raspberry84

Definitely not comparable to rookie groups. They had very controlled, manufactured images as long as they were under the control of their record label. NSYNC album No Strings Attached is literally a reference to escaping that and the cover of the album has them depicted as marionettes. Not to mention the BSB named their album "Black & Blue" in allusion to their legal fight with the same producer that NYSNC referenced. Edit: Not to mention the gossip scene around pop acts back then showed a MAJOR difference between the image they showed and what they were doing in their private life. Theres very little gossip getting posted and confirmed in KPop compared to the days of Perez Hilton and the like.

An idol's image is directly connected to the product that they're selling and we're only seeing what the let us see. People create these personas or public images to benefit them, their motives for which can range from very good to very bad. As I mentioned, this isn't exclusive to idols and people in a lot of fields have to separate who they are publicly with the person they actually are. The real me drinks, swears like a sailor, enjoys horror movies, is super into the creepy and macabre, enjoys smutty romance novels, etc. I'm also a teacher so when I'm at work or in a public place where my students or their families might see me? Those parts of me don't make an appearance because they go against the "image" I'm expected to have as a teacher. I know we all want to believe the people we're fans with are being honest with us and they're who we think they are...deceiving might not be the right word but they're definitely not showing us 100% who they are and we don't actually know them.

I mean, this is a pretty good example of someone having a manufactured persona that benefits them. Most serial killers, rapists, etc. definitely manufacture a public persona that keeps suspicion off them and allows them to continue doing what they're doing. The question is just to what extent does that manufacturing go and how much a public persona differs from reality.

I think when people refer to an image being manufactured they're talking about the control and design behind the persona. That person is showing you what they want you to see, whether it's an idol or actor or author or politician or teacher or customer service rep. Your work persona is adapted to appealing and beneficial to what you do.

I disagree, I think it definitely can be applied when we're talking about a person's public persona. Especially in pop culture there is a lot of time and effort into creating public personas that are appealing to the audience. At times, the person may be extremely different in real life compared to the persona they show the public. And you can't assume that every part of their "persona" is authentic. It's fairly normal for stories to be made up, played up or exaggerated and interests in books, movies, etc. are usually based on what matches their persona, not their actual interests.

It sounds like she's homophobic but doesn't vocalize that around people who have different mindsets (in the same way someone may be racist online but not talk about it in person). I think it's a personal decision about whether or not you're comfortable continuing to be friends with her now that you know she's homophobic. That really comes down to you history with this person and how strongly you are opposed to homophobia.

Seriously. I can name like 20+ locations around me that sell BTS or BT21 merch and that's only off the top of my head. They're about as mainstream as you can get at this point.

He hasn't really posted since this happened. He gave his initial tweet/video saying it was made up and he wasn't going to stop but now it's just been silence. I'm wondering if he actually got served and hit with a reality check or if his family finally dragged his butt back to Germany.

I haven't actually seen anyone upset about that comment, just people criticizing him for having him on his show. Which I'm assuming are people who aren't familiar with Dr Phil and don't understand his entire show is based around exploiting people and their mental illnesses or tragedies.

Last reply about this but she might be at official events that they're at and know them (a lot of people involved in going to fanmeets or big events know what saesangs/fansites look like. Especially Headliner, who got noticed by American fans at award shows and concerts) but that doesn't mean she's part of their inner circle. Honestly, a lot of saesangs run fansites (like Headliner) and their main focus at official events is getting good images and videos because they make money off of it. They're working at those events basically. They're not standing around and gossiping with friends of friends. Honestly, that would be a real quick and easy way for real information to spread everywhere. More often then not people like to claim to be in the know and, as others already mentioned, repeat the same rumors that have been circulating for years.

Saesang images float around twitter all the time and they're pretty easy to snag and they tend to be what fake saesangs use to pass themselves off as real. Hell, even I have a few in my twitter dms that I could use as receipts. People act like they're tightly guarded but when you know the right people they're pretty easy to find. Also your story is kinda changing. You originally said you met a girl who was a friend of a friend of saseang (meaning she's not even friends with the saesang's friend) and now suddenly she's in tight with the saesangs. Maybe she's telling the truth but I'm calling 100% bullshit. When something starts with "a friend of a friend told me..." 99.9% of the time it's made up. Edit: Especially if she used receipts from Headliner because that one is a mess and some of her stuff has leaked.

I highly, highly doubt it. Sasaengs keep their information close to the chest and don't share it outside of their little circle. The fact that this came from a friend of a friend of one...she was probably bullshitting you Was there anything she told you that 100% convinced you she was honest?

