you guys do you, but personally i choose to believe that Shane/Hudson bit Ilya's/Connor's neck in this scene, especially after seeing that tiny shoulder jerk and a bite discoloration on his neck for like 0.01 seconds
It is heartbreaking how little media attention this has received.
This year, the European Press Prize was awarded to an investigative report by the Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant.
Titled "What the Wounds Tell," the investigation by journalists Maud Effting and Willem Feenstra documents 114 cases of children in Gaza, all under the age of 15, who were shot once in the head or chest.
Almost all of them were killed or left with severe, permanent injuries.
The journalists chose to focus on children under 15 because they were easier to identify. Many were much younger, only 3, 4, or 7 years old.
The report states:
"A single bullet wound to these parts of the body is a clear indication that these children were deliberately targeted."
stardom dreams, stalking devices and the secret conglomerate selling both
over the last half a year, @rhinozzryan and i have worked on an investigation into Tracki, a "world leader in GPS tracking", and ExploreTalent, one of the biggest talent listing services in the world. what the hell do those two have in common?
It would be stupidly easy to say Kurt would like k-pop and leave it at that.
So easy I’m not sure why more people don’t do it more often.
But I think half the fun of headcanons is finding the data and evidence to back up your points! So here’s an in depth look into why Kurt would love k-pop.
First, let’s take a look at Kurt’s canonical stan list:
Beyoncé. On Kurt’s Superstar Playlist, he has her songs Halo, Dangerously In Love, If I Was A Boy (and Cool by Gwen Stefani). He creates his own dance video with Tina and Brittany, wears an outfit he made himself inspired by Beyoncé’s singlet, and helps win the school’s first football game by dancing to Single Ladies. According to a deleted scene from the Sue Sylvester Shuffle, it was also his suggestion to perform Bills, Bills, Bills by Destiny’s Child.
Madonna. He calls her an icon, is in agreement when Mr. Schue says Madonna’s cultural impact transcends music because of the message she sends about empowerment, and then he himself points out that Madonna’s images are as important as the songs themselves before he asks Mr. Schue if he can work on multimedia project with Mercedes, which ends up being a recreation of the Vogue mv with Sue. He starts a Madonna cover band in A Katy or A Gaga.
Lady Gaga. He calls her a boundary pushing, theatrical performer, and admires how she changes up her look often. Tina also identifies Kurt as the biggest Gaga during A Katy Or A Gaga.
Britney Spears. He starts a Facebook campaign to convince Will to let them perform Britney during the fall assembly (which he proudly boasts about having 5 members), and calls her pop culture itself. He’s incredibly adamant on performing her songs despite Will’s repeated refusal.
Whitney Houston. He decorated his locker in her honor, and is ready to list her many accomplishments when Will brings them up (to which Blaine has to stop him before he gets carried away).
Spice Girls. Suggested Spice Girls for their mashup against the Troubletones in Mash Off. I know he was fucking devastated when they did Wannabe without him.
So this is what we know about Kurt, based on both his stan list and his own style of performance (which I’ll go over under the cut): he loves the flashy and theatrical, he loves a good choreography, he values the importance of stage presence and star power, he’s interested in the visual aspects of the artistry that goes into pop music from the fashion to the music videos, he appreciates a musician’s ability to reinvent and tackle different concepts, and he loves talented, glamorous hardworking divas, including girl groups.
With an importance on visual elements, a focus on performance, a wide array of concepts, and beautiful, talented girl groups, I think it’s only natural that k-pop is something that would appeal to Kurt. But we still have more data to go over.
Kurt’s own performance style
During Swan Song, Rachel tells Kurt that his best performance was I Want To Hold Your Hand, because it was simple and moving.
And don’t get me wrong. I love that performance too, and I love his rendition of Being Alive. Kurt’s greatest strength is definitely his ability to emote. For instance in Funeral, each of the four character’s audition songs played right to their strengths, and for Kurt’s, it was the way he’s able to tell a story and embody a song’s lyrics with his voice, which works really well with emotional numbers. I actually really love a good ballad and slow song myself as well, and I know those can tend to be unpopular as they’re boring for a lot of people.
