Wednesday, December 19, 2007

RL post (sort of)
Today, overall, was a good day.

I had another in-class essay in Lang. For once I decided to just write without thinking so much about every little word, and the end product wasn't nearly as bad as I had expected. (And I wrote much more than I typically would've.)

The best part, though, was at the very end of my lunch period. Diligent as ever, I forgot about a Psych assignment that was due, and so did it during my lunch period. (It's technically on time as long as it's before 3:30.) Today was the last day that my current Psych teacher was teaching my class (my actual teacher was away on baby leave), and when I was turning the worksheet in, I happened to be carrying an elaborate origami craft I made during Korean class: an origami gift basket, and within the gift wrapping paper were little origami flowers that held Hershey's Kisses inside of them. Since I didn't have anyone in particular in mind to give it to, I thought what the hell, and gave it to my teacher as a goodbye present. He's probably the teacher I'm most fond of anyway, and I figured he deserved something. (For the record, he lived in Japan for a few years, and knows all this random crap about Korea and France, and even pushing all that aside, is still an all around great person to talk to.) And he positively lit up when I gave the thing to him, probably said thank you to me around five times. And I walked out of the classroom with this huge grin on my face, and an underclassman passed by and gave me the o_O face. But I didn't care at that moment, because it was nice making someone that happy. :)




On a drastically different note, I continue to fangirl over the Malaysian fic writer (who, by the way, is still younger than me wtf). Even her soapbox rants are like poetry; I've never been so interested in reading about someone's life before. Though I have yet to comment on any of her non-fandom posts, no matter how touching they are. I'm not normally a lurker, but I guess I feel as if nothing I say could be as meaningful as the things she writes.

And it would be really awkward to jump in and be all BUT YOU'RE WONDERFUL, LOVE YOURSELF MORE when I barely know the girl, even by internet standards. But someone who writes that well can't possibly be a bland, unremarkable person. Hopefully one day it won't be so awkward for me to tell that to her... instead of writing about it on here like a creepy internet stalker. *headdeskdeskdeskdeskdesk*
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Sunday, December 16, 2007

He ventures to the counter to buy coffee, and out of the corner of your eyes, you watch as he hands the cashier a few crisp bills, then fumbles through a pouch in his wallet, fingers sounding the distinct rustle of copper on copper. You can’t help but chuckle at the gesture once he sits on the bench seat across from you. "You loser. You still pay with exact change?"

"And you still cover your mouth when you laugh." And he smiles.

OH MY GOD, LOOK. ACTUAL DIALOGUE. :O!!!1
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1) I'm in the process of writing a DBSK fic. DamnitdamnitDAMNIT. I knew this was inevitable at my current point-of-no-return, but I wasn't planning to even start brainstorming fic plots until winter break. And then a plot bunny broke into my head, and is apparently residing there until I finish writing this damn thing.

Two firsts with this one: 1) It's RPS. *headdesking*

2) It's written in second-person, which I once thought was an awkward and ugly way to write any story, but it's somehow grown on me recently.

And it was inspired partly by freaking Great Expectations of all things, specifically something my freshman Lit teacher once said to the class in relation to the book, "People get their hearts broken, and ten years down the road, they greet their ex with a shrug and a ‘hey.’ It’s unremarkable, but it’s life."

You are surprised at how easily the two of you fall back into old rhythms and patterns, despite the miles and years of separation. You say things just to make the other laugh and Yunho laughs often; he lets you talk over him when you get wrapped up in a particular topic; he becomes irrationally upset when you sneak snapshots of him mid-sneeze, but always has fun wrestling you for the camera. You talk and sing and reminisce and laugh and simply enjoy the other’s presence, until the sidewalks are empty and the absence of sunlight makes you shiver. When the sun gives out and dips past the horizon, Yunho doesn’t know how to say goodbye, opts to worriedly glance at his wristwatch instead, and you can sense his concern for his wife in each of his increasingly strained responses.

