#queer styling in kpop
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Let's talk about Taemin and Key of SHINee wearing the Scottish fashion house Charles Jeffrey Loverboy, an openly queer unisex brand. There’s a lot of talk about whether idols know who they are wearing and, when relevant, do they understand the meaning of what they are wearing. We know there are clear examples of artists not understanding what they’re wearing. Indeed, 23-year-old, non-English-speaking Taemin admitted in 2021 that he had no idea the fly of his pants read “Open Here” during View era. Yet, a lot has changed this 2015/16. Taemin’s English is quite proficient. And what about Key, who has studied English since he was a child? I think we can consider understanding the words and understanding the context or broader meaning behind words or, as the case may be, symbols, which can be universal.
Taemin in the Advice album photobook, 2021.
The Charles Jeffrey Loverboy brand is no ordinary brand. It’s a spunky, fun and edgy unisex brand with genuine British flavour. From London Fashion Week's write up:
"Looking back to look forward, the collections re-render historical references as intrinsically modern while paying respect to an ancestral line-up of costumiers, performance artists and queer icons. Jeffrey’s nightlife-influenced thirst for experimentation, and belief in the validity of mistakes, result in a colourful tension between control and chaos.
"LOVERBOY’s roots are fixed in London’s queer nightlife scene, having been born in 2014 as both a fashion label and a cult club night. The LOVERBOY parties, first staged while Jeffrey was studying for his Masters in fashion design at Central St Martins in London, were attended by the city’s up-and-coming artists, performers, musicians, drag queens and poets, many of whom became Jeffrey’s future muses and creative collaborators."
Live performance of Advice, 2021.
The tartan in these looks is known as the loverboy tartan. In the current collection, they have an “odorable” loverboy tartan raincoat with giant floppy bunny ears. I’m too lazy to link it, but do look it up and peruse the punk-meets-whimsy items on the website.
Taemin’s stylist for Advice was Kim Wook. You can read an interview with Kim Wook in translation here. Wook talks about he and Taemin wanting to do something impactful before Taemin entered the military, and they settled on working with silhouettes that are usually seen on female dancers. I could do a whole post on Taemin’s styling for Advice (maybe I will!), but to connect things back to the brand at hand, the flamboyantly unisex Loverboy brand seems to be at home with the goal of Advice’s styling. Advice was Taemin’s way of saying “I will go my own way and trust myself over others,” and I don’t think the androgynous or even gender-fluid looks he presented are a coincidence; Wook’s interview shows that it isn’t. These looks feel like a push forward for Taemin, and he’s been clear in saying Advice was a breakaway from his past. Act I and Act II were leading to this moment.
Taemin has been wearing Charles Jeffery Loverboy upon in return in 2023. I think the most significant choice is the non-binary shirt he wore a fan meeting during Hard era. The t-shirt is a jab at conservatives’ obsession with the love lives and indeed, bathroom usage, of LGBT+, saying, “They’re happy and satisfied. Are you?” There is a also a good-sized, unmistakable non-binary symbol on the shirt. I hadn’t seen this symbol before but it was still easy for me to comprehend. As an artist who is increasingly wearing gender-fluid outfits, it is likely a conscious choice to wear a shirt that supports non-binary rights.
Now, we can’t forget fashion-forward, English king Key in all of this. Key has always had a love and fascination with fashion; we saw in One Fine Day his interaction with a local London fashion brands. He’s a man who knows his fashion houses, so it seems unlikely he wouldn’t know about the Loverboy brand or its ethos as a unisex brand.
Key primarily wore Charles Jeffrey Loverboy accessories for his Gasoline promotions in 2022. The adorable hat with ears is statement wrapped in cuteness, that speaks to the camp motif present in both Key’s body of work and the Loverboy label’s. It’s cute, but not too cute. It’s loud but soft, and the Loverboy stamp is there for all to see. I think that Key embodies what LSF wrote about the Lovery label as “a colourful tension between control and chaos.” Key is never afraid to experiment, and he can go from creating iconic androgynous silhouettes reminiscent of ancient gods and Beyoncé to the retro-camp shown below that almost looks like it could be at home in a Ghostbusters film. Almost.
There are contexts where, like the above, it is more than reasonable to assume that the artists understand what they are wearing and that the choices made are conscious and in some cases made with the goal of the comeback in mind. And there are situations where it’s possible or even confirmed by the artist that they didn’t know what they were wearing or what it meant. I think it can become an obsession for some to want the styling to be conveying a secret code. With the case of Charles Jeffrey Loverboy, there’s no code and it’s not secret. It’s simply known and recognised by those who know, which is enough.
#hope this made sense#charles jeffrey loverboy#shinee#taemin#shinee key#lee taemin#Kim kibum#taemin styling#key shinee styling#kpop styling#queer styling#queer styling in kpop
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Hello! I was looking through your kpop opinions tag, and I found what you said interesting and insightful. I was wondering what your opinions were on Key's Gasoline :D
i have............complicated thoughts on gasoline. i LOVE the graphic design and album marketing and i like a big chunk of the songs on the album, i think a lot of the styling and the mv are really well done. all those outfits are custom builds and the embroidery work is UNREAL, as garments they are beautiful pieces of work. but i don't really like how the song is just a retooled version of industry baby. and i'm not sure how i feel about all the crosses, to be honest. the use of them is obviously very intentional and undoubtedly they mean something TO key specifically in terms of his faith but it's..........not really a thing i can get behind, personally. something about it feels a little too evangelical to me and i will absolutely admit that i am overly sensitive to that kind of thing bc i've had more than one run in with evangelical attempts to convert me. i don't ACTUALLY think it was meant specifically as a whole dogmatic evangelical thing but i find myself being a bit......uncomfortable with the imagery even now a year later.