But that’s not all there is to Kurt. Because though the show occasionally takes the stance that “flashy” performances don’t have substance or soul (it’s the stated reason why he gets rejected from NYADA, after all), and it’s supposed to be a negative thing when Kurt says that he can’t perform without a costume or props, I think it’s honestly too bad that that’s what they want you take away from his character. That being flashy or over-the-top isn’t the “correct” way to express yourself. Because the fact that Kurt could be so theatrical is such a great, integral part of his character. Kurt was a person who got so much push back for who he was and how he presented himself. He got asked things like “why do you have to make such a spectacle of yourself?” and was told to tone his personality down so many times. So to be flashy, to own it by channeling it into his musical performances, was something special about his character. The self expression we see in his performances through the choreography and his outfits is just as important as the emotional and simple ones too. And why is the only emotion that is considered “having soul” the kind that makes you tear up? His optimism and bravery in Not The Boy Next Door, the anger he felt in Rose’s Turn, is just as moving and deep as something that could make you misty eyed.
Now, most of Kurt’s solos actually are just ballads and slow songs lol Even when Blaine tells him not to worry too much about standing out in Special Education, he’s still singing a ballad. But some of the showier Kurt performances that come to mind are:
Not The Boy Next Door. A song that encompassed the entirety of Kurt’s journey up until that point. In my opinion this is the defining song for Kurt, both for the meaning of the lyrics and the context it was chosen, deciding to forgo the easier and common pick to perform something that’s more true to himself.
Le Jazz Hot. Had intricate choreography with backup dancers and an elaborate costume that celebrated the feminine and masculine.
Bad Romance. Literally takes place in the episode called Theatricality like….
Rose’s Turn. So much stage presence. His name in lights. The kicks and jumps. Iconic and one of the most well remembered Kurt solos for a reason.
4 minutes. Literally just FUN, better than the original because it has ENERGY it has FLAIR, everyone loves this song.
And so, I think Kurt would love the way k-pop is unashamed to be a spectacle, with intricate choreography and eye catching fashion. He might even take comfort that in a world that’s constantly trying to treat him less than for the way he is and how he performs, there’s an industry that celebrates these qualities instead.
And of course k-pop gets a lot of criticism for also being soulless and manufactured and etc etc etc. but can we have some fucking fun sometimes...
Does Kurt’s personality align with that of a K-pop fan?
I don’t think Kurt would be into anime. Not just because he would turn his nose up at the fanservice (and I have the canonical evidence with at least four scenes to back this up, but I’m trying not to stray from the point here), or be put off by certain tropes popular in that medium, but also because he doesn’t have the personality of an anime fan. For one, he showers (Ballad and New New York).
And despite the tired furry jokes about his foxtail accessories, Kurt does not actually read as furry in the slightest. He wants to wear animals, not be one himself. He would probably think that stuff is for perverts. Kurt just doesn’t have the personality for either of those hobbies. But I believe he has enough in common with the typical k-pop fan to fit the bill. Source for these traits: observing and interacting with and being a k-pop fan for 9+ years.
He’s cringe. But he’s free.
For the most part, Kurt never really hid his interests. He did have to lie about how he was actually dancing in Preggers, wearing knee length sweaters in Acafellas, and he mentioned keeping his tiara collection a secret, but that was all directly linked to how he wasn’t ready to be out to his dad yet. And even then, when he was young he asked Burt for a pair of sensible heels (Preggers), held tea parties with him (Grilled Cheesus), and made him sit through Riverdance 3 years in a row (Home). He always dressed how he wanted, no matter what anyone thought. He felt free enough to enjoy the things he loved, without feeling embarrassed or shy about them, especially once he came out. Because of this, I think Kurt would not have reservations about getting into something that would be considered niche or even, by boring Midwest standards, odd back then.
