Context for babies first scandal? I’m scared

SHOCKING: Mis from Morb SMP Comes Out As Straight

Alright Rohas, I love you all to death, but as an Adult and a Queer, we need to have a little chat.

A chat about shipping, and Binu specifically.

I know a lot of Rohas are teenagers, and I remember very, very well what it was like to be a teenager in fandom (for the record, I’m 24 and I’ve been hanging around fandom culture since I was like 12). You have so much passion and interest in these things, and you are able engage with them in a way that’s very engaging and personal, you may use them as a way to project or explore yourself and get to know yourself through them. One of the ways people do this is through shipping! And honestly being able to come to understandings about yourself through media is a really important and valuable asset, and is indispensable for a lot of young fans, especially young LGBT fans, and when you’re doing this with fictional characters, there’s no limit to what you can explore, because these people aren’t real so drawing/writing/roleplaying/etc with them won’t affect their lives in any way, which is great!

Idols are not fictional characters. Real people are not fictional characters.

The way that you interact with them has a direct impact on their life. I genuinely cannot tell you how many times I’ve seen celebrities/public figures have personal relationships either completely ruined or permanently scarred because of how people behaved in regards to shipping. (Ray Narvaez and Mark/Jack, and Donghae/Eunhyuk are just a few examples I can talk about further if you would like me to). People will literally get death threats if they do or don’t do what the fandom thinks they should, because of this imaginary relationship they are forcing upon them.

Let me make one thing very, very clear: A person’s sexuality and relationship status is never, has never been, and will never be, any of our business. 

Now, if a couple decides to be public with their relationhip, and has expressed publicly that they are ok with things like fanart, that is their call, but not everyone will be and we need to respect that.

And why am I bringing up Binu specifically? Most of you have to be aware about the general opinion of both homosexuality and idols dating in Korea. Both are very, very not good. Like, an idol could potentially ruin their entire career if they were to have a gay/dating scandal (look at Super Junior’s Sungmin, he got married in 2014, and fans are STILL trying to kick him out of the group. For getting married. At the age of 28.) This is true for Eunwoo and Moonbin too.

I also know how scary it is to be out, and even more so to be outed when you don’t want to be/aren’t ready to be. It’s genuinely dangerous to be out, and is exponentially more so for people who live in the public eye. Idols get threats for a lot less these days. So every time I see anyone ask about an idols sexuality i get nervous. I know they won’t out themselves, but that almost hurts more, knowing there probably are LGBT idols who want to be out but don’t feel safe doing so.

Whether their relationship is platonic, romantic, or something else entirely,

1) It’s not actually any of our business

2) It’s intrusive on their personal life

3) If this idea gets out enough, they will have to publicly address it which could hurt their image or their personal relationship (again, Dongae & Eunhyuk have had to deal with this)

I’m not saying we can’t enjoy/appreciate the fanservice (they are choosing to do that themselves), I’m not saying we can’t think they would be cute together if they were a couple, I’m not even saying that they themselves are or aren’t comfortable with being shipped (Dan & Phil have made it very clear that their relationship has never been anything but platonic, but they still accept most fandom stuff).

I’m saying that there are boundaries and too often fans forget that idols are in fact real people, and forgetting that fact can bring them actual harm.