#like. crosses appear in SO much kpop styling bc theyre just an accessory to a lot of stylists#but with kibum and his care and affinity for detail in his styling......#idk. something gives me the ?? about the visual idea of claiming/making yourself into a new god.....#using a very established and loaded religious symbol.....#that's. weird for me. it doesnt read as transformative in the same way that taemin's work does#its interesting to play with christian iconography contrasting/in dialogue with its contexts#but how do i put this.......it does not strike me as being outside of its contexts here#idk this is hard to explain but as someone who's not religious the way that evangelicals & catholics make art about religion is v different#text#key w#shinee w#answers#im not talking about random instances with strangers on the steet/coming to the door either. im talking about from people that were friends#i also have a lot of ex christian and ex mormon friends bc queer so yea.#sorry this is not really a very interesting or thoughtful response lmao#loved killer though it was extremely fun and very my vibe (synthpop)
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Interview With The Vampire of all things made me go back onto tumblr omg
#interview with the vampire#iwtv#iwtv tumblr#it wasn’t kpop or atla content but iwtv who would of thought#definitely enjoying the show tho#the fits moreso Louis’ fits and styling?!?!#I wish I had his wardrobe uggh#also the queerness and acting uggh#I’m in it
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trouble maker | wong yukhei
sfw (suggestive at the end, a curse word)
ship: lucas x male reader
desc: lucas and (name) hate each other for the stupidest of reasons. but as their debut showcase approaches, they realize they might have to work together.
The tension between lucas and (name) was palpable as they sneakily eyed each other in the practice room, waiting their days for their turn to debut in the kpop industry. The two were set to take the world of music by a storm in their respective duos.
Their agency was committed to try out a new style of teams. With the globalization of kpop and gradually spreading acceptance for queer idols(thanks to icons like Holland), the officials deemed it fit to launch two different duos, all males, centering their primary concept on 'chemistry' or 'love'.
(name) and his teammate Mark, panted in their ending pose, backs touching each other's as the music finished playing. lucas and hendery were observing them with keen eyes, catching their breaths after finishing their round of rehearsals earlier.
hendery whistled, "that was amazing guys!", complimenting his labelmates as Mark and (name) offered tired smiles. the latter turned to smirk at lucas who looked annoyed at hendery's praise for their competitors.
"yeah, (name) can dance" lucas started, "..for a beanpole., he finished with a light snort, making the taller male sport an angered look.
"fuck off, shortie. at least i don't need a ladder to reach the top shelf" he retorted.
"that's an exaggeration. and at least i don't have a face that looks like a deer caught in headlights!"
"you-" the fiery exchange was interrupted as the door to the room opened, the common manager-to-be of both duos making an appearance, instantly making the 4 males stand up as the man never barges in during practice unless it is important.
"Guys." he began with a serious tone and a hint of restlessness in his tone. "we need to talk. there's been some..changes".
"Is this what I think it is?" Mark was the first one to inquire, indirectly voicing out each trainee's worst fear but the manager was quick to intercept.
"No, no. God, no. you boys are still debuting. you deserve it. but there are some..line-up changes. apparently, the company now feels it's a waste of potential variety to debut two duos in the same concept. "
the boys exchanged looks with each other. they'd been together for a while now, going through thick and thin as good friends. it'd be a shame to part ways so close to their debut, after promising to fulfill their dreams together.
"so we had a meeting and decided on one hip-hop duo, and the other to continue in the same theme. naturally, hendery and mark have been paired up together as they fit the rap concept more." he finished explaining the news.
soon after, the manager had left, leaving the boys reeling from the news. at least it was no new members and the 4 were only shuffled amongst themselves, they told each other.
days passed, and mark and hendery started spending more time in the studio instead of dance practices, working on their verses. having love for hip-hop since forever, the two seemed happy which reassured their friends.
lucas and (name), on the other hand, were having a hard time toleration one another. even though they were extremely professional, personal feelings kept aside as long as the song played but despite their undeniable talent and charisma, their constant bickering threatened to overshadow their potential success.
the dynamic between the two was anything but harmonious. they clashed over everything, from song choices to choreography to who should get more screen time in their debut music video. each disagreement only served to fuel their rivalry, pushing them further apart even as they were forced to work together for the sake of their debut.
One particularly heated argument erupted during a late-night rehearsal, when Lucas criticized (name)'s dance moves as sloppy and uncoordinated. "You move like a clumsy giraffe," he taunted, earning a scowl from the taller.
"Maybe I'd dance better if I didn't have to carry your dead weight on stage," he snapped back, his patience wearing thin. he stormed out of the room, both of them fuming.
they couldn't go on like this. no matter how good they perform on stage, if the dynamic behind the scenes was going to be this flaming, their stardom was destined to be short-lived.
But just as it seemed like their partnership was doomed to failure, a moment of unexpected vulnerability changed everything. after a late-night practice session, (name) accidentally let slip a personal insecurity that had been weighing heavily on his mind, causing lucas to pause in surprise from drinking water.
"I never asked to be taller than everyone else, you know?" he admitted, his usually confident facade crumbling in the face of his insecurity. "It's not easy standing out in a crowd for all the wrong reasons."
Lucas, who had always viewed (name) as an annoying trainee to be defeated, suddenly saw him in a different light. He realized that beneath the bravado and insults, there was a person with their own struggles and insecurities, just like himself.
In that moment of shared vulnerability, the walls between them crumbled, and a newfound understanding and respect blossomed. They put aside their petty disagreements and focused on their shared goal of creating something truly special together.
they had seen each other work their asses off for this and they decided to let the world know just that.
as the day of their debut finally arrived, Lucas and (name) took to the stage with a newfound sense of unity and purpose. the practice sessions leading up to the fateful day had a new emotion lingering in the dance room: admiration. which slowly seemed to blossom into newfound feelings. those of fondness and liking.
Their performance was nothing short of spectacular. their voices blended harmoniously, their dance moves synchronized effortlessly, and their stage presence was nothing short of electrifying. there was no denying the undeniable chemistry between them when they performed together. after their debut song, the suggestive moves in the duo's dance cover of the song 'troublemaker' had the audience gasping for air. they had prepared this one as a surprise to make a bold statement on their first day at work. they weren't to be taken lightly.