I don’t think he would feel “above” it, the way someone who might think Kurt would be too pretentious to enjoy k-pop would believe (and I’ve actually seen people say this before…). As if he could only ever like show tunes and American pop! Don’t get me wrong, he is pretentious. But that would only extend to k-pop as he waxes poetic about how his favorite group is better than everyone else. Besides, he even says in Throwdown that they do an awful lot of show tunes, wanting more variety in the glee club’s catalogue, and he was a big proponent for more pop numbers.
K-pop fans can be cringe. The fact that I’m putting this much effort into this post is a bit cringe itself. However, I think this specific brand of cringe is one that suits Kurt well and is incredibly in character for him. He’s not naruto running down the halls or barking at people in 3rd period. But he’s practicing girl group choreographies in his room (his Single Ladies dance in Preggers). He’s doing k-pop in public covers (average glee club behavior, but a specific example is him shamelessly singing Frank Sinatra’s New York, New York out in public in the episode New York. Plus his cover band One Three Hill even existing. he assigned himself the roles of leader and main vocalist.) He’s going online to defend his favorite idols from nugu flop allegations (his Britney campaign taking place on Facebook. I think we can safely assume this isn’t the first and only time he’s used the internet to talk about his faves). Which leads me to my next point.
He does not PLAY about his stan list.
K-pop fans are notorious for their rabid fan behavior, ready to defend their idols at any hint of negativity. When going over the clips of Kurt talking about the celebrities he’s a fan of, this is clearly something that applies to him.
When Puck says he doesn’t get Lady Gaga in Theatricality, Kurt, voice high and angry, instantly jumps in to defend her. He even gets a jab at Brittany in there. Collateral damage, but he was a stan on a mission.
When Will continues to shoot down his idea to do Britney songs in Britney/Brittany despite all of Kurt’s pleas, he gets red in the face and blurts out that Will needs to stop being so freaking uptight all the time. And yet even after he’s sent to the principal’s office, it still doesn’t deter him. Because in the very next scene he’s in, he’s still trying to get them to do Britney songs by pointing out that Britney helped Rachel gain confidence, and after his speech he sends Will a look of contempt. He will not. back. down.
In Dance with Somebody, he was ready to list Whitney Houston’s many accomplishments for the club to bask in. This is something I can see him doing a lot. Oh, you think Loona are flops? Well they held the record for girl group with the most #1 albums on US iTunes’s, turned 2019’s K-con into Loonacon when they weren’t even originally going to be invited, and nearly won Queendom despite having to sit out the first round due to to COVID and so FUCK you for saying that, now he’s not going to rt that post about your missing sister–
Speaking of Loona. There’s another aspect of Kurt’s personality that perfectly suits being a k-pop fan:
He is gay.
K-pop has a large lgbt following. I don’t have any concrete data to back this up so Source: lived experience. Though there is this Reddit post of people detailing many reasons why lgbt people would become k-pop fans, and many of the reasons listed are things I’ve made a point about Kurt in this post. This stuff was made for him.
How would Kurt discover K-pop?
One thing about Kurt: he was always gonna be on that goddamn phone. We see him on it in Grilled Cheesus during the end of Only The Good Die Young, in Never Been Kissed during Start Me Up/Living on a Prayer, at the beginning of Asian F during Spotlight, during So Emotional in Dance With Somebody, and most importantly: during Vitamin D, when he’s watching a grape stomping video on his iPhone 3GS.
And so what was he doing on his phone when he wasn’t getting “you know who’s beautiful? read the first word” messages from the occasional gay boy?
Not texting any other friends, that’s for sure. Everyone he knew was in that choir room. So, like he said in Vitamin D: “Sorry, funny YouTube.”
