"It just like you want me to choose between my dad & mom, who I want to die first!"

[koganbot]

Heartbreaking….(╥﹏╥) Hwayoung is my 2nd bias after Hyomin and I shipped HwaMin like crazy after Subyung so I'm speechless right now. It just like you want me to choose between my dad & mom, who I want to die first!

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From a Hyomin fan on Tumblr, last Monday, hearing that Hwayoung was fired. Post claims that the site will stop regular blogging. Fortunately, it has instead become an excellent resource for the debunking of rumors about T-ara:

http://hyotheleader.tumblr.com

As for the rumor-making itself, of course it's appalling and makes me sad. Nonetheless, I'm intrigued that so many people, many going in without bad will towards T-ara, some being fans, are willing to believe ugly evidence that even on first glance seems obviously fabricated or taken out of context.

I'd not yet made it to the T-ara of reality and variety shows, concentrating my fandom on the T-ara of song and dance. This post gives a nice feel of a fan immersed in the former as well as the latter, the warmth aroused: "no more Hwayoungie that act like a cute puppy who want attention from her unnie and keep showing her love to Hyomin just like how Hyomin want Sunny attention and love all this time."

OK, I'm not immediately up for a full episode of a show called "Hello Baby," but here it is for when I'm ready:

Watch on YouTube

[UPDATE: YouTube's now put the kibosh on that vid, but there are several other uploads of "Hello Baby Ep 2 with Eng Sub" that are still working.]

Comments

[koganbot]

My impulse is to look for someone to get mad at for breaking that fan's heart. But of course that's the same sort of impulse that fired up the Netizens to act in the blind, destructive ways that helped caused the heartbreak in the first place, imagining in their warm, twisted, sentimental hearts that they were protecting the victimized in doing so. Hate and hurt all wrapped up in a blanket of sentimentality.

[askbask.livejournal.com]

ANOTHER (POTENTIALLY) RELIABLE SOURCE ABOUT T-TANIC!

http://omonatheydidnt.livejournal.com/9689852.html

[koganbot]

This is one of the first accounts that isn't bullshit on the face of it. So, in that sense it's potentially credible. On the other hand, if you and I* were to decide to pretend we had inside information, we could, going on the basis of what's already been said and with a little invention here or there, write an equally credible-seeming "inside" account.

A couple of warning flags are: (1) why does an insider decide to leak info to a poster on omonatheydidn't, as opposed to leaking to a widely read entertainment site? (but I'm not an avid follower of either, so my assumption that the particular livejournal community isn't as widely read may be false); (2) there's no explanation of why the insider is talking at all and what his/her interest might be in revealing this info. Not that most entertainment sites bother telling us anything about their unnamed sources either, but that's one reason such sites lack credibility in my eyes. And one reason the New York Times, for instance, is credible, is that it does tell us such things, and tries to back the stories with independent evidence if possible.

That said — and perhaps I'm being gullible here — the intelligence with which this is written, and its decent appreciation of human nature, does give the writer some credibility. What it doesn't prove, though, is that the source knows what he or she is talking about, is perceptive rather than an idiot, etc. Even if the source is perceptive, that doesn't guarantee the source is knowledgeable. E.g., think of a breakup of a friend's or co-worker's love affair. Even though you were there a lot, do you really understand what happened? Hell, even when it's a breakup of my love affair, I wouldn't necessarily be so sure I know what happened. As for T-ara, I wouldn't bet that even, e.g., Eunjung, Hwayoung, or KKS (especially KKS) would have a great handle on these events.

The way this is presented, it is a breakup, and comprehensible as such. (Nonetheless, I don't know this. I don't know this. I don't know this. I don't know these people. I don't know their world.)

The post mentions a display of ingratitude by Hwayoung on a bus. Know anything about it?

[askbask.livejournal.com]

No, didn't pick up on the bus incident before. Only the refusing to perform at the last moment bit.

"This is at least a good guess" sounds like a good guess.

Here is, at least, an actual source: http://www.allkpop.com/2012/08/t-aras-soyeon-interviewed-about-her-new-drama-hwayoung-incident

[koganbot]

This transcribes very little of it. Looking around the Net I saw more, though I'm too sleepy to remember what I saw but Soyeon comes off somewhat better, at least is good at expressing sadness at missing the good times, while not pretending there were no bad times. Of course, she can't get specific about the latter.

She was in a car accident the next day, doesn't seem to have been badly hurt, but some Netizens came through with typically spiteful commentary (some called it karma, some claimed that KKS had caused it in retaliation for the interview, some claimed KKS had staged it to build sympathy towards T-ara).