In the pauses between the short, desperate breaths of dying conversation, you sum up the total of the day’s events in your head and admit what you already knew all too well: that the man beside you, for all his unchanged habits and idealism and tenderness, is not quite the bandmate and best friend you once loved; that you yourself are not the eager, determined young celebrity who wished merely to sing and perform, and nestled closely to your leader for warmth on the nights when you felt very, very cold. Not the same, not entirely, not anymore.

I'm sort of wangsting over my writing, the intensity of it depending on which part of the fic I'm editing. There are sections where it's clear that I've improved a lot since I last wrote fic, and other sections where I just keep thinking my writing is boring and needlessly abstract. Blah. I should really stop doing this to myself. It's so difficult for me to write one-shots that are even only two pages long, since I agonize over every little word. I mean, really, it's just fanfiction. :/

EDIT: I just realized that I officially ship YunJae. DAMNIT.

EDIT 2: APPARENTLY, I AM FOND OF RUN-ON SENTENCES.

EDIT 3: HOW IS UNTARNISHABLE NOT A WORD? WTF.

2) I find it funny that Jaejoong is so aware of his own fandom that he recognizes the title of, and has possibly even read a well-known hardcore BL fic involving him and Yunho. Jae, you are a weirdo. <3

3) HAPPY BIRTHDAY JUNSU. Enjoy the Gucci products your fanclub gave you as a b-day gift, you lucky bastard.
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Thursday, December 13, 2007

So apparently, there will be a pre-planned massacre at my school tomorrow. Because when someone seriously wants to pull off something like this, they will totally alert the public beforehand. Right.

About half of the student population at my school is using this as an excuse to ditch, and I'm betting only a fraction of them are genuinely concerned. I, on the other hand, am not a delinquent nor a pansy, and will likely go tomorrow. Seriously though, screw whoever wrote those threats. I refuse to let some dumbass pranksters make me feel as if my school, which I've always felt safe in, is now somehow dangerous.

And because of the threats, Asian Drama club was canceled this week. No one gets between me and my episodes of Goong, goddamnit, especially when said drama stars my lovely teenaged Eun Hye. :(
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Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Anecdote of the day: Said my mother, while spying on the Asian girls next door through the kitchen window, "It looks like they're watching a Korean drama. This must be the in-thing amongst your generation."

Anyway. I SARANG THE WORLD TODAY. HEARTS FOR ALL.

<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3

Even though I've been a horrible bum in regards to schoolwork the past couple of weeks. (Although I still got an awesome progress report. A big fat HAHA @ the grade whores in my life who nag me about procrastinating.) And the teacher who I had designated to write my college reccs has mysteriously disappeared. But most everything else has been overwhelmingly pleasant. (Or at least it feels like it.) I feel somehow closer to my friends now than I ever had before; my lovely, environment-friendly DBSK bags from Thailand should be coming in any day now; THE NEW SEASON OF PROJECT RUNWAY IS AIRING; my school has a newly-founded club for fans of Asian dramas; my Language teacher loved the in-class essay I had subtly written about Jaejoong. (Yes, he's sneaking into my schoolwork. FEEL FREE TO JUDGE ME, JERKS. *fist shake*) I hope this bubble doesn't burst anytime soon. <33

Best of all, I'm making fanfic buddies! And surprisingly, most of them are younger than me. Be careful; the young ones are becoming crazy talented.

I'm particularly impressed with this preteen prodigy from Malaysia, who I swear can pull off smut and angst and probably imagery in general better than most college students. It's insane. She uses relevant, well thought-out metaphors, you guys. Metaphors in R-rated fic. I just. Really.

"But take your time, Mr. Kim. We know how hard it is to lose a loved one so suddenly, I understand."

It's a beautiful day to die, leaves falling in shades of burnt gold and scarlet in the shadow of rain clouds, air growing crisp with early frost. It's one of those goodbye days. I can tell.

"Any time you want, Mr. Kim. Any time."

