patb!ngsoo

I think it was fine and that it fit the song. The whole lyrical theme of With You revolves around Christmas in summer.

It's important to remember that different people have different motivations and limitations, as well as different levels of stress and pressure they are able to handle in a healthy manner. What Seulgi found manageable and was able to persist through may have been too much for Herin and the trade-off of becoming an idol may not have been worth it to her. Not everyone should be or needs to be an idol and not everyone wants to become an idol badly enough to make certain sacrifices, and that's okay. It's not a one-size-fits-all type of situation, or black and white. It's more nuanced and highly individual. Sticking to her dream of becoming an idol was the right choice for Seulgi and it's paying off for her, and I'm sure that stepping back and deciding to pursue other avenues was the right choice for Herin and her mental/physical health and happiness.

What does it matter that only EXO had an official lightstick at the beginning of the year when as of now, no female artist has one while only one male artist doesn't? You mention how long it took for TVXQ and Super Junior to get theirs, but official personalized lightsticks were not part of fandom culture until fairly recently. That is the main reason why they got them so late in their careers. And ultimately, both groups got them this year to coincide with promotions whereas BoA and Red Velvet, who also promoted this year, did not despite the fact that BoA debuted earlier and Red Velvet debuted when official lightsticks were the norm. SHINee is an outlier, in that they have yet to promote this year when SM picked up on their lightstick production for their other non-EXO boy bands. And at any rate, one boy band out of four not having a lightstick does not negate the fact that not even one out of four female artists do. I'm actually more partial to SM's boy groups than their girl groups, and still find the discrepancy very apparent. The difference in management between f(x)/Red Velvet and EXO/NCT is obvious. But yes, clearly we will not see eye-to-eye on this matter, so this will also be my last response.

BoA had to resort to publicly asking SM for a comeback on her Instagram, so no, I doubt she can simply order the company to make her a lightstick on a whim. Otherwise she would have already done so. You're very much overestimating her power in the company, her director role is more of a honorary title than an actual position of authority. And yes, obviously SM has different expectations from fans, in that fans expect SM to treat their artists equally and SM expects themselves to not have to do so. Every act is a brand, and every brand flourishes from proper support and push, and Red Velvet had the potential to flourish more than they have. And how would a lightstick benefit Red Velvet less than it does NCT? Red Velvet fans clearly want a lightstick as much as NCT fans do. Really? I honestly can't believe that you're basically shrugging your shoulders at women being shafted and always being given the short end of the stick because "that's always how it's been." There's a terrible outlook. Of course life isn't fair, but that doesn't mean we should just shut up and accept it. It doesn't matter how many companies neglect their female acts in favor of their male acts, just because a lot of people/companies do something doesn't mean it right or justified. How are female acts supposed to become more profitable if they're not being given the opportunities to build up fandoms? In general, yes, boy groups accrue larger fanbases than girl groups, but with proper push and support female artists can build up sizeable and profitable fandoms as well. BoA and SNSD have physically outsold all top-selling boy groups on year-of-end charts, and Twice is outselling the majority of popular boy groups and showing just how critical and impactful good promotion and management are in creating success. At the very least, female artists from the major labels have the ability to build up dedicated fanbases willing to spend money on them if the companies actually make the effort. Red Velvet got squat during their first two years while NCT got a ton of content within the same time frame. Of the two, which group is likelier to see considerable fandom growth? It's obviously not Red Velvet. How can a group become a moneymaker if there's little effort being put into making them one? SNSD's fandom was just as big as the major boy groups, saying that there was less demand for them is nonsense especially as SNSD had pull with the public in addition to a massive fandom. And many other companies have no problems doing things for their girl groups that SM doesn't do for theirs. How is there no bias towards male groups in that regard when you just acknowledged BoA? BoA, SNSD, f(x), Red Velvet = no lightsticks. TVXQ, Super Junior, EXO, NCT = lightsticks. How is that not an obvious imbalance? If you look at artists with similar times of debut, the male acts are generally favored over the female acts. No one is saying SM's management of the boy groups is perfect and irreproachable, but at the very least there is more effort than there is with the female artists which is the entire point. Yes, exactly. SM has invested next to nothing in developing Red Velvet's fandom during the most important period, whereas they're going all-in when it comes to the growth of NCT's. It's very similar to the situation with f(x) and EXO years back. Red Velvet's fandom could have experienced a lot more growth if SM had put forth any effort. Of course a fandom grows more when provided content. And SM obviously knows this but apparently can't be bothered to do as much for Red Velvet as they do for NCT. And it's not to say NCT doesn't deserve it, SM is obviously doing what they should be doing, just as you said. It just would be nice if they could do the same for their female acts.

