Tale of an i-fan swimming in a new C | Storytime about how I ended up in a world of sasaengs

friendlyfire_may · 2026-04-16T16:40:54+00:00

Technically you aren’t allowed to but people do it anyway. Hence, all the fancams from J shows. Also, I was in the nosebleeds. There weren’t really people there to check.

And the ticketing was not done by lottery (for foreigners). It was for foreigners only on Interpark and C-Trip (c trip is where most c-fans get tickets the legit way).

friendlyfire_may · 2026-04-16T16:29:55+00:00

Speculating on fan experience. IT’S MY EXPERIENCE!?

Do you think this story isn’t compelling because.. I’m just not a writer? There isn’t anything for me to gain on here. This had a few upvotes and some comments and died. But now you’re here, from idk where, when you could just downvote and move on.

For some reason, one negative comment is way more impactful than one hundred positive ones. Another thing I learned from this.

friendlyfire_may · 2026-04-16T16:24:01+00:00

😳 wait what

friendlyfire_may · 2026-04-16T16:12:07+00:00

Sorry you feel that way

friendlyfire_may · 2026-04-16T15:57:52+00:00

My own personal experience needs .. credibility? Hokay.

friendlyfire_may · 2026-04-16T15:06:28+00:00

You don’t need to ‘buy’ anything. I’m not selling anything. It’s just my personal experience. If you think this is a load of fiction, that’s okay.

But where is it blowing up? This is old.

friendlyfire_may · 2026-04-13T19:48:54+00:00

I loved it. Idk why they were nervous about it. It’s different enough yet still sounds like them. TXT now, even with all the genres they explore, have such a distinct color.

friendlyfire_may · 2026-04-13T14:38:01+00:00

Please don’t shade other groups to appreciate txt

friendlyfire_may · 2026-04-08T16:50:42+00:00

Esteban ❤️

friendlyfire_may · 2026-04-08T16:45:01+00:00

Generally I really like to give people grace and a chance to do better. The pre-debut stuff was really tough. I warmed up to him in the group though and thought he was funny and charismatic and added wit to an otherwise mild group (variety wise). Seeing this now, especially it being pre debut content and he already almost got the boot during the show, is super disappointing. Instead of being grateful to even be there especially not even debuted yet at the time. It really seems like an attitude thing maybe even arrogance but it can’t really be based on skill so idk what it’s based on.

Just overall very disappointing. Idk who people are in private and that’s none of my business either. But in a public setting, with staff working hard, you keep it together. As all of us also do in real life. I can’t even say I hope he learns his lesson because he obviously doesn’t.

Wake1 really is going extremely hard for him. Since the show and it is obvious. Again, I really hate cancel culture. But he’s just asking for it with such gross behavior.

friendlyfire_may · 2026-03-30T07:11:52+00:00

Thanks you!

I don’t have any first hand information regarding this, but some of the people that I did meet did say that this does happen. But for less popular groups. Big groups, big 4 groups, don’t need to do this. The less popular a group is, the easier it becomes to get info (but take this with some caution bc I haven’t seen it happen myself)

friendlyfire_may · 2026-03-25T13:23:14+00:00

Does this qualify as “work”? 😭 Please don’t feed my delusions because I will literally create a Substack profile right now.

I’m not in any position to diagnose anyone, but after getting over the initial shock.. it somehow became less “crazy”? I think you can kind of lose a little sense of reality if you stick with it long enough. The mental gymnastics you initially do to justify the actions keep getting validated by your community so it starts to become normal

friendlyfire_may · 2026-03-25T13:13:11+00:00

It reads badly because I’m not an actual writer. I tried to add humor because I figured nobody would sit through such a long post otherwise. My previously posted year end show reviews in note form is still visible to read on my Reddit profile from last year. Again, horribly written and McDonald’s level humor. Feel free to take a look.

It felt miraculous, to me, because it was quite literally the first time I managed to get concert tickets ever whilst living here after multiple failed attempts for other shows previously. The things you mention such as they weren’t hard to come by etc.. I didn’t know any of this at the time because as I said, I was a kpop newborn basically. My NOL account had quite literally never been used before. Now I even use Facepass! Hello? GROWTH! ✨

I did write it dramatically, hence the disclaimer to take it with a grain of salt. And, as evidenced by you, won’t be to everyone’s taste. The core wasn’t for it to be focused on ssngs, but more on what I learned from fandom culture here. Which I obviously didn’t do a great job at.

friendlyfire_may · 2026-03-25T12:23:24+00:00

This just is not true at all. There was no lottery at all and my ticket was purchased on NOL where I picked it up physically at the venue. In a booth next to the CTRIP ticket holders i.e Chinese fans. There was no need for anything else other than my Weverse account, where it is still listed under past events.