Cheers and applause resounded at the music bank set as Lucas and (name) took their final bow. And as they stood with foreheads resting against each other's, breathless and full of adrenaline, there was no trace of animosity between them, only a shared sense of accomplishment and by the tension, a budding romance.
Lucas turned to (name), a smirk on his face. "hey doe eyes, you ready for our next performance?" he asked, gesturing to the empty hall while taking off their microphones.
"bring in on, shortie" (name) winked in response, as he walked towards an empty room without looking back, gesturing for lucas to follow him using his index finger.
"let's see how much of a 'trouble maker' you can actually be, shall we?"
#kpop male idol#kpop x male reader#male idol x male reader#lucas x male reader#nct 127#nct dream#wayv
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BL Best of 2022 - quick picks
Best KBL: Semantic Error
Best Thai BL: Bad Buddy (remember for me this falls into 2022)
Best JBL: this was the hardest pick for me because Japan came back SWINGING this year. So... I cheated.
Best traditional live action yaoi? Minato’s Laundromat
Best modern BL? Takara & Amagi
Best for me, personally? Old Fashion Cupcake
Best Taiwan BL: My Tooth Your Love although I really adored DNA Says Love You and About Youth, the one fudged the beginning and the other the end (both are still v HEA) so My Tooth was the most consistent.
Best director: Kato Ayaka (Old Fashion Cupcake) she did a fucking phenomenal job, and yes she had two killer actors to work with, but I am such a sucker for those long shots plus the sensual foods close ups? GIIRLLLLLLLL. Gah!
Best kiss: honestly we had so many good kisses this year I have multiple blog posts going on the subject. But I am handing it over to the one that stuck in my head the most, Billy & Seng’s up against that chain gate with the damn blue towel sticking out of his back pocket in Secret Crush On You.
The desperation was just insane. But I might have given it to OFC if they hadn’t already won the director category. And I flipping LOVE the Kissable Lips boys BTS smiley kiss from 304: 100% should have been on screen for us.
Best erotic moment: The shower neck make out kiss from side couple RainPayu in Oh! My Sunshine night.
Runner up: VegasPete and the “ass to waist ratio” kiss in their kinky chain scene.
Best O scene: Oh the whole LITA special, they knew what they were doing. Doesn’t stop me being annoyed by the whole thing, tho.
Best cuddles: I mean it should got to 12% because, well, ENDLESSLY spectacular cuddles from SantaEarth but for me it was Star in My Mind’s cuddle+glare. I love me a vicious little “mine” moment.
Best eye contact/soulmating/eyefucking: FirstKhao in The Eclipse although Japan did great work with THIRST this year (bit more one sided, that one).
Best cinematography: Cherry Blossoms After Winter, I know, I know, but you know how I feel about yaoi, nostalgia and cinematic storytelling.
Best boohoo snot bubble I’m dazed and crying: Eternal Yesterday, every fucking episode, Choco Milk Shake (I hate you Strongberry, I love you Strongberry), To My Star 2 (I just hate you and you are not forgiven).
Most beloved character: Shin MY PRECIOUS BEAN SPROUT
Best Pair: The Parks although I am also crazy about the To My Star and Kissable Lips boys. I really want more from all of them. Madness that it’s all Korea.
Best Ensemble: The Eclipse had a killer cast but I expect that from GMMTV. So for all it was a mess of a story Cutie Pie wins best casting from me. All 3 couples had such good chemistry. I don’t think any other multi-couple shows out of Thailand were that on point, not even KP.
Best siblings//family: My Ride, gotta hand it to the gay uncles and all the queer friends and the adopted son. Although DNA Says Love You was pretty darn great too.
Best Food: There were so many food ones this year (Ocean Likes Me, Old Fashion Cupcake, La Cuisine, but none were as good food-wise as Bite Me last year) so the one where I actually wanted to eat stuff the most? What Zabb Man. What can I say? I love sweets and ramen, but Thai food is my last best hope in life.
Best song: Eternal Yesterday’s OST Sunshower by Ayumu Imazu. I can’t believe Japan beat out Korea but I am sorry I just really fucking adore that song. I’m sucker for that raw slightly rough voice combined with Japan’s brusque style (and PINK hair).
youtube
But Leo’s I still from Happy Ending Romance is a close fucking follow up, that boy is dripping slightly-evil honey even in falsetto, he’s a perennially ignored goddamn gift to Kpop.
I do A LOT of best of lists, this is just the beginning. Also if you have a request of a top 10 of 2022 or any best of... name the tope lists, let me know in an RP or a comment.
(source)
#best of bl 2022#best bl of the year#best bl#best of list#japanese bl#thai bl#korean bl#semantic error#Minato Shoji Coin Laundry#Minato’s Laundromat#bad buddy#Takara-kun and Amagi-kun#Old Fashion Cupcake#My Tooth Your Love#Kato Ayaka#BillySeng#Secret Crush On You#Kissable Lips#Circumstances of Pungdeok Villa Room 304#Roommates of Poongduck 304#Oh! My Sunshine#rainpayu#VegasPete#Love in the Air#Star in My Mind#My Only 12%#FirstKhao#The Eclipse#Cherry Blossoms After Winter#Eternal Yesterday
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how people interact with sports fandom/react when they find out what sports fandom is actually like is sooooo funny to me like?
i'm sorry if you thought sports fans were only cishet dude bros giving their unasked for opinions instead of mostly women and/or queer folk treating these sports men like members of a popular boyband, including but definitely not limited to: making kpop style fancams, creating dramatic edits with sad lyric/poem overlays, and referring to them as "babygirl" and "wife"
i won't even touch on the rpf/shipping part of it*, even though when people figure out sports fans write about these Sports Men being in love with and/or fucking each other is extra EXTRA funny
it's just so entertaining to me, is all
*actually i just looked up the most popular sports rpf fandoms and YEAH HOCKEY FANDOM LOOK AT US GO
#askdjfh love this for us hockey fandom#the least popular sport but the most gayboys!!!!!!#football#formula 1#nhl#nba#mlb#SPORTS#!!!! SPORTS!!!!!
