1. I remember when I first got I to K-pop and I tried to remember their names by remembering their hair color…. I was mistaken. Don’t. Save yourself the confusion.
2. Look up their ages. You might be in for a shock.
3. There is a thing called ‘Korean age’ and basically that means your favorites are going to have 2 ages. There actual age and then their Korean age. For Korean age you automatically turn one on the day you’re born and then gain another year on new year. So you basically add 1 to two years depending on if it’s before or after new year. So when you hear something like “they’re a 94 liner” that means that they were born in 1994..simple right.
4. They aren’t gay. Well logically speaking some of them probably are, but most are straight. Idols are affectionate with each other. You will see them sleeping and cuddling in the same bed, always touching one another, and always getting jealous over one of their members *cough * Jungkook *cough* They aren’t afraid of ‘skinship’ and that doesn’t make them gay.
5. Aegyo. Aegyo is basically just acting overly cute and it can take some getting used too especially if you’re from a country where 'cute’ isn’t really standard. Yeah grown men and women acting overly cute is still something I can’t handle a lot of.
6. V-live. V-live is basically video instagram for Korean artists. That is where they go live, post fun videos, and etc. You can download it completely free from your app store. There are some channels/content that you have to pay for if you want to watch it though. Most of the big names in K-pop will have subtitles on their content because of the lovely translators in the fandom, but a lot of the small or newer groups won’t. 😔
Oh and if you download vlive and your watching a solo live from one of your favorites and they aren’t your bias *favorite* DON’T ASK FOR OTHER MEMBERS!!!!!! It makes them feel bad… K… Thanks.
7. There is a dark side to K-pop. Most trainees get treated horribly, some idols don’t eat enough, Scandal on top of Scandal and etc but I’m going to all of that. You can dive into the tell of darkness on your own. Or you can message me or another K-pop fan with any questions.
8. Music shows. Music shows usually happen every week and if your face just had a comeback *aka released new music* then they will likely be on soon. The music shows have winners and those winners are chosen by sales, votes, and I believe views.. IDK. So if you want to vote you can go and make free accounts and vote. Accounts will also help you with voting for the end of the year music shows. MAMA is one of the major ones in case you’ve seen the phrase 'vote bts or vote exo or vote got7 for mama’ it’s not talking about voting for their mother.
9. Variety shows. Oh god variety shows. They will be the best and worst thing to happen to you because one you see your favorites on a variety program *which is kinda like a game show/interview* and you see how adorkable they truly are you are in that fandom for life. Sorry. Not sorry. No way out. K-pop is not a revolving door. Welcome.
Variety shows often involve punishments. Like being spanked by your fellow members or being hit on the head really hard with a toy hammer or flicked in the forehead. It’s weird but you’ll love it. Oh and the K-pop dances are amazing and scary complicated as is, but wait until you see it 2x faster. Not sure idols are human TBH.
10. Whiplash. What I mean by this is you are going to pick a favorite and they are going to be adorable and cute and you are going to want to protect them and their innocence and then they are going to get on stage or start dancing and they change into this rude creature and you’re not sure what just happened …i call it whiplash. The transition from fluffy to rude within .0000001 of a second. You get whiplash.
11. You have to go to YouTube and look up K-pop crack videos. Just look up 'K-pop crack’ or 'K-pop on crack’ they are so funny. Also the K-pop try not to laugh videos.
12. K-pop fandom. Each fandom has a name for their fans, like bts’ fans are called 'Army’ And each fandom either has or will at some point have a unique lightstick to represent their fandom. Fan chants are also a thing. You will often hear these at music shows and concerts. They are quite easy to pick up ion their own, but if you need assistance then you can google “ *group name* fan chants”
13. You don’t speak Korean. That is perfectly okay. Most of the big groups have amazing translators in their fandoms and they sub everything..mostly into English.. But I’ve seen some in Spanish and German too. You do not have to speak the language to be able to love K-pop. Music doesn’t need lyrics to be understood. But more power to you if you want to learn Korean it is a beautiful language and has amazing tradition and heritage that is so fun to learn about.
14. K-dramas. They are a thing and they are amazing. A lot of your favs have probably made an appearance if not had a leading role. Even if they don’t have your favs I do recommend downloading 'Drama Fever’ and binge watching. Again there are sub titles and most of the content is free, but there is some you have to pay for.
15. Military enlistment. It is law in Korea that every able-bodied man must serve at least 2 years in the military before they are 32. Idols from Thailand such as 2pm’s Nichkhun and Got7’s BamBam can either take the full 2 years or enter the draft. If they enter the draft and don’t draw a red card then they don’t have to go, but if they enter the draft and draw the red card then they have to serve the full 2 years. Idols from America and other countries are exempt I do believe.
Let me or another K-pop Stan know if you have any more questions and we’ll do our best to answer and if anyone has something else to add feel free ☺
Welcome to the K-pop life ♥
izzy806
turnnoffyourmind
theartofmadeline
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