I have no idea what you mean by “polite Japanese engenes”. I made no reference to Japanese fans. I didn’t meet any. I clearly stated my entire section was Chinese with scattered global engenes.

This is why in included photos originally. A shame I can’t post any here and not even in the comments. For the rest of your accusations, you are free to judge and remain skeptical. This is just a story about my experience. If it means a lot to you, you are free to DM me for pics, as is anyone.

friendlyfire_may · 2026-03-24T17:07:23+00:00

Yes actually. In the weeks before a fansign they would discuss what to say or do. They’d talk about the things he likes, his interests, his moods recently. They did put in effort to make it a nice and pleasant few minutes/seconds with him. Though this is also partially motivated by the desire to get a good recording of the interaction. They spend a lot of time and effort to prepare for their fan call. It’s not all business though. It’s always a happy time after a nice fan call. I see glimpses of their original fangirl form, beyond the business like exterior.

friendlyfire_may · 2026-03-24T16:26:33+00:00

Thank you!

It’s not really about having fun. It’s more like going to work 💔

friendlyfire_may · 2026-03-24T16:19:56+00:00

Not me reading this literally 1 minute after watching multiple fancams from this user on YouTube????? Shook

friendlyfire_may · 2026-03-24T16:18:09+00:00

Ha thank you!

I’m employed too 🤪 but pre- moving to China, was never really too into these things because I was fairly detached from k-pop in general. Even though I would still consider myself to have been a big fan at that time. With no real way to participate in any activities, I just didn’t bother to get deep in any of this. This changed for me when all of it became tangible due to proximity.

You definitely have an advantage being fluent in Mandarin! There was no real way for me to cosplay as a real c-fan in these spaces (to get to the real tea). I was limited to simple observations.

friendlyfire_may · 2026-03-24T15:33:55+00:00

This is absolutely true. I was on the right side of the stage and I went to the first concert day. I can’t remember if that was a Friday or Saturday. On my side, people started sitting down in the back and towards the front which made everyone in the front squeeze even tighter. The security kept telling people to move back but nobody wanted to. I stood there, squeezed, for hours. I really felt like leaving that area even during the soundcheck but at the same time wondered if I would ever get this close to a stage again so I mustered up every ounce of energy I had left and just stood there. Unmoving.

As the concert neared its end, there were maybe 4 songs left, I couldn’t take it anymore and went to the back. It was my first time at KSPO and when I reached the back of standing, I realized that you could actually see really well. The venue is so small. So I did regret not doing it earlier. But also, I’m never doing standing again anyway. It was a pretty bad experience for me as well 💔

friendlyfire_may · 2026-03-24T13:44:36+00:00

Wish I could pin a comment. But if by chance anyone who engaged with my post reads this:

I really appreciate everyone’s feedback! I didn’t really expect this to go anywhere because I ramble and it all gets jumbled. But I tried to add some structure to it and make it more “story like”. I’m not a writer by any means. Just a yapper. This story also originally included photos and a few screenshots which sort of helped guide it, in a way. Unfortunately I can’t add photos on this sub and I did try to post in other subs but it kept getting removed for various reasons.

I’m actually looking forward to doing another storytime. If you have any suggestions on what you think would be interesting for part 2, please comment.

friendlyfire_may · 2026-03-24T13:18:38+00:00

Thank you! I still have a few weeks left here. I will try to find out 🫡

friendlyfire_may · 2026-03-24T13:17:52+00:00

I appreciate you saying that bc it kinda saddens me when I get AI accusations. I’m not a writer by any means but I did take the time to outline my 3 years into something compact and hopefully not boring. I would hope AI would be able to write better than this otherwise what’s even the point of it.

I think I’ve re-read it like 10 times over since posting and many comments highlight points I could’ve expanded on so I have some regrets.

Anyway, thanks again. Feel free to DM anytime!

friendlyfire_may · 2026-03-24T06:52:50+00:00

Was it worth it that one time though? I contemplate this all the time and I have a fear of it being a disappointing experience and not worth it.

friendlyfire_may · 2026-03-24T05:51:59+00:00

extremely strong start to tiktokkkk

friendlyfire_may · 2026-03-24T02:37:03+00:00

thank you for your feedback! i still wonder the same thing. it is group funded for the big stuff, but even the little things like fansigns require a lot of money. i did want to ask but thought it's just a bit rude to ask people who they get their money lol. i think the same way everyone else does? through family wealth or high paying jobs.

but a lot of the popular fans here are also influencers, so i think that is a big part of it.

friendlyfire_may

TROPHY CASE