the video would be a thirstrap or even just a really good fancam of their favourite artists.

I'm sorry but since when is being attracted to a person (mostly a man) seen as a lack of feminism? The only possible explanation is that the op doesn't really understand the phrase and that's even more annoying because you could have just complemented your favourite artists and honestly that's the only correct way to support your favourites.

#At least have some respect for them #and don't just use phrases to sound hip #the implications could be so much worse #i could write a whole essay #but I'm refraining rn #feminism #kpop #kpop artist #taylor swift #music #reels #tiktok #bts #swifties #seventeen #svt carat #bts army #stray kids #tomorrow x together #txt post #ateez #kpop music #pet peeve #auroras thoughts #quotes

[subtlycharmingdream]

The urge to title an essay with an NCT lyric has never been stronger.

#fact check #nct #kpop #korean #music #bg #sm #nct 127 #lyrics #school #essay

[sunskiis]

happy binnie day <3

#trying not to type a full essay on seo changbin in the tags #i love changbin so much #stray kids #skz #stray kids art #stray kids fanart #skz art #skz fanart #changbin #seo changbin #kpop #kpop fanart #kpop art #art #fanart