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https://www.tumblr.com/stormblessed95/735173163757010944/as-a-straight-army-if-jikook-hypothetically?
*feel free to not post if you don't want to start issues 💜*
i really do want to be nice bc feeling excluded is a real thing and it sucks, and i'm hoping that this anon is actually being genuine
but hearing cishets whine (sorry but it sounds like that) about not being included in queer spaces is beyond hilarious and annoying
As a straight ARMY if Jikook (hypothetically) would ever admit they are, or were a thing, I would at once be happy for them, but at the same time get a bit jealous, coz then queer ARMY would try to gate keep them like anything.
Queer fans can be rather possessive about queer celebs I have seen. I kinda get why they would, but still..
bts has always been for for anyone and everyone, but ok 🙃🙃
i'm hoping you mean that queer army would make liking bts/jikook a "queer only" thing and not us (queer armys) protecting them when they live in a conservative HOMOPHOBIC country where they can get thrown in prison for having same sex relations during military enlistment, being an "issue".... pls tell me that's what you mean 😐
bc having to deal with kpop stans and armys (yes some of y'all are fcking disgusting pos) being homophobic and transphobic towards jimin is already hard enough while he's closeted (if he's queer/bi), i don't even want to think of how bad it'll be if/when he comes out, especially adding in the locals and gp (and when jimin is literally south korea's sweetheart....)
then with the amount of "straightkookers" and y/ns, if jk is queer/gay it's going to be BAD
and if jikook are actually dating.....
also considering we've literally just had to report and email to protect the members (jimin especially) about people being homophobic and using their (bts') country's outdated and horrible laws for enlistment to harm or hurt the members, kinda want you to stfu
Queer ARMY already say BTS just for girls, gays and theys and they are mostly joking. But if Jikook or any BTS member for that matter were to come out officially, these wont be jokes.
y'all are allowed to make thousands of straight ("his wife/girlfriend") jokes about the members, but god forbid queer people have fun
and i'm sorry but YOU (anon) are the majority here, yet you're scared queer fans are going to "bully out" the straight fans 😭😭
BTS, especially the members who come out wont be considered as those with universal appeal, but be promoted, touted as queer icons instead.
as they should 😌
also plenty of queer celebs and artists are still loved by cishet fans
Straight fans who now participate as ARMY equally with non het fans, would now become "guests in a queer space/fandom)".
EQUALLY????
the amount of times i've been attacked bc i suggest a member might be queer (not even shipping related btw), the multiple stupid ass debates surrounding like crazy, face, seven, 3D, standing next to you, and golden, and the dumbass opinions during jimin's photo folio
also queer people are "guests" in real life already
Our opinion on their style, music choice, career trajectory would be shut down as #hetopinionnotvalid.
i mean if the topic is about queer topics or issues, then letting queer people speak on that is basic human decency imo
y'all let (or you should be 🤨) poc, women, ect speak on issues that they're affected by when bts does something related to those issues, so let queer people do the same 😞
Straight BTS fans would then be likened to straight women who go to gay clubs, as interlopers who are encroaching something that doesnt belong to them.
y'all want to be oppressed so bad 💀💀
it's MUSIC, just have fun and be respectful
"Yall want to be oppressed so bad"
*cosigned* thanks for dropping in anon
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do you have any headcanons for the Belcher family?
SORRY IT TOOK ME LIKE 50 YEARS TO ANSWER THIS writers block or whatever. I will give u a few each because i like thinking about these characters :)
bob
he is a big fan of 70s and 80s dad rock music and some queer culture music from that era like freddie mercury and cyndi lauper (that he listened to a decent amount growing up next to a gay bar). when the kids were younger he would sing to them in their highchair etc while he was cooking dinner and dance with them, louise and tina were not huge fans of his music however lol louise ends up enjoying more kpop/alt/punk rock music and tina likes upbeat pop music. gene definitely shares his dads music taste tho!! they go to concerts together when gene is a little older
pete (regular at big bob's diner and owner of the gay bar next door) was bob's first gay crush as a kid. kinda stressful bcuz he was coming of age Directly during the aids crisis and having an older queer male figure in his life really helped. he also had a weird gay situationship with one of his nerdy guy friends from high school and they did some..... experimenting together 👀
he has movie nights w/ each of his kids!! he usually watches hawk and chick movies with louise, western movies with gene (or really stupid high school comedy movies like pitch perfect. at gene's request) and basically Whatever romantic comedy or horsegirl movie of the week that tina chooses. he honestly loves all of them bcuz they remind him of his kids personalities and interests <3 these happen usually three to four times a month and he'll let the kids stay up later (until 10pm or 11pm) to watch with him, but they usually fall asleep on his lap before the end of the movie
he let tina and gene give him makeovers when they were younger with mom's old makeup etc. he mostly did it for their sake but he really did enjoy wearing the nail polish, I think he'd look good in black nail polish if he didnt have to wash his hands 500 times a day working in the restaurant. he's very into the alt rock and roll style and aesthetic in theory if not in actual presentation
in his heart he's a punkrocker in reality he is a middle aged dad wearing old tshirts stained with ketchup
linda
when louise was younger (before she could shower/bathe herself) linda was the ONLY person she'd ever let wash or brush her hair when her ears weren't on. linda still gives louise her (very very) occasional haircuts so that her hair doesn't become TOO unmanageable, and she brushes louise hair sometimes just for fun :) louise is the one she always sings the harry truman song to because louise thought it was funny when she was younger
linda's dad taught her how to ride a bike when she was a kid but by the time that gayle was old enough to learn their dad wasn't really. interested in doing that stuff anymore lol. so linda taught gayle how to ride her bike!!! it didn't go super well and there were lots of bruises and tears involved over a four day period, but it's some of gayle and linda's happiest memories together. linda stepped in a lot for gayle when their parents wouldn't put in the effort
linda was actually involved in A LOT of sports when she was growing up!! she was on the school basketball team and did some soccer and track extracurriculars. she was a bit of a jock and she still enjoys playing sports on the rare occasion she gets the chance w/ one of her kids (but she is sliiightly too compeitive). louise is the only belcher kid who is any good at athletic stuff but she isn't super into team sports. she'll play occasionally with linda at the park though. she's also the only belcher family member who can handle linda's competitive spirit, including bob
tina:
started wearing glasses at like five months old bcuz she's farsighted and genuinely couldnt see ANYTHING lol. there exist very few pictures or videos of her as a baby before she got glasses (her infancy was also somewhat chaotic due to the newly opened restaurant and everything so not a lot of time for photos) when gene and louise find a few in an old photo album its GENUINELY like they found a previously lost artifact from ancient egpyt. they've seen tina without her glasses obvs but this was tina BEFORE her glasses!!!! wow!!!
