u/idlechungha

a tiny blurry picture of them got them trending and all of us freaking out 😭 they are the biggest girl group for a reason. that’s impact!!!

I'm sorry in advance that this post might be a bit of an SNSD/Jessica speculative post. Just warning before you read.

Now that Jessica is performing SNSD songs and appearing on Korean TV a little bit again, it seems like she's slowly making a bit of a return. Do we think she will release music for her 20th anniv and be on Korean TV?

I have to admit that my bigger question is underlying/somewhat unfortunate. Since SNSD is confirmed to do a full comeback for their 20th, what would it look like for SNSD and Jessica to both be on music shows or TV at the same time? My brain jumps to thinking that, maybe Jessica is making a comeback but SM or whatever powers would block Jessica just in this specific moment because of how awkward that would be? As a huge fan of all original GG members, I've been missing her and wanting to see more of her and wondering how that might look.

I'm wondering if there will eventually be an episode where Taeyeon or Seohyun shows up. I know the whole bit has been that Taeyeon is silent/not caring.

If they do go up the charts more, I feel like it would be sooooo funny if they had Taeyeon do a scene freaking out like "They're beating us, they're tarnishing our legacy!"

Alternatively, I wonder if they do the "ultimate" showdown and finally have TTS show up for the reunion next year. I feel like it's a really easy way to hold anticipation for next August and keep the excitement.

When members go on reality shows solo, they're often associated really clearly with being in SNSD. For example, I'm watching the "Please Take Care of My Refrigerator" episode with Sooyoung, and the chefs are making lots of SNSD puns.

I'm wondering if there are members who have done music/TV/etc. that is so iconic that the puns or jokes made on variety about them might be about that instead of SNSD. Would one of Yoona's dramas satisfy that? Or Taeyeon's albums? Just curious.

I imagine at this point HyoRiSoo on its own is going to start becoming this as well lol

This is just going to be a gigantic analytical gush, but this is so cool and exciting. A few weeks back, I posted asking for folks to fill me in on how HRS came to be, and thanks to everyone here I've finally caught up on a lot of the content I was missing out on. And WOW!

It's so crazy that the three of these women are already among the most successful among girl group alums, especially being 19 years into their official post-debut careers. All three are booked on tours, dramas, and releasing music in multiple countries, but still decided to push the envelope further.

I might have my historicization wrong, but it really feels like Hyoyeon pushed this as a funny bit into a huge viral moment and subsequently an actual musical release. It seems like SM was happy to invest in HRS as comedic/conceptual bit content moment earlier this year, but the virality of this through the members' own advocacy has basically turned this into a real musical release. My own speculation, based on looking at how SM is rolling out this debut, leads me to think that they really didn't expect to release real HRS music at all. Everything feels rushed not b/c they don't care, but because they're overwhelmed and trying to create an artist page, do the photoshoots, put together whatever content they can, etc. as it's happening in real-time. I might be disappointed if SM never actually copyrights this/doesn't do much with it, but it just seems like something experimental they're doing and experiencing as we speak. And how cool is it that this is happening with members who have long been on the skimmer side of line distributions, who banded together literally 2 decades into their career?!

I follow so many kpop groups and there are so many popular members and groups who have come and gone in the time that GG has existed. I used to advocate heavily for SHY as a unit because I thought it would be a fun dance-y baddie alternative to SNSD's normal concept (I get the sense Sooyoung thinks similarly given her jokes about wishing they were under YG). But now, I'm almost certain that SM would have given them a mini and abandoned it or something, just as it has for so many projects. It's so much more special that this is something that the members themselves have built from the ground up (obviously with lots of help from producers and SM's whole content production ecosystem, but still).

I've been a kpop fan for 15 years and I don't think something exactly like this has ever happened. We have had variety show groups joke about who is taking what position and become popular/go up the charts. We've had girl groups have reverse climbs up the charts because of virality (our girls RESCENE are doing just that right now, and shout out to Brave Girls and EXID). But I don't think we've ever had this kind of breaking the fourth wall from members of a settled, powerful girl group.

What's so interesting is that these members, as I mentioned above, don't need this in any meaningful way. This isn't their last hope of succeeding. They have a huge bombshell 20 year anniversary we're all waiting for to revisit their immense success as a group. But it's so cool that they're not only doing it as a bit, but also using it to reignite the whole group's image through a smart and comedic lens. Like GG is probably in some headlines; people are talking about GG right now in an organic way. I'm hopeful that this will make their 20th feel more fresh, not a call to a legacy they're trying to extend.

To me, HRS is a sign that the legacy is still being written in new ways. And I really didn't expect GG or any musical act on earth to be this creative and ingenious at this point in rebuilding momentum. It's so so cool!

EDIT: Wanted to make sure this is a space for others to comment. Is there anything about this that resonates with you/do you feel like HRS is a unique moment in GG/kpop history? Can you share any details I'm missing? Thank you!

THIS SHOW is SO FRUSTRATING LOL. Why can't anyone accomplish anything in the music industry? I totally feel for the trauma and struggle of the artists, but it feels like they can never gain any momentum. Gunnar's on his 100th attempt to be a performer. Scarlett has failed with Gunnar, then been signed, then failed as a solo, then is back with Gunnar again in a band, that feels like it's not going anywhere. Juliette had scandal after scandal, then a baby, etc. Don't even get me started on Layla. Why can't anyone just... drop an album, tour it, have some behind the scenes drama, but actually be successful?

It would have been cool to see an artist actually succeed in an unexpected way. I was hoping the tables would turn at some point. Like Layla would come out of nowhere with a #1 single and the whole game suddenly changes overnight. I've been waiting and waiting but it feels like nothing ever happens. They're all just stuck, and the only one who can be successful is... Luke Wheeler or something?

