K-pop fans descend into chaos over IVE thread

A discussion thread dedicated to K-pop group IVE on /mu/ spiraled into familiar territory this week, as users mixed scheduling updates with increasingly unhinged commentary about the band’s members.

The OP posted standard thread maintenance material: upcoming concert dates in Singapore, Macao, and Japan; links to recent music videos for “Bang Bang” and “Blackhole”; and a compendium of official social media accounts. But the subsequent 269 replies revealed the fractured state of the fanbase.

One respondent claimed to be “suffering with Leeseo withdrawal” and announced plans to “go back to old streams and trying some ASR models.” Another user alleged their ex was the member’s “doppelganger” and therefore they had “effectively dated Leeseo for longer than you’ve known about her existence, kid.”

Discussions about the group’s output turned vitriolic. One commenter wrote, “the only thing i dont like about ive is their current long streak of shit music,” while another allegedly praised their “voices and charm” despite frustration with record label Starship Entertainment’s perceived laziness. A user reportedly criticized the label’s social media presence, writing, “oh wow, what’s the occasion. the retards at starship actually uploaded a decent picture quality jpeg on twitter.”

Plastic surgery dominated discourse. One user claimed “she was ugly. she got plastic surgery to look much better,” while another countered that post-surgery changes represented the member being “bogged now though.” Commenters sparred over whether alleged cosmetic work correlated with psychological issues, with one respondent suggesting it was “probably indeed related to a genetic mental disease.”

The thread devolved further into meta-commentary. The OP included a standing rule: “lewding IVE girls is public admission your mom’s a diseased whore.” One user pledged to “only post positive comments henceforth” after acknowledging previous unnecessary meanness. Another offered the diplomatic approach: “my momma always said if you got nothing nice to say just reply ‘cute’ to any given picture.”

By thread’s end, users had spiraled into tangents about hypnotism, Street Fighter, and the etymology of the word “mesmerizing.”