^ WHAT KIND OF PRETEEN WRITES LIKE THATafafsadafsdas*DYING of jealousy*

To squeeze in another bit of gushing, this is the most creatively executed fanfic I have ever read in any fandom. The entire story is told through IM message conversations, phone call transcripts, e-mails, blog posts and the like. And it's hilarious to boot. Honestly, I wish I was cool enough to have written this. :(

Dear Mr. Calvin Klein:
(Or whatever your name is, I don't know I'm not psychic.)

As a member of this democratic society, I believe I, Kim Jaejoong, have the full right to say that I find your two Eternity ads are very offending. You are probably wondering, "How is this possible?" Well, you see, in the corresponding ads, you have clearly depicted a man and a woman in an affectionate type of embrace/pose; therefore, one would naturally assume that the two are in love. Now, please do pardon me for saying this, but I fail to see how love and the selling of fragrances relate. Love sucks and perfume does not suck. I tell you this because I have experienced both first hand. The perfume was good, the love was; well, to frankly put it, not. So I have officially concluded, Love (unlike perfume) does not exist (because the best friends of this world suck and are blind and oblivious). However, I will tell you what do exist. Motherfucking bitches do.

AMEN.
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Friday, December 7, 2007

Shinhwa performing in North Korea.

The real thing to look out for here is the audience reaction; rarely is the stark contrast between North and South Korean society as clearly defined as it is here. They might all be Koreans, yes, but the traditionally-minded, isolated North Korean audience obviously will not take kindly to the South Korean boy band whose members dye their hair brown, rap, and occasionally sing in English, the language of The Enemy.

I don't claim to know a lot about Korean history or politics, but I just can't see how South Koreans can think of peaceful reunification as a realistic possibility at the moment, or even that it's a good idea. If the difference in music alone is enough to create that much tension and awkwardness, I don't see how they're supposed to resolve larger, much more sensitive issues without a lot of conflicts along the way.
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Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Long time no see literally means nagai jikan miru na.
It's official. I read RPS fics.

Goddamnit, you guys. It was never supposed to come to this. I just browsed through an archive out of curiosity and boredom rather than genuine interest--until I found out that some of them were actually good. As in, "I wish I could write fic like this" good.

And believe me, I had my doubts about RP fic. I had always thought that fanfiction as a medium couldn't do justice in portraying actual human beings. People are far more complex than television show or novel characters; you can't pin people down through their actions alone, especially if you don't really know them.

But RP fanfiction isn't about summing up the essence of a person in 2,000 words. It's about taking these people, who us fans will never know but who we're fascinated with nonetheless, and trying to understand them a little better, as ridiculous and futile as that endeavor might be. The best of fics don't reduce the boys to the personalities or the "characters" they display in public, but explore the exact things that make them human, both the good and the bad, the things that are obvious in the boys and the things that are much harder to accept; and all without the writing becoming too angsty or personal (which was the main thing that drove me away from J-Rock fics: most of the well-written ones made me far too uncomfortable).

Though I have my doubts as to how realistic these writers' portrayals are, such things matter far less than I initially expected. Because the simple truth is: some of what these writers come up with is just too damn interesting to ignore. (And I guess "interesting and well-written" trumps a lot of things in my book.)

Worse yet, all this makes me want to write RP fic myself. I know; this fandom has officially doomed me.




God. I'm so tl;dr as of late. Screw words, here's a video (and the reason why there's so many freaking DBSK fics in the first place):

A continuation of the last post; apparently, the making of Dangerous Love turns out being almost as funny as the drama itself. Consists of Jaejoong and Yunho bursting into awkward laughter every thirty seconds, and saying some... really odd things. Like Yunho's sudden outburst of, "I'M DOING THIS TO A MAN!"

Priceless, these boys. <3 [/BL spam]
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Sunday, December 2, 2007

Bringing the topic of conversation back to boys...
Probably to the disappointment of some. :3

Earlier today, I stumbled upon this post on LJ: The Marketing of Male Homosexuality in Asia. The poster is doing a research paper and is asking any and all willing participants to answer her questions regarding fanservice & BL in Asian entertainment. (Anime, manga, and movies included.) I recommend that those who aren't BL fans still take a look at it; the poster herself admits to being indifferent towards BL and would probably want to hear comments from those who have a similar stance on the issue. And feel free to read my comment.