And during the 2nd generation of k-pop, many international fans discovered the genre from YouTube and coming across the music videos. These are some scenarios I can picture:
In 2013, Girls’ Generation beat out Miley Cyrus, Justin Beiber, Psy, and Lady Gaga for video of the year at the YouTube Video Awards. So we know Kurt is a fan of Lady Gaga, he loves music videos, and he uses YouTube. So, curious how anyone could beat his queen Gaga, he watched the music video for I Got A Boy. While this song might not appeal to everyone (though I personally love it), I think it’s the type of song that would instantly hook Kurt in. This song sounds the way Kurt dresses. Boldly unique and experimental to the point it can be polarizing, it’s an eclectic mix of different musical elements, considered boundary pushing and often called k-pop’s Bohemian Rhapsody. And because Kurt praised Lady Gaga for changing up her sound, he would admire the way Girls Generation was able to switch up styles within a single 4 minute song. He’d love the colorful and quirky music video, and would quickly fall down the girl group rabbit hole this way.
In 2012, 2NE1 released a remake of Madonna’s Like A Virgin. Possibly while looking up the original song, Kurt stumbled upon the 2NE1 cover and then, impressed with the way they were able to make it their own, decided to take a look at the rest of their discography. He would be taken by I Am The Best. The fashion…the set design…the powerful, confident lyrics…he needed this.
Hearing Kesha’s demo of Girl’s Generation’s Run Devil Run in 2010. While Ke$ha might not officially be on Kurt’s stan list since I don’t remember if he ever made a comment about her, I don’t think it’s too far fetched he wouldn’t at least be somewhat interested in her. And when seeing the comment section fighting over which version of the song is better, he would check out Girls’ Generation’s. Wow they’re so #fierce, that bridge is magical, WHO are these glamorous divas...Blaine hasn’t cheated yet but he’s gonna wanna keep this one in his back pocket.
Coming across any of these songs in 2009 by just clicking around on YouTube. A lot of these music video’s aesthetics are a bit reminiscent to Kurt’s bedroom in season 1 with a clean, black and white sleek look.
This one’s a bit boring because it’d mean he’d discover k-pop super late and he’d miss all of 2nd gen, but he’d inevitably hear his favorite artists collab with kpop groups, like how Lady Gaga had BlackPink on Sour Candy. No matter what though, it’s clear Kurt was destined to become a k-pop fan one way or another. There’s literally no way he can escape it.
Who would Kurt stan?
To preface this, I think Kurt would be interested in checking out a little bit from every girl group, in every gen. He was blasting Lovesick Girls by Blackpink after the 10th breakup with Blaine, and Psycho by Red Velvet when they got back together. He was gagged by the I Will Survive sample and Marilyn Monroe reference in After Like. He makes the girls listen to This is For when they need some confidence. Fearless is the most season 1 Kurt song ever, it’s the type of song he’d listen right after getting slammed into a locker. He’s a Queencard, so narcissistic, and soo Rude. If a nugu group has 5 listeners on spotify, he’s probably one of them. But to be specific, I think these are the groups that would be high on his favorites list.
Girls Generation (SNSD) and 2ne1/2nd Gen Girl Groups
Of every gen, I think it makes the most sense Kurt would hold the most fondness for 2nd gen groups given his age and how I’d like to think he would most likely learn about k-pop around 2009-2013. And two of the biggest groups of that generation were 2NE1 and SNSD. While their fans used to fight viciouslyyyy, I think Kurt would be like that one picture of a puppy going “STOPPPP FIGHTIIIING”. he would hate to see two beautiful talented groups of women pit against each other. STOP THE HATE! Also shout out to Kara, Wonder Girls, 9muses, After School, and T-ara, but obviously that wouldn’t be all the groups he’d like. There’s also a huge chance he was also BIG f(x) fan. And I think most other people would list them as his ULTS for the generation. and maybe so. but I have an another group in mind as his number one…
Girls Day
I can’t fully explain this but I believe his true 2nd gen bias, despite loving the big company acts too, would be Girl’s Day. He’d like the way they were able to switch up their concepts, from their sentimental Don’t Forget Me to their sexier Something. He’d love their underdog story, of coming from a small company and making it big. He’d bop his head enthusiastically to Female President, and perhaps if it had come out in 2011 it would’ve helped him come to terms with Brittany’s win as class president. I think Expectation would’ve inspired him to wear more suspenders and, as we know from Big Brother and Moving Out that Kurt dresses Blaine, put Blaine in more suspenders, too.