she enjoys cooking w/ bob even though she isn't a particularly good cook. she's anxious around stoves and other appliances which is most of the problem but she also doesn't have a natural talent for it 😭. she helps bob cook dinner sometimes and when she was younger she helped with cooking a special mother's day breakfast for linda (gene and louise were too little to help out)
tina loves both her parents equally but she prefers spending time w/ bob more than linda bcuz he matches her energy level better. they're both anxious kinda quiet and introverted people (tina obviously got most of her personality from bob) so she just likes hanging out with him and going on errands together. tina has a special place in bob's heart too as his oldest child and his firstborn, so they really do love spending the day together whenever possible
gene
when tina is in high school and gene and louise are still attending wagstaff, gene will take his allowance and take louise out to get ice cream after school at least once a week bcuz there isn't anyone around to tell them not to. they both enjoy the time they spend together <3 louise really misses this ritual when gene goes off to high school but they still do go out for ice cream occasionally. and it's only a few dollars but gene likes feeling like he's providing for louise in some way as a Big Brother and spoiling her (even if she pays for their ice cream days maybe half the time)
gene's seperation anxiety is actually A LOT worse when he's without his sisters than when he's without his parents. he can deal w/ a few nights without his parents there but he genuinely does not like being seperated from his sisters for more than a few hours. it's really hard for him & he worries about them so much. luckily there's rarely any reason for them to be apart, and he's a middle child so he'll always be going to the same school as one of them
he thinks bob gives the best hugs out of everyone in the family :) 2nd place goes to tina. sorry linda
louise
she likes drawing!! she wouldnt call herself an artist and she's not exactly trying to be good at art anyway, but she has her desk w/ her crayons and paper and sometimes she scribbles for fun or to express her feelings. she does this on her schoolwork too which makes ms labonz angry but she will admit louise is pretty funny and good at cartoons
she'll be a HUGE anime and kpop fan when she's older but not like stan twitter kpop fans. she'll unironically take pride in her favorite manga being an underrated cult classic from the 80s underground japan scene or whatever. nobody else in her family 100% gets it but tina will watch naturo and one piece with her even though she finds them a little bit boring and hard to follow. tina likes the anime boys
when she's bored in class she draws tattoos on herself in pen/sharpie and when other kids see what she's doing they want her to draw on their arms too. she charges a quarter for each person she tattoos, and she had a decent business going until the teachers shut it down and warned her about ink posioning. SIGH. she'll probably get real tattoos when she turns 18
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would like to hear your perspective as a queer person on what you think is next for taekook? more openness? louder actions like dream premiere? and do you think there’s a possibility they’ll come out once the group settles down?
Hm. A very good question. I don't feel SUPER qualified to answer as I'm British and don't have a vast first hand knowledge of homophobia in SK. A friend of mine who lived there for 5 years said she saw progression in LGBTQ+ rights in the short time she was there. For example, her first year, a pride event she attended was 50 people, mostly Western. By her last year, it was a thousand with a lot of young Koreans.
This is reassuring but my understanding is that it's still not going to be immediately accepted. Not even with all their influence can they buy tolerance. There's also a major issue with birth rate in SK and as the AIDs crisis taught us, the answer to issues like this is usually to restrict and repress gay people rather than educate and address the actual problem.
So explicit coming out in next few years? No I can't see it right now. Not while money talks. Not until their star is on a natural decline and Bighit had another worldwide hot band to profit from. Even then I'm not sure.
Maybe in five to ten? Maybe.
But what is reassuring and what I hope proves me wrong, is what they've been doing so far with their power and influence: introducing these queer, liberal and diverse concepts to the audience.
Tae made a statement with Fri[end]s. (By association he has the support of three of the biggest actors in South Korea behind him too!)
JK is quieter but he talks often about gender free clothing and expression. (His "why is [f*cking] dirty?" was an instrumental moment in loving JK for me. Sex positivity? In MY kpop idol?!)
I can see them all, other 5 guys too, becoming even bolder and more open about their convictions. About war, about racism, about gender equality, about homophobia. You can already see it happening in Yoongi's declaration that he wants them to be free and unjudged and in Joon's discussion of indigenous or female (or both) artists, in Hope's Equal Sign and their donation to BLM. Increased voice about these apparently controversial issues sets the tone for how they intend to conduct themselves from 2025 and MAYBE that inspires the youth to use their voice and demand the older generation to change. Maybe it creates an environment Taekook could come out in?
I also think maybe they might become more open about dating, smoking, having chests under their clothes, about being normal guys. Imagine Seokjin gets married (sorry, this is a rumour but innocuous enough I feel). It'll be a shit storm but it might just break the dam enough to affect a tide change.
