#kpopthoughts

⌗ !husband sunghoon who gets ready with your son every morning while both of them having matching outfits or hairstyles. 🥹

⌗ !husband sunghoon who teaches his son to ice skate every family day playing games such as red light green light, and admits your son is better at skating than you.

⌗ !husband sunghoon who always teases you because your son's favorite is him. 😤

⌗ !husband sunghoon who just laughs whenever your son trips and cries, while you scold Hoon for not comforting him.. 😭

⌗ !husband sunghoon who calls for your help when your son needs help solving a simple math problem because he's as confused as him. 😀

⌗ !husband sunghoon who's SUPER tired from work but will always have time to play with your son.

⌗ !husband sunghoon who shows off his handsome son to the members saying that he is as handsome as his father.

Oh phew, okay, this is going to be a difficult post to write, but it must be done.

As all of you will know, the BTS meal at McDonald's consisted of french fries, nuggets, soda and two special dipping sauces (please do correct me if I am wrong). Here is the list of problems I have with it:

1. As someone who is a vegetarian, I don't think I will buy the BTS meal despite wanting to because the meal includes chicken nuggets. Therefore, there is a complete exclusion of BTS stans who are vegetarian or vegan. If I purchased the meal, I would only be able to consume the french fries, soda and sauces, which doesn't seem very filling or worth the expenditure.

2. This collaboration is one that is between two of the biggest companies in their own respective fields. Hence, I believe that the BTS meal could have consisted of so many things. For example, even if they didn't want to separately make a limited edition menu (which would have been extremely unique, with a little bit of BTS' personal influence), they could have made customised meals according to every member's order or personal tastes. (Now, I am more than aware that the nuggets and fries were the go-to items that BTS would order, but I am still not convinced that nuggets and fries with two new sauces were the best they could do for this collaboration). The only unique aspect of this meal was the two sauces and customised packaging (I understand that it was disappointing to learn that there will be no photocards or stickers etc., but I also believe that it would be logistically difficult). And this brings me to my final point...

3. In my eyes, I see this as a lazy collaboration, which is disappointing because both McDonalds and BTS are huge names in their respective fields. There is no doubt that this collaboration would be profitable for both parties. My problem is not the moneymaking aspect; making profits is the driving force in such an economy. My problem is further than that. What I am upset about you how easy it is for big collaborations to make money with minimal efforts (Again, I am not dismissing the work put in for this collaboration). Such a collaboration could have been planned out to be extremely unique, maybe even introduce a variation in the nuggets, or add a special spice for the fries, or even make a limited edition burger or wrap. But, they stuck with food that was already sold at stores and introduced two new sauces, which I found a tad bit disappointing. Especially because my expectations from this were high.

In conclusion, the point I am gradually trying to push here is to not place your faves on a pedestal (I know that calling them idols at this point is contradictory to this point, but I don't know what else to call them). Yes, I agree that they are extremely hardworking and extremely talented people, and they have struggled to get where they are today. However, it is imperative as a kpop stan to check the power these idols have over your life. As someone who enjoys kpop, it is very, very, very important for us to question everything that they do. For instance, not purchasing an item or not participating in an event does not make you any less of a stan and it does not decrease your appreciation for them. If you are disappointed with something fave has done, be it a music video, a kdrama or advertisement, you should not be compelled to like it because everyone else does. Think for yourself.

Hi all my Kpop buddies,

I know we’re all having a super crazy time with this whole Spotify/KakaoM split. I just wanted to throw out into the universe that if anyone needs help setting up an account for a Korean streaming site, I speak decent Korean and have signed up for Bugs! 

Bugs! is a lesser known music streaming site in Korea but they don’t require a Korean phone number to sign up (MelOn and Genie do). But they have a huge catalog and includes Korean radio programs, Kpop, other Korean genres, and international music as well. You’re also able to get a subscription to them via the Google Play store. It’s $8.49 USD a month. (They don’t take foreign credit cards for the “normal” subscriptions but the loop hole is through Google Play). 

There’s a lot of tutorials for it online if you search for it, but if anyone needs extra help, I’ll do my best for y’all. ALSO, from what i’ve read about the site, streams from the site contribute to the Gaon charts and if you pay for a subscription, small amount royalties will go to the artists that you listen to most. (Don’t quote me on that, that’s just what I’ve read...)

Feel free to reach out if you want help signing up or help navigating the site or just want to vent about all the craziness. I hope this is only temporary but it’s hard to tell with these companies. 

Trigger Warning: Talk of death and suicide

I forgot how painful some losses in Kpop were for me. I seemed to have buried some of that emotion. I seemed to have convinced myself that feeling such grief for someone you never met, never knew you existed, never knew was something childish and I squashed it down. 

As I’m retracing my steps through the kpop part of my life. I landed on SHINee and found myself spiraling into a black hole of hurt. Jonghyun’s death still weighs deeply on me and I never really knew why. SHINee was one of the first groups I ever loved and watched grow through their career. They were a cornerstone of my kpop fandom. His suicide shocked me a lot. Now looking back on interviews with SHINee, it’s hard for me to focus on anything but how there must have been such pain and suffering hidden behind his smiles and laughter. What happened behind his eyes inside his mind will always remain a mystery. 

I find myself wanting to reach into the screen and hold him tightly, promising him everything will be okay. To lose such a talented, passionate, deeply emotional human person at the age of 27 is a crime, a failure. I can’t imagine how his band mates and friends and family handled his loss if I (someone who never met, spoke to, or even was in his presence) still cry at the thought of his loss. 

Of course, this lead me to the losses of Sulli and Goo Hara shortly after. Even though I did not follow either women as closely, the Kpop community is a small one and such loss in such a short period of time was just covered up like no one wanted to remember.