Lost in the fandom

We don't know anything if we weren't there. That means we don't get a say of who is lying and who isn't. Until details and investigations go on nothing is confirmed. So can we stop harassing and going on this witch hunt? It isn't the publics job to justify anything nor is it our job to harass and go after people, especially when there are very little details and words are just said. There are lots of things people can put out to end your idols, there are lots of things they can compile and fake to end your idols.

You have truths and you have lies. I feel bad for those who have really been victims and for the truths out there, and then you can make your call on whether to support and love your idol. Nothing is excusable and they need to be held accountableis the accused is found guilty. The ones who choose to spread slander and lies need to be held accountable and responsible for what they've done too.

for those who haven't heard yet, mingyu has been accused of verbally sexually harassing someone when he was in middle school. note that this is a separate (though not necessarily unrelated) accusation from a bullying claim that was made against him the other day, which pledis denied after asking mingyu about it. the sexual harrassment post came out today and pledis/mingyu have not said anything yet

here is a google doc translation of the original pann post

I will also summarize what claims have been presented below. please make sure if you see a claim to verify it from an original source. no one, including the victim, benefits from exaggerating or adding additional claims, and of course the claims should not be downplayed either

from this point there will be descriptions of the specific incidents op describes

OP provided specific details of the academy they attended as well as a layout of the school and of the classroom where one of the incidents occured

OP claims that whenever she would try to speak in class mingyu would say things like "what do you know" and "don't jump the gun" discouraging her from speaking

OP claims mingyu would often make sexual jokes around her to the point a teacher told him to stop, but he still continued when the teachers weren't around

OP claims that mingyu and one other boy drew pubes/hairs on the board, making OP uncomfortable, though she doesn't remember if mingyu was actually the one to do the drawing, he was actively going along with it

OP claims not long after these incidents is when mingyu became a trainee. OP tried to avoid hearing news about him

OP saw mingyu's photo and realized he'd become a well known idol years later after they (OP) had become an adult

OP states that she mentioned the incidents to her therapist, who helped her realize that incidents like these can still badly hurt people (even though it's not typically considered as "bad"/extreme as people who have experienced physical harassment)

OP included a note written by her therapist that states OP feels uncomfortable talking about idols with her sister because of what happened with mingyu

OP made the post so others know this happened, she doesn't want an apology

some clarifications:

Some people have been saying that mingyu spread rumors about OP (specifically related to her virginity), this was not mentioned in the article, and is, as far as i can tell, a result of a mistranslation

OP was not in therapy specifically because of mingyu, it was something that came up in one of their sessions

the sexual comments weren't made toward OP or anyone else specifically, mingyu and his friends were saying the jokes to each other

another post popped up after OP's original post:

here's a thread of translations of mingyu's other classmates talking about him being a bully, including throwing trash at and hitting the desk of a disabled student

(and here is the original post that the thread is translating) From what i saw through google translate (so obviously the meaning may not be exact), the purpose of this second post again was not to get an apology or financial compensation. rather, they want mingyu to reflect and to provide further proof so fans will stop defending him

Shawol twt promptly lost their damn MINDS abt it, and prececded to get the man trending by tweeting abt how sexy he and his music was, and the whole thing remains the funniest shit I’ve ever seen in my life bc shawols are funny as fuck and petty as hell when u really get them going.

But what was really fascinating, was the underlying point buried underneath all the crass comments and jjong fancams. Which is Shawols insistence that people stop telling them how they should interact with him and his legacy. 

I’ve made no secret of it on this blog that I hate what I used call “hollywood bullshit” but now simply call “idol bullshit”. The crux of my soap box is this: Hollywood romanticizes celebrities who died young, especially of overdose, accidents, or suicide, so that it doesn’t have to take responsibility for the role the Hollywood system played in their deaths. A few examples would be the 27 club, Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, and River Phoenix. I’ve been passionate abt this for a long time.

But the thing abt the people I focus on, like River, is that they have been dead for 20+ years. Their legacy is settled, and in some ways there’s nothing more tragic. They are remembered for dying young, because that’s what Hollywood chose to focus on. People remember tragedy. It’s often the only thing people know about them.

So, from an objective standpoint, it has been very interesting to watch that battle over legacy play out in real time. I remember when the news broke about Jonghyun, and how I saw him trending on Tumblr and clicked on it. I read abt how a guy from SHINee had died, and although I was not into kpop, I had a very very good friend who was. I immediately contacted her, because I had remembered her talking at length about SHINee. And I scrolled through the tag. I read articles. I posted on Facebook, even, “another bright young thing dead at  27, when will we learn?”

But even then, Shawols were taking control of the narrative. I remember y’all saying that ppl shouldn’t talk like he kept it all inside and nobody knew. He spoke openly about his mental health, y’all insisted, he was a real advocate for things that mattered. He wasn’t sad all the time. 

And when they did the concert in February. God. The images and gifs of SHINee dressed in white, flanking that microphone, will haunt me until the day I die. That was over a year before I got into SHINee. I got into them, finally, this August.

And what I found here, and what I’ve observed, has really changed the way I interact with celebrities who die young. It made me realize that I, too, was focusing on the wrong things. To y’all, he is still very much with us, and you talk about everything but his death. SHINee really is still five, because you haven’t let him become a tragedy. You talk about the vast diversity of his music, his talents and skills, his words and his love. The way he loved you, the way he loved his members and family, the way he loved Roo. Like all of us, Jonghyun was more than one thing, and Shawols have worked hard to keep him alive in your hearts as the wonderfully complex human being that he was. And every time people try to reduce him to just that one day, you fight for him. You refuse to let people turn him into tragedy porn. You stand up for his legacy and say, No. Here’s who Jonghyun was, and it is more than just that one moment. 

Lucas: *looks down sad* Yeah....

Ellen: BRING IT OUT

*guy runs out with Chewing Gum outfit*