What do I think they can do? Glass closet. Be louder up to the point of coming out. Allow the queer coding to speak for itself. Dream Premiere style things, maybe. Tae continues to go live with a guy in his bed... 😇
Thanks anon. What a cool question. Your brain is so sexy. 💜
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can you explain the directioner->hockey pipeline, please?
yes i CAN thanks for giving me an opportunity to take a break from my homework.
so, this won’t be a very long story but it is a funny one (to me). when One Direction broke up, the girlies were lost. adrift. i wasn’t among their number, so i’ve only heard secondhand accounts, but the boyband megafans needed a new place to direct their specific type of fandom.
some of them went to kpop, pretty understandably. but a LARGE chunk of them went to the NHL. why? because every year there is the NHL draft where a fresh band of young (18-20) and (sometimes) attractive guys are paraded around like show ponies and snapped up by NHL teams. I just went to double check and the 2015/2016/2017 drafts are FULL of guys that this specific subset of hockey fandom is fixated on. the timing lines up. those draft years had a lot of decent looking guys too, which helps.
i will add that hockey coverage leans on storylines—individual players and their stories/friendships with other players/relationships with their team/achievements (source: i was a hockey reporter). this is perfect for RPF fans, because there’s a basis. two guys that are really close friends on a team are ideal for writing about. two guys who are close friends despite being on different teams provide an alternate type of story to tell. people also like to fantasize about having a relationship with a player they like, just like people fantasize about other celebrities. there are hot guys in hockey, it’s just a fact (source: i’m gay and have eyes).
so the result of this is that the hockey fanbase now consists of a lot of old-timer white men who are set in their ways and fairly conservative. and then a new incoming fanbase of young women and young queer people, who like hockey for very different reasons. i fall into the second demographic, technically, though i didn’t come to hockey through the same channels. the two are often at odds. a lot of ‘traditional’ hockey fans think that being attracted to players or having an investment in more than one team means you’re a fake fan. this is, obviously, bullshit. a lot of the directioners i knew when i was active on hockey twitter knew the game like the back of their hand.
if you look up the one direction to hockey pipeline, you’ll find a lot of tweets about it. it’s pretty established in hockey circles and it’s a point of pride for a lot of people! i don’t like RPF at all and avoid engaging with it, but i do like the fact that a huge demographic of young progressive fans can push the NHL in a better direction. it has some issues too (look up the booktok & seattle kraken drama if you want to see an example), but at the end of the day i would prefer to talk hockey with a 21 year old who’s gonna use my phone number for harry styles early access tickets (real story) than with a 60 year old ‘superfan’ who thinks the NHL shouldn’t have pride night.
#lucas.txt#answered#hockey#nhl#i hope this is enough info feel free to send follow up questions#i love you forever for asking
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about me!!!
i am 19
she/they pronouns!!!
i am queer!!! no label because it literally would change every day lmfaoo
i am mixed. i am black,,,
i got into kpop around 2019 and i stan a variety of groups!!
i am mainly a bg stan but i also listen to a lot of girl group music!!
some of my fav non kpop artists are kali uchis, steve lacy, tyler the creator, sza, solange, the driver era, the neighborhood, wallows, conan gray, harry styles, cage the elephant, djo, men i trust, laufey, the internet, kehlani and so many more lmfao….
my favorite k artists/ kpop artists include seventeen (obviously), txt , p1harmony, nct, ateez, the boyz, stray kids, bts, shinee, xdinary heroes, nmixx, twice, itzy, enhypen, got7, monsta x,onlyoneof, zerobaseone, new jeans, exo and dpr live/ian, the rose (saw them in concert) colde, dvwn, wave to earth, se so neon, so!yoon!, jiwoo, nIve,junny, so MANY.
I LOVE SONG RECS SO SEND THEM I LOVE LISTENING TO NEW MUSIC!!
thank you for taking your time to read about me!
#nct#seventeen#svt#nct imagines#nct x reader#nct smut#svt fanfic#svt smut#nct scenarios#svt imagines#skz han#skz fanfic#skz fluff#skz smut#ateez imagines#ateez fluff#ateez x reader#divider by dollywons
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Dear Peppertaemint,
I sort of think of you as an expert when it comes to K-Pop, media literacy and topics that deal with queer themes, given your writings on Taemin's work for example. I hope my inquiry won't be considered a waste of time because I know you don't deal with silliness in your inbox, but I will try my luck.
I will admit that I keep up a bit with the BTS members, albeit scarcely. I happened to read on twitter (known as X now) that through his artistic expression, Taehyung is either indicating he is queer or perhaps a suporter (an ally just like Valentina) of the community. All that is supposedly apparent in his first solo music video, with references to queer cinema or the clothes he's wearing for a photoshoot. Of course, this is not the first time this has been speculated in online circles. I'll post a link at the end of this message so you could get an idea of what I'm trying to explain.
What I would wish for is a more unbiased opinion from someone with vast knowledge and a cultural background and who doesn't feel the need to prove anything about their bias. At least I think he's not your bias. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
I'm looking forward to your response. As always 🩷
Sincerely
Lady A. Assante
https://twitter.com/polyatannies/status/1689591513032900608?t=Kp20X2STVljKh0RDs7MNVg&s=19
Hello Lady A. Assante,
Despite there being a high probability that this ask is a put-on, I’m going to take it at face value and reply in earnest.
I looked at the link you sent, which was a tweet of a Russian video purporting to tie the films Velvet Goldmine (1998) and Jubilee (1978) to Taehyung’s recent MV and, seemingly, his identity. I can’t read the Russian blocks of text in the video, but I can see the split-screen shots comparing Tae to characters in Velvet Goldmine. I can also see that Taehyung appears to wear a shirt of the film Jubilee in a promotional photo.