Yes, I completely agree. I have no doubt that SM has stunted potential growth of Red Velvet's fandom by not supporting them properly. Casual onlookers don't become dedicated fans just because of frequent comebacks/music releases no matter how high in quality they are. They want to see more of the personalities of members and their group dynamics, feel a connection to them, have content to look forward to, and so on. Having a reality show early on in their careers would especially have been really beneficial for them. A show in between their ICC and DD comebacks would have been perfect timing, such a wasted opportunity. Because boy groups being favored over the female acts is a company-wide issue that BoA, SNSD, f(x), and Red Velvet all face and their fans commiserate over. That's why general complaints over male versus female treatment was complained about; this issue doesn't affect Red Velvet alone. You mentioned Super Junior and TVXQ just getting their lightsticks, but where exactly is BoA's lightstick? And again, the lightstick is not the crux of the issue, it's representative of the larger overall problem. Even if NCT's lightstick is not official, the point still stands. Red Velvet got their fandom name and concert earlier in their careers than f(x), but f(x) also got two reality shows earlier on than Red Velvet did and appeared on more variety shows. And at any rate, this is irrelevant. We aren't looking at girl group versus girl group, because the issue at hand is the general unfair treatment of the female acts in comparison to the boy groups. Look at f(x)'s management versus EXO's and Red Velvet's management versus NCT's. That's a clear pattern of boy groups getting support and push before senior girl groups, if the senior girl groups ever get it at all. And sure, it's nice that SM is finally picking up some of their slack, but it's still lacking when compared to what the boy groups get and what girl groups from other companies get. This isn't people being salty, it's people being frustrated. Why should fans be content getting less when other groups are getting more? Just going along with it and keeping quiet benefits no one but SM. I don't see why positive spamming would elicit any more of a response or reaction.

The lightsticks themselves are not the actual point here and not the sole reason why fans are upset. Whether or not they're ugly or whatever is irrelevant. The lightsticks are simply representative of the habitual way SM does the absolute minimum for Red Velvet and their female acts in general while they support and push their male idols regardless of seniority. It's not to say SM does a great job with their male idols either, but the guys at least get something while the girls are ignored. It's going on four years of being on the back burner. Fans speaking up about it is not being quick to complain, it's a culmination of years of frustration. By around the two-year mark Red Velvet did not have a lightstick, a fan club name, a reality show, a fanmeet, or a dance rehearsal video (other than the short dance break for Happiness that Shim Jae-won uploaded on his own channel because fans asked him to). By around the two-year mark NCT did have a lighstick, a fan club name, a reality show (seven seasons), a fanmeet, and dance rehearsal videos for pretty much every piece of choreography they perform. Is it not obvious why fans are upset? There should be no personal attacks on the NCT members themselves, but fans are perfectly justified in pointing out the differences in treatment. The lightsticks are emblematic of a larger ongoing problem.

This is a mistranslation. They said that the ccomeback prep has been completed, not that it's insane. The spelling of "completed" is similar to "insane" and the translater must have gotten confused.

Onew is Korean, meaning gentle/soft in demeanor.

Just popping in quickly to say that isn't true. SM idols have been involved in the creation process of their music to varying degrees since the first generation. H.O.T did a fair amount of producing and choreographing, both for themselves and for their labelmates. They actually won a daesang with a member's self-composition. BoA began having her self-compositions included in her albums at the age of 14/15. And many wrote lyrics, like Bada of S.E.S and members of Shinhwa. SHINee's Minho has also been writing a lot of his raps since his debut in 2008, preceding the recent influx of heavy involvement from members like Jonghyun and Amber with their solo endeavors. SM is stringent in the sounds/styles they want to go for and could certainly grant more personal leeway, but several of their idols have participated in the creative process throughout the years. So far NCT hasn't been any more involved than many of their seniors, though it's great that they're interested and starting early.

