Of biases and swag check

a kdrama fan beginner’s guide to kpop

by hallyuholicmom

KPOP is a TRAP. 

Yes, you heard me right. I was trapped.

In my world that is populated by “normal” people, my hallyu lifestyle is so alien that even a Cheon-Song-Yi-loving-a-Do-Min-Joon-like person, cannot, in their wildest dreams comprehend. (oh snap, I forgot my husband and daughter were very supportive of my “craziness”!) So, the only place for me to rally my hallyu lifestyle would only be the worldwideweb. 

I learned the ABCs of kdramaland and kpop through different sites and forums. Dramabeans became my school, while twitter and mydramalist my playground.

A long time ago, I was ONLY a kdrama fan. And now a kpop kyaa girl too- thanks to the Korean wave (Hanryu or  Hallyu), I now embraced anything South Korean. If you’re new to kpop fangirling, well, I’ll give you a couple of months or if you’re diligent enough, a few weeks to familiarize this whole new world that is KPOP. Uhm… this was solely based from my experience. Honestly, I find it harder to be a part of the kpop community than of kdramaland. For one, most of the kpopers (or kpop fans) were youngsters and I’m almost crossing over the United Nation’s definition of “youth.”

There are few things a kdrama-fan-turned-kpop-fan, like me, should know about kpop fangirling. Here’s a few…


Annyeong, Oppars and Unnirs!

There are dozens and dozens of idols and idol groups in KPOP. I bet, even if you have all the time in the world, you wouldn't get to know them all. For the basic, try to find one in one of the giants- SM, YG and JYP (or FNC and Cube). As for me, I got to know kpop because of the drama OSTs and these idols-turned- actors. I stalked them and then voila!

This ahjumma is more into k-hiphop. And who else in kpop is more hiphop than YG! So there, (insert bias teehee), I belong to the YG family. I started with 2NE1 because of Dara but fell in love with Bigbang. But there are other big names in the idol world, some of which were Super Junior, Shinee, JYJ, CN Blue, DBSK, Girls Generation, BAP, FT Island, 2PM, Beast, EXO, Winner, T-ARA, MBLAQ, BTOB, Miss A, After School and a hundred others.

Of fandoms and multifandoms…what?!

A kpoper is not a kpoper if one does not belong to a FANDOM- may it be official or unofficial one. Every kpop artist or groups has a fandom (even trainers, trainees and managers have fandom, if you’re familiar with Who is Next Team B or YG trainer’s Hwangssabu or 2NE1’s manager Jjangmae ). Officially, a fandom is an organized group of people supporting a certain group/artist. But unofficially, if one is saying she belongs to a fandom can also mean that she is only referring to herself as a fan thus belonging to this group of people who loves this certain group or artist. 

As for me, I am not officially enlisted as VIP (Bigbang’s fandom) or Blackjack (2NE1’s fandom) but I consider myself as one. I just prefer it that way because I am too busy with my life right that I don’t have much time to do extra activities (outside home with wifely and motherly obligations + working my @$$ off more than 40 hours a week), so SNS will do just for now.

Multifandom or belonging to different fandoms is also quite normal in the kpop community. You can like as many artists as you want- for there’s a whole bunch of them, I tell you! But most kpopers, even though belonging to many fandoms, has their ultimate bias/es (which in layman’s term, the most favourite amongst the favourites). I can say I belong to the multifandom variety coz I have few favourite kpop groups i.e. 2NE1, CNBlue, BTOB and my ultimate favourite Bigbang!

Here are some list of kpop fandoms:

1. Bigbang’s VIP (aka Very Important Person) – derived from their second single La La La, referring to Bigbang as V.I.P.

2. 2NE1’s BLACKJACK – derived from a card game. Blackjack is also known as 21. And 21 is the highest number a player can achieve while playing a blackjack.

Amongst the fandoms, 2NE1 is one of the few groups that has individual fandoms:

Lee Chae-rin (CL) (leader) -- CLassifieds
Park Bom -- BOMbshells
Sandara Park (Dara) -- DARAlings
Gong Min-ji (Minzy) (maknae) -- MINJas

3. Dong Bang Shin Ki’s (DBSK/TVXQ/Tohoshinki) CASSIOPEIA – the star constellation is made up of five stars and so as DBSK. A fandom member usually calls herself a Cassie.