Now, I’m old enough to have been around when Velvet Goldmine came out; it’s a film about sexuality and aesthetics in the glam rock era, and it not-so-subtlety tells, at least in part, a take on the long time rumour of David Bowie and Mick Jagger’s liaison as lovers during glam rock days. In all honesty, I cannot see how this film in any way, shape, or form, has any relation to Taehyung’s “Love Me Again” MV beyond perhaps they both involve sequinned outfits.
“Love Me Again” is a slightly moody, barebones MV of Taehyung singing in a Spanish cave surrounded by retro items. His hair is a golden mess, while his clothes are cheap sequin getups with golden chains around his neck. Tae is moody in his MV, but he’s no glam rocker. He’s a crooner lost in time and confused. He ends the MV practically disgruntled. For me, the through line of the exotic setting, the props and the styling doesn’t quite come through. So, there wasn’t a lot for me to take away from Taehyung’s MV, but when all his MVs are released, I will watch them in order and share my thoughts. Again, I don’t see any meaningful relation between these two works. And certainly I don’t see anything overtly queer about Taehyung’s MV. If someone wants to come with concrete examples of “he said X” or “he did X” or “he wore X,” then I can consider such things.
And about his clothes: Derek Jarman was an important gay rights activist in the UK. But his activism was, more generally, in the 1980s onward, and focused on certain laws that effected education in the UK as well as raising awareness of the AIDS epidemic. These are very important works, especially to me living in Britain as a queer person. However, the film Jubilee is not about that work. It’s a punk film in response to the Queen’s Jubilee in 1977, and it presents a dystopian future of monarchical Britain and features some of the best punk bands of the time, including The Slits and Adam and the Ants. That shirt is about the punk movement - an important movement in Britain to be sure, but it isn’t centred on queerness.
My advice to Kpop fans looking for queerness in Kpop is to start with those who are doing concrete things in the genre: Holland and OnlyOneOf are a great place to start. Then you can look at Taemin, Key and SHINee as a whole, and reach out from there. SHINee’s “My Identity” from the album Hard (2023) was played at Seoul pride this year. I’d really recommend having a listen. And before a critical interloper writes in to say that everything queer must be cryptically coded because SK isn’t safe for LGBT+; I’m very aware of the rights people are lacking in SK. However, there are levels to meanings in art, and every artist has their own comfort zone when it comes to what they wish to share, and what they wish to be “unlock-able,” and what they wish to keep firmly for themselves. What I don’t think is helpful is conspiracy-level theories about art being queer-coded. That’s because art is already meant to interact with its audience; what a piece of art means to you is what is the most important. If you find something that speaks to your queer side in Taehyung’s work, than for you, that’s what his work is. That doesn’t mean his identity matches yours. There’s no need for that. That’s the beauty of art.
As a postscript, this shot here is exactly what reminds me of Key’s solo work: spooky retro style. That’s Key’s signature, which has been a personal extension of certain works in SHINee’s oeuvre (like “Married to the Music”). What remains unclear for me is what this union of elements signifies for Taehyung.
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youtube
Taemin, Key, WJSN, tripleS, f(x) and Amber. What do they have in common? They are the idols who represent queerness of Kpop. In new episode of 'Champion of Pitching Queer Idols', we highlight the queer charms of various idols and pitch the queerness of Kpop.
Taemin and Key present a performance that across gender boundaries. WJSN and tripleS break the typical girl appearance with a girl crush concept. And even Amber, who maintaining her own unique style as an idol. What is the queerness they will show?
Here's the story of K-pop choreography instructor Yangmal, who breaks down stereotypes about dance and why you can find your true self through dance. Are you curious about all these stories? Please watch the new episode of 'Champion of Pitching Queer Idols' now.
x <- credit goes to this tweet for helping me find this video!
#shinee#taemin#lee taemin#key#kim kibum#shinee key#key shinee#wjsn#triples#f(x)#amber liu#amber#shinee video#ltmvideo23#kibum video#champion of pitching queer idols#Youtube
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hullo!
Ive just listened to the latest ep of the pod, it was wonderful!! Halla's point on how parasocialiaty is defined by what it lacks, to be very insightful , ive always had a slight issue with how parasocial relationships r discussed in scholarship and the rapidly changing nature of media does not help.
when u guys were talking about how different artists develop different styles of parasocial relationships with their fans, like how the nature of a harries relationship with harry styles is in a way different from the parasocial relationship we have with matty or the relationships swifties have with taylor. And how artist actively foster these relationships so in a way they are a two-way street (please lmk if I'm misunderstanding ur points, cause I'm listening to the pod at work so I may miss some key info),
Anyway, this reminded me of a convo I had with a prof of mine, we were talking about the narrative and meta-narratives that artists (specifically singer-songwriters) present to the public (cause all famous people r presenting a narrative that's y they're famous)
I think this narrative/ meta-narrative really affects the establishment and nature of the artist/ audience parasocial relationship. I think that for an artist to be "stan-able" they must present a meta-narrative, so there is,, something MORE for the fans to know about them. For example, Ed Sheeran and Coldplay have huge fanbases and can play arenas but don't really have stans because they only present a narrative (i.e. the music/ album). Whereas artists like Harry styles and most kpop groups actively foster a parasocial relationship by presenting a narrative (i.e. the music/ album) then a meta-narrative, for harry this would be his vague allusions to queerness, for kpop groups this would be the slow reveal of their real personalities (cause a lot of kpop groups r given explicit "roles" by their management like "the cool one" "the childish one" "the leader" etc). This meta-narrative allows for dedicated fans to "know" the artist better than fan who "just" listen to the songs. Personally, i think matty presents a third kind of "post-meta- narrative" so his narrative is the album then his meta-narrative is the onstage/in-interview performance art then his post-meta-narrative is his reflection on the performance art. I think the main difference between artists who have a meta-narrative and artists who have a post-meta-narrative is that we don't know what harry styles the person thinks about "harry styles" the performance, whereas id argue that we know what matty the person thinks about "matty healy" the performance.