I've been a SONE for 15 years and have advocated for SHY in every possible way since the start of my love for this group. I've watched HyoRiSoo's performance on Hangout with Yoo and am slightly following things, but am a bit confused as to how this picked up momentum, even though I am immmmmensely grateful for it!!!

In some ways it almost seems like they are reverse engineering a debut. Performing on variety shows, announcing appearances and performances, all without a label backing them or anyone putting out an album. I'm loving this, but just wanna understand what happened.

Can anyone narrate exactly what happened/what led to their appearances/how it's being received by fans and the Korean public?

Thank you so much from your fellow SONE friend!

I enjoyed so much of the movie, but I was really missing Tara/Darcy, Elle/Tao, and the rest of the cast. Nick and Charlie are such a beautiful couple and this story demonstrated how they deepened their love, and I know that the book this movie is based off of a specific story that focused mostly on them, but I just wish this was expanded a bit because it was THE END of televised heartstopper. I just wish we got more storylines from the other couples. It felt like we barely saw them.

As much as Charlie and Nick's story moved me, the rest of the cast's did too. Soooo much. Many times I was watching the show not just for Charlie/Nick's love, but for Tao and Charlie's friendship, for Elle's crush on Tao, for Darcy's growth arc. It just made me feel like they were shelving everyone for the two of them.

In many ways, I would have wished this was almost a filler movie with a final season coming after to wrap up all the other storylines. That being said, still love this show and the books and everything.

TTS was supposed to originally "rotate" into more subunits, and I wish we ended up getting more. I feel like SM has always been good about subunits (well in particular with Super Junior), so I just feel like we should have gotten more! Here are some that I think should have happened:

• SHY: I know it's now being brought up as HyoRiSoo which is amazing, but I wish we would have gotten a darker/dance-forward concept from the three of them.
• TaeJess: Awkward, but this would have been great even as just a ballad unit. I think that actually would have been optimal. Would have loved to hear them harmonize together before everything went down. Optionally, I even think a TaeJessSun would be a great ballad subunit. Sunny would do beautifully on prechoruses/bridges in songs with Tae and Jess.
• Bermuda (Seohyun, Yuri, Yoona): I think this would have been suchhh a fun unit to keep their Gee/Genie era alive even after they started maturing/their sound went in a different direction.

I think the reason this never happened was probably more strategic than anything else. The group was sooo busy around TTS' peak. I also imagine SM put all their energy into TTS once they were really successful, but it's a shame!

I was shocked at how bad basically all the husbands/men were to the women in this show. It seemed so many of the men were resentful of being locked down with a woman, and seemed much more interested in their image than in their relationships. They want their cake and they want to eat it, too: party and hang out with whoever they want to on their own, not have to be responsive to their wives, and then also expect their wife to be obedient and at home with the children. Dyuti in particular came off this way to me.

I really liked pretty much all the women in this show: Tejasswi, Lailla and Alizey, Iryna, Pamala, Sana, even Binda. The men were generally all unenjoyable to watch. I would have loved if this show was more "Real Housewives" style with the men on the outskirts of the plot.

I don't think it's just his work/life balance. I think it's his insecurity and the priorities that the insecurity demands he have. He's not running this business purely out of passion or interest—he's doing it because he's insecure about not being successful/running a business the way his wife does. And I understand that! I think a lot of people would say: my wife has 2-3 businesses, why can't I have one?

But I think the show's argument is that he's fueled by insecurity and a hole in him that he can't fill, and that ultimately creates bad results for him, his business, his family, his life. It makes him ignore his family out of a need to succeed, get in bed with bad partners like Courtney, literally cause him to burn down his house, etc.

That being said, I also understand why folks find Dana Sue a bad/unsupportive partner. It's interesting that she wasn't very excited by Ronnie's initial success.

The whole season has been pointing to the end of Dana Sue and Ronnie. The guy flirting with her in New York, the ongoing flirtation with Clark, etc.

About 5-10 years ago when I was at my peak of kpop fandom, it was super super normal to treat Melon as the clear indicator of public popularity among Koreans. Something topping Genie/Bugs definitely meant that fans were listening, but topping Melon meant something was a hit. These days, however, I've seen people mention that Spotify and YouTube Music are pulling from Melon's market share, which makes me wonder whether Melon is as strong of an indicator as it used to be.

It's interesting because the Circle Chart (which is Korea's equivalent of Billboard) was often seen as a worse indicator than Melon, but now, it might be the only reliable aggregator? Curious how people are interpreting the charts these days.

I was a huge fan of early ITZY and kind of fell off over time, but I'm really liking this new sound with "Motto". I've always thought they should experiment a bit more with the T-ara/ILLIt-y sound and I think they have on b-sides, but I think this is a really cool shift for their title track.

From what I've seen, some people seem to think this is kind of alienating from ITZY's regular sound/not that remarkable, while others seem excited? I was curious if people think this has potential for an ITZY revival. I'd love to see this become a fun summer bop!

I am really new to these kinds of apps and generally feel kinda uncomfy. I see tons of guys with face pics on their profiles send nudes/say all sorts of things. They don't really unsend things later or anything either. My question is: do they not worry about someone taking/leaking something of theirs?

From a moral standpoint, I have no qualm with them doing that (except when they send things completely unsolicited lol), but just wondering whether it's the norm to just "trust" that people are going to safeguard your identity?

My job will pay up to 300/month for coworking memberships. I live in NYC so I can only do All Access, and that's 287/month ONLY if I do a 12 month commitment. Anything less becomes kind of heavy on me to pay per month. But I'm wondering - what happens if I somehow get laid off or need to leave the job for some personal reason (I'm not talking about getting a new job or something like that)? Is there any way out of the contract?