EDIT: And for the hell of it, since it actually relates to the subject of this post, here's Dangerous Love. Because even Japan would not make something this blatant and shameless. Oh, Korea. <3

In other news: I love how Changmin has been getting his model on as of late, and is releasing all these gorgeous and wonderfully expressive pictures--even in concert. He has the gift of making clothes look better, and I'm glad that he's finally stepping out of his shy boundaries and expressing it. <3

And to think that he's only nineteen. They grow up so fast. :P
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Friday, November 30, 2007

I have a sty on my eye(lid).
Not that it's a very damaging thing. It's mostly just itchy and annoying. x_o

BUT ONTO MORE SERIOUS AND PRESSING ISSUES:

It turns out that my Korean girlcrush (who I will now relentlessly spam you with HERE and HERE and HERE) turned out to be the tomboy from Coffee Prince, who I did not at all find attractive when watching the show. I feel somehow betrayed. I suppose this might be how guys feel when they find out that the hot girl they like is in reality just a really androgynous dude. :(

Well. Maybe I'll just move on to my Japanese girlcrush instead. :(

And speaking of crossdressing Asians:

That is teenaged Junsu and Joongie, respectively. Because apparently, even Su would make a prettier girl than a lot of actual girls. -_-;;
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Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Spiffy merchandise = End of anime DVD sales decline. No, really.
Just wanted to throw in a possibly new perspective on the whole "fansubbing is ruining the industry" issue that's cropped up on the news page. It seems that there's a way for anime companies to bypass any conflicts with the fansubbing community and the legal issues that come with it, all while still managing to sell DVDs--and strangely enough (although probably unsurprisingly), I thought of it while considering the workings of my current fandom.

Because the hard truth is, us DBSK fans never really need to buy anything either. Like in every other music fandom, high quality CD and DVD rips are usually leaked all over the internet well before any product's release. The fandom even has multiple large-scale fansubbing groups dedicated to subbing every single TV show, concert, or interview the boys have ever done, never mind the many individual subbers on Youtube.

But instead, we buy like crazy. To put things in perspective, all the merch I've ever mentioned on this myO, even off-hand, is only about ten percent (or less) of what is actually released. Seriously. These boys have a shitload of products, and it is not uncommon to see fans buy more than one thing per month. (Mind you, this isn't even taking the phenomenal shipping costs into account.)

The secret to all this revenue is actually very simple: companies only need to entice fans with shiny, tangible merchandise.

Because all us fangirls will be willing to buy the album if it comes with a "free" photobook or two posters that we would totally spend an extra $10 on to ensure they are tubed and not folded. Or that limited edition DVD set that we all must own because we'll never have the chance to buy it again. And it comes with two group photos, my GOD.

Which brings me to another point: limited edition. The real meaning of this phrase is MUST BUY. Even the cheapass Korean fangirls eat up limited edition merch because it is the special, elite version loaded with extras that the poor regulars will never be able to touch once its gone--and from personal experience, I know that this is one of the most tempting reasons to impulsively buy something.

I guess what I'm trying to get at through all this ramble is, fans need to want to buy this stuff. One of my biggest complaints of anime DVDs is that they're just episodes slapped on to a disc; most came with virtually no extras. My God, would it really be so hard to throw in couple of actual featurettes? Or if they want to be truly clever, freebies. Fit cellphone charms into the DVD case if you have to. Because us DBSKers don't horde merch for the content, but rather for the packaging, pictures, and everything else we get that those who don't officially buy the product will completely miss out on.

One final point: most K-Pop/J-Pop merch doesn't at all cater to the international fanbase (which means no English subtitles on the DVDs, and mind you, some of the DVDs can be conversation heavy). Yet we buy it anyway. That is how good these companies are at marketing, and perhaps how good the anime companies need to be.
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