Weekly Fic Discussion

[lachrymosy]

Weekly Fic Discussion

Welcome again to kpop_fic! It's so so exciting to see so many different people joining in this community and sharing fics!

One idea arundels and I also had for this community was to have some regular discussion posts so that people have a chance to chat. So, here is our first Weekly Fic Discussion post!

This post can be used for any kind of fic discussion you want, but will also have a few prompt questions each week. We'll try to target both writers and readers with the prompt questions. You can reply to all of them, one of them, or none of them if you have something else you want to talk about!

Feel free to post WIP snippets, ask others' opinion on characterization, share a clip that has broken your brain, etc.!

This week's prompt questions:

• How did you get into reading/writing K-pop RPF?


• What is your platonic ideal of a K-pop fic (e.g. the elements you usually gravitate towards)?

Comments

[lachrymosy]

The fiction/real-life distinction is always so interesting! I kind of suspect that the degree to which people perceive RPF characters as truly fictionalized affects how they perceive RPF as a concept? I feel like before I got into kpop, it didn't make sense to me, but afterwards, people were so clearly interacting with these celebrities as fictional characters that I couldn't imagine seeing RPF as otherwise. I also find for me that in kpop specifically, the level of self-consciousness they themselves have about their image/concept is always what intrigues me, like they are aware of and facilitating the fictionalization of themselves.

BBB really did a number on all of us... I am so with you on "engage with idols as idols" and always eager for more of that specifically! I think that goes along with that fictionalization thing because it also questions—what do you know about yourself? How much of yourself is also an image you project into the world, influenced by others' perceptions of you? These are such relatable questions put under such an extreme microscope in kpop! (and lead directly into angst lol)

Anyway your bookmarks/collection of canon fics is a GIFT to the fandom!

[aceaceaceace]

Yeah, while some celebrities are definitely more "authentic" than others, ultimately whatever image we craft of them in our minds is a combination of 1) the public image they put out (deliberately cultivated or not) and 2) what each of us wants to see in them to fill the gaps. And then that image in our minds gets further distanced from the real-life individual by however they are being portrayed in the fic.

And yes, I definitely like exploring topics that can be relatable to almost anyone under the extreme microscope of the kpop industry! Not to be all "Celebrities--They're Just Like Us!" lol, but at the end of the day, every idol is just some person experiencing the same world as us...in a different way, of course.

I'm glad my bookmark collection could be of some use to you! I am always adding to it, so if you have any recommendations, let me know, and I'll vibe check it when I have time.

[lachrymosy]

"what each of us wants to see in them to fill the gaps"—I feel like this part has become extra interesting to me lately! Actually when I was compiling the canon reclist I started thinking about how extremely different characterizations of a person/character can all ring true, and in fact, I often find that I WANT to see idiosyncratic takes on a celeb (while still maintaining a recognizable core element). I feel like as much as people talk about the idealization of an idol & how they sell a fantasy, a lot of time in fic I want to see that fantasy unraveled and a picture of real life emerge from it? It's like... a cousin of the idol fantasy thing, I guess, only instead of projecting your daydreams onto an idol, you're projecting your own interpretation of being a human person, or something. Rambling thoughts here!