I dont have a super cohesive point to end on but I do think that matty presenting a post-meta-narrative gets lost in translation when the 1975 gets exposed to wider audiences (like the swiftes) who take the red-pilled, toxic masculinity, meta-narrative Matty presents, as the end all be all.
anyways, i LOVE the pod, i hope yall keep it up and have fun doing it!!!
first off OMG HI IM JUST SEEING THIS SORRY IF YOU SENT IT A WHILE BACK! It’s Halla btw lmao.
seconddddd, okay that’s a very good point you’re making about Stan-able celebrities, so to speak. Because, as we were talking, in the back of my head, I was thinking about my second favorite artist, Father John Misty, whose music is lowkey similar to the 1975 in a lot of ways. And it’s definitely shaped me as a person a lot. He’s been my top artist on Spotify wrapped stats for years. HOWEVERRR, I don’t have the same relationship to him/ his art as Matty and the 1975. I think it’s precisely because of the meta-narrative that you’re pointing to!
perhaps that’s part of what Matty has in mind when he says “feeling personally addressed.” Even little things like referencing their own earlier discography or tongue-in-cheek jokes about lyrics. “You can’t figure out a heart you were lyin’” “it’s just like I’ve lost my head.” Not to mention Notes tracks that have samples of ABIIOR in the back/ signaling the end of Music For Cars era etc. all of those things feel like building a narrative that the fan can participate in, and is likely to make you more immersed in the music and the artist. So yeah 100% I think this is a really great thought and if you don’t mind us referencing it on the next ep (it’s gonna be a part 2 of this conversation but more centered around consumerism in fan culture) I’d love to bring it up with Zoe!
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Tagged by @thesweetnessofspring for a favorites game!
Favorite painter: Edward Burne-Jones. The heavy, mythic luxury of the Pre-Raphealite aesthetic always compels me, but I'm going with EBJ in particular because of The Beguiling of Merlin.
Favorite writer: All in all, probably Diana Wynne Jones. I read her early enough that she became a formative part of my psyche and writing dream but not early enough that I copied too much of her style to the point where it sometimes felt like thinly veiled fanfic (cough like with Robin McKinley cough).
Favorite band: For western music, Bastille; there are so many songs of theirs I adore. For Kpop, a toss-up between WayV and TXT.
Favorite meal and drink: Meal would be either a full Korean spread with galbi and tons of banchan and japchae and sticky bap OR Italian pasta with garlic and roasted tomatoes and basil. Drink is always black tea with milk and sugar.
Favorite outfit aesthetic: Dark academia. Love me a collared shirt under a sweater.
Favorite singer: Taemin, probably? Or Sufjan Stevens. Love me a queer-coded guy who talks about love and sex and God in the same terms.
Favorite item I own: I have to say my pair of heeled Doc Martin boots that I bought during senior year simply to impress a girl. It worked! And I got a fabulous pair of shoes out of it.
Favorite possession: IDK how this is different from the above but in terms of ownership? For another answer, I adore a typewriter-style keyboard that I (also) got during senior year...as you might be able to tell, I processed my graduation/grad school app stress with an unhealthy amount of retail therapy.
Favorite perfume: Never wear it.
Tagging: @alwayschasingrainbows @moonlightredfern anyone else who sees this and wants to join, consider yourself tagged!
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idk how to word this question properly, but what differences do you see in the way korean lesbians/bi women dress in comparison to american ones? i can’t speak for neither but i can see a difference between how they dress in my country x in the US so i was curious
well to put it simply they dress like korean people? i only have my own experiences as a gyopo butch dyke and my historical knowledge to draw from so this info is gonna be specific to what i've noticed and not at all a comprehensive overview of the entire korean lesbian scene.
south korea has its own clothing trends and accessible clothing items with sizing and cuts that r specific to the country so that's what queer women have to choose from basically. korean clothing tends to be a little bit more gender neutral than american clothing as of the last 10 years and a little bit more formal. a lot of young korean people wear blazers and slacks and formal shoes just to hang out with friends regardless of gender, mix and matched with like jeans and t-shirts and sneakers to dress it down for casual occasions. most korean lesbians dress like korean women and the large breadth of personal styles that that entails. this is very much colored by upbringing, class, hobbies, whether they take part in subcultures, etc. korean lesbians/bi women often gravitate to subcultures such as the underground music scene or tattooist scene. the tattooist scene is inherently countercultural because giving tattoos without a medical license is illegal so people who cannot have standard jobs due to social hierarchies but have artistic inclinations tend to be drawn there.
there was a large south korean feminist movement in the last 10 years that has led to a lot of feminist and/or lesbian/bi women dressing casually and androgynously with no make up as a response to constant objectification and inhumane beauty standards in society and the workplace. i would say that this is analogous to the US lesbian feminist movement in the 60s-80s toward androgyny as a response to objectification. this is in historical contrast with butch/femme culture which cares more about actively attracting other women and signaling that they are a part of the lesbian subculture rather than dressing in a way to signal rebellion from patriarchy and wanting to deter the attraction and attention of men.
i think one significant difference to mention here would be that butch women in america and other western countries have the 1940s-onward classic butch image as the base for what female masculinity looks like while korean butch women in the 1970s-1980s typically dressed in a hippie style with long hair, denim, and prints. this isn't rly reflected in today's butch women's dress sense tho there's not a lot of cultural continuity from the older generation to now because of violent repression and other historical reasons.
the butch women i saw around hongdae going to bars and clubs dressed smart and formal and a little bit edgy but in a way similar to well-groomed and dressed korean men or even korean actors and kpop idols. the trend seemed to be female masculinity that looks like a feminine man the way that is popularized in korean media. the femmes i saw with them dressed similarly to other korean women going out for the night.
and there are of course many older butch women still around and they have varying styles but many tend to do a western style classic working class butch look. very few of these women r in the middle or upper class from what i've seen. these are women who are single or partnered with women and have worked in jobs such as manual labor work, taxi driving, food service, and bartending. their attire reflects their lives.
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