People put way to much weight on that quote that is two and a half years old and is the only time he's ever said something along those lines. Also context wise, the question had asked them to say "what charm about this member makes your heart flutter" and Yoongi was given Hobi (who he arguably had a crush on at the time). Considering that was one comment in seven years of the group being active, I'm not putting any weight on it. On top of that, Yoongi never wanted to be an idol or in the group. He originally only wanted to be a producer for BH but got talked into joining BTS when it was a hip-hop group. Like, he was even promised they would never have to dance (which is hilarious considering that is something they're known for now). The point of that is Yoongi has always been private and not really about the idol lifestyle. He's also tended to be more honest and blunt in his lyrics then in interviews (for example, he has a song that condemns mandatory enlistment and refers to having to enlist in the army as a death sentence but isn't vocal about that in interviews). And even ignoring all of the above, there isn't a queer person out there who hasn't said they were straight or that they weren't attracted to the same sex at some point in their life.

Except you said that she looked like a cheap porn star, which is sexist and slut shaming, and said we should like her sister better because she was prettier (aka basing someone's worth on their physical looks). But do go on.

I've always said you should look for the extremes in the case of fanservice, rainbows, supporting queer artists, etc. There are some idols who definitely go above and beyond (Key and Jo Kwon come to mind) and that's why they stand out. On the flip side, there are probably idols who are queer but pull away from all of that and we have no idea. Or you have cases like Yoongi where his lyrics are definitely suspicious (the hong kong line, his verse in Spring Day being about a male, etc.) but was pretty against any fanservice despite being a physically affectionate person (ie likes to hold hands). And just personally, the fact that he tends to only do fanservice with Hobi and Tae (during different time periods) has also made me raise an eyebrow.

I mean, obviously I can't stop you but this internalized sexism you have going on is not a good look. It's really telling what type of person you are when you judge a person on their appearance and lowkey slut shame them based on their appearance.

Jungkook and Taehyung are probably the two most physically affectionate in the group. And Taehyung is as affectionate with Yoongi and Jimin as he is with Jungkook. He did this exact same thing with Yoongi either right before or after this. Moral of the Story: Some people are just affectionate and it ain't that deep.

They do, especially ones that are on the inside of your finger. They fade really, really quickly if you don't get touch ups. Example:

This will be the test to see how much the scandal hurt BB as a whole. Honestly, it could go either way in Korea. I think intentionally, BB doesn't have the current presence to compete with BTS but I could see them starting to build towards that.

"cheap porn actress" and "kendall is much prettier" Stop. Just stop. There are valid things to criticize her on but attacking how she looks and using that as a basis for disliking her? That's not okay.

...

Everyone has their own triggers and it's something you need to learn to work with in your own life. The increase in trigger warnings help and I think it's fair to ask for idols or fans to use them when discussion mental health (their own or others). However, you can't control who the idols reach out and it's their right to post about their mental health if they make that decision. They may not feel like they can get help from anywhere else or speaking about it publicly may be helpful to them. And for vague things, like a "I'm sorry" post...I don't think that would warrant a trigger warning. Think of it this way: some people are triggered by being in large crowds. You can't ask people not to be in a large crowd because it triggers you personally, you need to learn coping skills to deal with that. In the same way, you can't ask an idol to not post about being sad or feeling down. Honestly, that would just force them to always appear happy online and having to always present a happy image would probably be worse for their mental health.

Also if you lurk the responses to his tweets, he definitely has started to make fake accounts to tweet out support. This account seems to be one of them and it seems like he is definitely starting to blame her as well. He's going to completely lose it if she ever says she's not interested to him.

His twin brother is actually there with him and apparently he comes from a super wealthy, powerful family in German. Like his dad is a CEO of some major company there. Someone also said this seemed to start right when his grandfather died three years ago so it seems like his mental health has been going downhill for a long time. Which makes this even scarier because he's clearly needed help for a while and instead of helping him, his family has been enabling this obsession. This tweet is honestly the most terrifying thing he's posted so far and honestly makes me think this is going to end up with him trying to hurt, attack or abduct her cause he's put himself above everyone else in regards to caring about her. And honestly, it's hard to get a restraining order until he actually makes a threat or does something illegal. I'm really terrified of how the rest of this is going to play out.

Which probably means he kinda spit on his ear when he was whispering. Ew. I mean, spit or no spit, I don't think there was anything sexual or sensual about that interaction. Jungkook in general is really physical and was basically the baby of the group since he joined so young. I think that's made him way more physically affectionate with the others and them more receptive to it. It's the dynamic of him being the youngest, not that he wants to bang all of them. Like I'm convinced Jungkook is queer but he also identifies the other members so much as family I would actually be surprised if he was into or attracted to any of them tbh. Edit: Actually, I take that back. I wouldn't be shocked if Jungkook initially had a crush on Namjoon cause that whole thigh comment was suspect.