Fandoms for me have always included RPF and at first I was a little squicked by it but quickly became addicted. /o\ In my head these fictional characters just happen to use the faces of people who happen to be in bands. And yes, there is some fannon used, Kyu is awkward and into gaming, Gerard Way likes drawing and doesn't shower much, Ryan Ross writes a lot and wears ridiculous clothes, but as you said, we don't know these people, we *can't* write them as they actually are, as the ~Real Persons that they are. They are our own fandom construct.
And yes KPop encourages this construct in the most overt way.
What I have found about my own relationship with RPF is when I've been in a specific fandom for a certain amount of time, if I have been paying attention to interviews and maybe even met the bands I follow, I eventually have to stop reading the fic because the person ceases to be the construct, they become too real and then fic does actually become awkward for me. But given the way that eg SM helps build the 'characters' and ships I'm not sure this will ever become a problem for me in KPop!
I find the difference between K-pop fandom and other RPF fandoms quite fascinating. I used to be in bandom as well, and I actually felt weirded out about RPF after meeting some of the bands. Yet after seeing some of the Kpop bands irl, their RPF selves felt totally disconnected from reality for me! My only thought while seeing these Kpop people irl was "wow, they are amazing, amazing performers." I wonder why there's this difference! Is it because Kpop idols remain "performers" irl when they're in front of the fans? Is it because their image is so well constructed? I feel like the less we know about the Real Person irl, the easier it is for them to remain simple Fictional in our heads. I think there's also this aspect of language and culture barrier when it comes to Kpop, making it even harder for international fans to really "relate" to the Real Person.
LOL same. Met GWay once and that was the end of Chem slash for me. It might be something to do with the fact that they're all getting married and having kids now too. Makes it feel weird to read about them getting down and dirty with eachother :/
You're totally right about the language barrier keeping the ~real person a little further from us too. When I've seen them perform I've never got the impression that they're letting themselves go the way a band would. They always remain completely on message, concentrating on the next step and the next 'adlib'. The only time anything ever broke through my OMGLOOKITSTHEINTERNETDANCINGPUPPETSeleven was Hae's hilari-blatent 'yeah you girls all want a peice of me' attitude, which doesn't come across quite so strongly in the mvs :D (He was right ofcourse)
Fandoms for me have always included RPF and at first I was a little squicked by it but quickly became addicted. /o\
In my head these fictional characters just happen to use the faces of people who happen to be in bands. And yes, there is some fannon used, Kyu is awkward and into gaming, Gerard Way likes drawing and doesn't shower much, Ryan Ross writes a lot and wears ridiculous clothes, but as you said, we don't know these people, we *can't* write them as they actually are, as the ~Real Persons that they are. They are our own fandom construct.
And yes KPop encourages this construct in the most overt way.
What I have found about my own relationship with RPF is when I've been in a specific fandom for a certain amount of time, if I have been paying attention to interviews and maybe even met the bands I follow, I eventually have to stop reading the fic because the person ceases to be the construct, they become too real and then fic does actually become awkward for me. But given the way that eg SM helps build the 'characters' and ships I'm not sure this will ever become a problem for me in KPop!
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I find the difference between K-pop fandom and other RPF fandoms quite fascinating. I used to be in bandom as well, and I actually felt weirded out about RPF after meeting some of the bands. Yet after seeing some of the Kpop bands irl, their RPF selves felt totally disconnected from reality for me! My only thought while seeing these Kpop people irl was "wow, they are amazing, amazing performers." I wonder why there's this difference! Is it because Kpop idols remain "performers" irl when they're in front of the fans? Is it because their image is so well constructed? I feel like the less we know about the Real Person irl, the easier it is for them to remain simple Fictional in our heads. I think there's also this aspect of language and culture barrier when it comes to Kpop, making it even harder for international fans to really "relate" to the Real Person.
Reply
You're totally right about the language barrier keeping the ~real person a little further from us too. When I've seen them perform I've never got the impression that they're letting themselves go the way a band would. They always remain completely on message, concentrating on the next step and the next 'adlib'. The only time anything ever broke through my OMGLOOKITSTHEINTERNETDANCINGPUPPETSeleven was Hae's hilari-blatent 'yeah you girls all want a peice of me' attitude, which doesn't come across quite so strongly in the mvs :D (He was right ofcourse)
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