4. 2PM’s HOTTEST – because 2PM is the hottest time of the day.

5. Super Junior’s ELF – it stands for everlasting friends.

6. So Nyeo Shi Dae’s (SNSD/SoShi/Girl’s Generation) S♥NE – pronounced as “so one” which means that SNSD and their fans are one. Each member also has its own fandoms but I’m not writing it here because that would be a lot (they are a 9-member group, ya know).

7. CNBlue’s BOICE – it is the combination of BLUE + voice.

BIAS a.k.a. the (al)most overused word in kpoptionary

Oh well, Oppa (or Kawaii for Jpop fans) is actually the most overused word. But you will certainly encounter this word in most forums or media channels.

Here’s the definition from urban dictionary:

In Kpop, the member of an idol group that is your favorite. A person may have one ultimate bias, and many other biases from other idol groups, or only have one ultimate bias. This term is derived from "having a bias towards a particular person."

G-Dragon is my ultimate bias, but Key is my SHINee bias.

I’m happy with this definition because my ultimate bias G Dragon is given as example. Teehee!

Michi Go! Get your cray on, get your fandom wars on!

Fandom war is so common in kpop. It is when a certain fandom argues with another fandom over whose better or even who’s the best. To be honest, it is the my-oppa-is-better-than-your-oppa thingy that I hate the most in kpop. Can’t anyone just be happy and content with their oppars’ and unnirs’ divine talent?

But don’t be disgruntled already; as much as there were fandom wars, there are also fandom alliances (I only label it as such). You know, fandoms being friends with other fandoms. This may or may not be a product of fans having multifandom.

The ship has sailed: some of kpop key terms

Ship—means endorsing a romantic relationship for your bias/es. The “shipping” trend in kpop today has evolved. Commonly, one may ship her bias with artists of opposite sex but now anyone can ship their idols with anybody (even amongst their same sex group members). For example, I ship G Dragon with fellow member TOP- so my ship is called GTOP. Or I ship G Dragon with Sandara Park- that makes my ship Daragon and I am called an Appler.

Fanfic—originally fanfictions are stories written by fans of a particular movie or drama. But in kpop, their “couple” or “ships” were the subjects of these fanfics. The most popular fanfiction I know is Fifty Shades of Grey. It was developed from a Twilight fanfiction series titled Master of the Universe. And in kpop, Daragon or Nyongdal fanfics are popular.

OTP— means ONE TRUE PAIRING. It is used in kpop as one’s favourite pairing in the fandom.

Stan—stands for STALKER + FAN. But in kpop, it is loosely used (I don’t mean negatively) as a “die hard” fan of a certain idol group or an entertainment company were one’s idols belong to. It may sound negative, but for a kpop fan, being a “stan” means showing their loyalty to the idols they adore.

Sasaeng—sasaeng is kpop’s version of “stan” in the west. 

As urban dictionary put it:

Sasaeng is a bitch that live in this beautiful earth only for ruined biases' life. They stalk, they made our bias' life suffered. They should not live in this world. Universe must be agree.

"Sasaeng fans shouldnt have the word fans, we should just see them as sasaengs." -Heechul

credits: thanks to the owners of these pictures!

http://blog.ningin.com/2011/09/20/12-most-recognizable-male-faces-of-kpop-groups/
http://www.fanpop.com/clubs/kpop/images/31792709/title/which-one-fanart
http://hiannyeong.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/cassiopeiadbsk_byuttchan.jpg
http://25.media.tumblr.com/af53d0ce7848fce6b773df5c23c6e503/tumblr_mo97eyQ1fV1rfnvu1o1_500.png
http://25.media.tumblr.com/50cf240f0f9f1c13775b2be876a0ced8/tumblr_mtssmuzF2x1sjdphro1_500.png
http://imgdf-a.akamaihd.net/st/news/images/dramafever_fandom_hug.jpg
http://sd.keepcalm-o-matic.co.uk/i/keep-calm-and-love-daragon.png
http://i954.photobucket.com/albums/ae28/porplatakrom/107332377_.jpg
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http://a.wattpad.com/cover/3504716-256-k312549.jpg
http://seoulbeats.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/20120807_seoulbeats_fans_cover-e1344345095720.jpeg