Perhaps this augured the era of the sasaeng fan, a recently coined term that might as well be Korean for “stan”: “Sa” means private and “saeng” means life, in reference to fans’ all-encompassing obsessions with their preferred artists.
Ohhhhhhh here we go. Masooch just looked up sasaeng on Twitter and uhhhh there's some scary stuff on there. I'm talking black market kinda stuff.
The cultish devotion to pop stars isn’t geographically or culturally restricted; “stans” is the nifty neologism for crazed fans that’s both a portmanteau of “stalker” and “fan” and an homage to the 2002 Eminem single, whose eponymous antihero’s obsession with the rapper drove him to suicide.
Something to make note of. I've heard the term and Masooch mentioned the song to me when I asked about it. From my meager understanding, the term has taken on a watered down meaning nowadays, the term "stan" taking on a verb form too, i.e., "we stan" as I hear Masooch say sometimes.
Most chillingly, though, there was a deluge of death threats from crazed fans who, whether they perceived me as an actual threat to the imagined romance between Yunho and Jaejoong or merely an annoyance who should to be silenced, gave me pause in an online game that had become addictively pleasurable. “Let me show you how you shall die,” one began. “@mjjeje has only a 100+ stalkers. One order from his lush lips … and your throat shall be slit!” There were many others, but that one stuck with me — mostly because it was retweeted so many times.
Uh. So like. @Masooch. Are... are you okay? Not that I care. But like. You and these people are... in the same fandom circles... I... This is nuts.
Fanaticism appears to also have addictive and obsessive-compulsive aspects, but evidence suggests that this can be con-trolled by the individual to avoid any severely negative conse-quences, and thus, unlike many existing portrayals, fanaticism donot usually cause harm to the consumer and to others.
Too much of anything can be bad for ya, but it can be perfectly fine if You Know What You're Doing. Masooch, take note. Hope you know what you're doing.
Not that I care or anything.
It also showed that fanaticism involves managing the fine line between extreme levels of enthusiasm that is positive and fulfilling, versus non-sustainable borderline-dysfunctional levels of enthusiasm that may turn into something darker or problematic.
Sounds kind of exactly what Masooch wants to talk about in her project. From what I've seen in the recent research she's conducting, it's a very fine line and real easy to cross.
“(I) will stop at nothing to get it... I would eatcheap food. Or, not eat. I just find ways to save money. So thatI can (make these purchases)... even essential stuff, like fixingmy car, my contact lenses, I would go without...
Sounds like Masooch when she's saving for concerts. And yes this is a callout post.
personified objects can provide real comfort — something that people regularly turn to their human friends for.
This is sad but like. I get it. I've witnessed masooch talking to her plushies. She smooches the koala on the nose like every day. It's endearing.
But so, so sad.
Utility friendships
tag urself this is me and masooch
Or can communities devoted to common interests be friends?
Masooch and I read this at the same time and she pointed at this and screeched. I think it's important. She said something about a field guide. I don't know what that means.
Can humans and robots truly be friends?
What was that one movie in this world? iRobot? Didn't that answer this question?
That Will Smith guy was pretty cool.
“Almost half of liberal Democrats — 47 percent — say that if a friend supported Trump, it would actually put a strain on their friendship.”
WHEW. I remember masooch going off about this back in the day. I suppose there's a bit of truth to it. She got so pissed just talking about it she was speechless. What a feat.