Embed Notice

@lookitmychicken That is VERY common in kpop and in fact it used to be even more common. It's actually chilled out quite a bit in the past few years.

In the early aughts and 2010s, idols literally could not date. Contractually, but also because of fandom backlash.

When the fandom found out that my boy Myungsoo was dating someone, the backlash was UGLY. Fansites shut down. And that was a common thing--that example is just the one I happened to see up close. (Will I ever forget the footage of him crying helplessly about being "thrown away"? No, I will not.)

Anyway, I think the "our fans are our motivation/inspiration" thing is partly genuinely and partly fanservice. But it is 100% expected.