S.E.S's Love and BoA's Don't Start Now were filmed in New York and BoA's Atlantis Princess was filmed in Australia. I expect there are more I'm not aware of.

SM said their piece. They announced that Yeri and Seulgi were in a minor accident, were okay but a little banged up and bruised, and that they would be resting. There is no reason for another round of updates if nothing has changed. Bruising can look alarming as it's healing, especially since Yeri bruised around her face. It's only been a little over two weeks. No reason to be overly concerned at this point.

As mentioned by another user, Be Natural always had that rap. Red Velvet's 2014 remake is pretty much exactly the same as the original SES version from 2000. Even the infamous "booming system uh uh, TY track, TY track" was originally "booming system uh uh, Hyukie track, Hyukie track." And while it may not suit the flow of the song I don't think it was ever shoehorned in to give anyone lines. The rap was performed by a featuring artist rather than by any of the actual members in the original too, and there was no need to deliberately find lines to give to this mysterious Hyukie. The song has a rap because Yoo Young-jin (sole lyricist/composer/producer) wanted the song to have a rap. I assume he thought it sounded cool, lol. Though I'm 100% in agreement otherwise about unnecessary raps being jammed into songs for line distribution purposes. SM is one of the worst perpetrators of this.

Everything regarding Yeri always having been in the Red Velvet line-up is speculation, and there's been nothing concrete to suggest that. Having lived and trained together pre-debut isn't an indication of anything, as trainees all live (unless their homes are close enough to commute) and train together. Sulli dormed with Taeyeon and Tiffany during their pre-debut days, but that doesn't mean SM was planning to debut her in SNSD. And Red Velvet, during their debut days, mentioned that other trainees (plural) practiced with them before being taken out as the group line-up was being decided. They must have trained with other girls in typical singing/dancing/acting/whatever classes before Red Velvet was being planned as well. I'm inclined to believe that Yeri's addition was not planned from the start. I think SM was clearly prepping her to be the leader/center of their next girl group. She was positioned in the middle of their standing order and was always the one to speak on their behalf at events like SMTOWN concerts. She once said that they were "hoping to debut one day like the Red Velvet unnies," placing herself with the younger girls. During the Happiness era Joy also talked about how she was happy when the group was finalized to just the four of them because she liked having all the unnies' attention to herself. That would be a strange thing to say if another member was already waiting in the wings to join them later on. The girls have been asked about Yeri's late addition to the group in interviews and radio appearances, and I don't recall ever noticing any nuance that would hint that she was meant to join them from the start. It's always been the opposite, mentioning that they were surprised, the difference she's made in the group atmosphere, etc.

That isn't Melon's digital chart, it's a weekly popularity award/poll.

Kim Young-min has been the CEO since 2005 or thereabouts.

SM did this a few times in 2013 with EXO and f(x). SM is known for songs that make people go "wtf" at first then become addicted to with more listens, so fans theorized that SM was releasing the songs digitally after people overcame the initial shock and became more accustomed to them through the music videos and comeback performances. f(x) didn't really need that since they were already established at that point, but it seemed to work pretty well for EXO at the time.

No, the Billboard chart was calculated using sales numbers from the last week of July, which was before Dream was even announced.

There's too many of them to realistically all live together. U+127+Dream is already fourteen members, and managers would up the number even more. Super Junior and EXO with similar numbers of members had to split up and live separately. Otherwise they would need an apartment with 6/7/8+ rooms. Fans actually asked Taeyong about their living situation at the fansign yesterday because they were wondering if Haechan and Mark moved out for their Dream promotions. He said that the 127 members still live together and that their living situation didn't change since the members of 127 are fixed. No problem.

No, it's not true. Fans asked at the fansign yesterday. The 127 members live together, including Haechan and Mark.

Instiz is not entirely reliable, they post a lot of speculation. Nothing has been mentioned of an actual physical album in any official announcements. Chewing Gum is being referred to as a single, and there are only mentions of a digital release on the 27th.

He was technically still 14. SHINee debuted in May of 2008, and Taemin's birthday is in July so his birthday hadn't passed yet. BoA was 13 at debut, having debuted in August with a November birthday.