hiii i'm denver (sh/th, 23) and i'm super stoked to be here with riiot's rapper, vocalist & dancer, hwang daesung :) i've got a lil pinterest for him here and hopefully everything you need to know is under the cut!
born june 14, 2004, in syracuse, ny, usa. first and only child to a lower-class, ill-fitting couple - a man who prioritized his dreams above everything else, and a woman who felt obligated to keep said man afloat. she loved him like you love a bad dog - tolerant, tired, unexpecting. she loved the son he gave her (dylan hwang, who would eventually take to his korean name (daesung) a bit better) in much the same way.
the man of the house was a musician. he "ran" a record store in syracuse with his brother and played in various local bands, none of any importance. an honest loser who answered various craigslist ads for busywork to make ends meet. the woman of the house was a hairdresser who worked excessive hours to earn bill money. she was exceptionally good at flirting for a paycheck, so many of her clients were men - she never liked that much and craved to cater to women who wanted to be beautiful. yes, she was unfulfilled. yes, everyone knew.
dylan was a bad kid. he got lost in grocery stores, he talked too much in class, he ate too much during dinners at friends' houses. he didn't do well in school despite insisting that he was trying his best. something was wrong, but something was wrong with every aspect of their lives really, so bro never got the help he needed. what he did get was an over-observant teacher realizing he needed an outlet, and inviting him to join a lil after school dance team. his dad was for it, his mom was... less... for it. very much perpetuating toxic masculinity, was absolutely terrorizing her helicopter mom friend group with a million different iterations of "will my son turn gay if i let him dance?"
anyway, dancing helped a bad. his grades didn't get much better, but he seemed noticeably calmer and more well-behaved, so his parents let him keep at it. things were just alright, as they kind of always had been, and then...
his dad died. womp womp. a terminal illness caught a bit too late, it all happened kind of fast. no one had time to process or prepare. after the death, dylan and his mom relocated to seoul to be close to her family for monetary and emotional support. she opened her own salon with the help of her parents, and dylan immediately started going by daesung to avoid feeling "othered" (didn't really help though, 'cause his korean wasn't that great and wdym your name's daesung and you can't even speak korean?)
kept dancing. was kind of the only thing that gave him something to hope for during those shitty times, considering his favorite parent was gone and he was stuck with the Bad Cop who became even worse in the aftermath, even though she never even acted like she liked her damn husband. got really into playing the guitar and writing lyrics around this time as well, started to think very seriously abt pursuing music in some capacity as a way to feel closer to his dad/carry out his dad's (pathetic) legacy.
eventually became a trainee despite his mom begging him not to, dropped out of school despite his mom begging him not to, and fell into his mom's depressive tendencies (party boy over here) despite his mom begging him not to.
genuinely likes being an idol, but admittedly it's not very healthy for him. he's a choreographer + lyricist + sprouting variety star which is pretty awesome, and it really does feel great to be able to have a creative outlet, but... uh. he's very... indulgent. he drinks a lot, he smokes a lot, he parties a lot, and he craves a degree of validation that has yet to be fully received. he tries HARD to get attention, to deserve attention, and to keep attention. a noona lover who doesn't hesitate to shoot his shot with women in the industry (and his fans probably lbr) so i'm sure he has a million and one haters. dude's so fucking lonely and he doesn't really know what will fix it so he tries a lil bit of everything until he feels worse off than he started.
a chatterbox, an open book. he'll tell you pretty much anything you want to know and speedruns connection. will lovebomb the living hell out of you, romantically or platonically. wants everyone to like him and becomes agitated when he feels like he's making a bad impression. a lot to deal with, and is not always emotionally attentive, but he is surprisingly generous. he buys a lot of spontaneous gifts and remembers the snacks other people like!
as far as riiot goes... he does take the group seriously. when he's choreographing for the group, he runs that shit like the navy. cares about riiot, enjoys riiot, but his endgoal is def to go solo, blow up and act like he doesn't remember them. #sorrynotsorry
kind of seen as a himbo. very physically fit, kind of dumb, bad at reading social cues (find him speaking over the other riiot members + interviewers/mcs 80% of the time), alarmingly good at fanservice. sometimes a fansite catches him reading a book and he gets made for of for it for 3 weeks because "bro knows how to read?'"
might add on to this later but yeah for now i'm gonna end it here. let's plot! i prefer plotting organically over offering/grabbing premade plot points sooooo let's get into it!