Also I’m not too familiar with everything about girls day, but I’ve heard there were rumors of them being divas and I think Kurt would love that lol
LOONA!!!!!!
There is no other group more tailor made for Kurt Hummel than LOONA.
Because LOONA. IS. POP CULTURE.
I’m not even sure where to begin with this. Trust me when I say I’m not projecting my own stan list onto Kurt, Loona is just the most Kurt group to exist.
I think once 2nd gen started to peter out and more of the groups he loved became less active, he'd start to only casually keep up with groups. And then one day...he'd stumble upon Eclipse by Kim Lip after its release. And it would change his life forever. He'd listen to all the member's solos from then on and be blown away by the quality of the music and the videos, and his love for k-pop would reignite.
There are so many things about Loona I think he'd love. The themes of female empowerment, loving yourself, going against the grain, and gay subtext of their music, as well as the members own support for LGBT fans. Their stylist Kimmin (iykyk) used to recreate runway outfits for the girls and it was often her best work, and it reminds me how Kurt would sew and make his own clothes inspired by editorial fashion, so he’d feel connected to them that way. The glee club was always supposed to have 12 members in order to compete, so I think he would have some fondness for Loona being a 12 membered group. This is going to remain a POSTIVE POST....so I won't get into it...but if you know anything about Loona you also know their career was not easy (just like things were not easy for Kurt…) and they went through a lot (and Kurt went through a lot), so I think he would admire how they persevered through it all.
And his bias would, of course, be…
GOWON!
I think some people might be eager to assign him an Yves/Kim Lip/Chuu bias given their popularity among gay fans, but I think he would 100% be a Gowon fan. He’d love her personality, her #shadyafmoments, her princess vibes, and her unique voice. I also think it would be soo funny because well into loona's career, Gowon gave her fans a nickname: Sebastian (after an anime character). I can imagine Kurt, already being her fan for years at this point, being like "😐 really." He can't escape that man anywhere.....
Any Boy Groups?
No.
Not even-
No.
But what about–
No.
...
BUT. OKAY.
While I don’t think Kurt would necessarily be a super huge fan of any boy groups (I think he’d have a passing interest in Shinee and bias Key, though. and would have have a list of guys he finds hot), I do think Kurt would like that the men in k-pop are expected to perform just as hard as the women, to focus on choreography and visuals as much too, something that is sorely lacking in the american pop scene. I think he would also find the fan service and shirtless boys in the mvs a safe way to ogle hot men without feeling bad about it. (vs the way people in his life made him feel bad for showing interest in another boys)
And while I listed those ggs as his ULTS, I still think he'd check out releases from most girl groups. I think he'd like aespa too and nearly gave them a section, I think they'd possibly be his other 4th gen faves, but I didn't want to write more...
But as I have conducted the research to come to these conclusions, I’m not willing to budge on his stan list. My mind is made up and unless you’re willing to write your own dissertation about how he’d be a HUGE [insert group here] fan with evidence, this list is set. I guess you can say he ults another group if you want but like…you’d be wrong, so… <- This is in jest, of course. Let’s spread the Kurt the k-pop fan agenda by any means necessary.
To end off this section I will now list the only correct k-pop headcanons for the rest of the glee characters.
Tina would love 2NE1 and Blackpink and she’d be a Jennie STAN. She's exactly the kind of idol she wanted in Born This Way. She’d be the kind of blackjack (2NE1 fan) to hate girls generation too.
Sebastian would make fun of Kurt for liking k-pop and would only “like” it once it began to become more mainstream in the western pop sphere, and even then he’d only claim to be a fan of big name it-girls like Jennie or Karina, just to be able to dunk on others with their achievements. He would set them up constantly on twitter with his inflammatory posts, and wouldn't actually earnestly care, be a fan, or keep up with anyone (because that shits for losers. like kurt.). He calls everyone else Kurt stans flops.
Blaine would only get into k-pop because of Kurt (no original bone in his body) and his favorite girl from loona would be Yves (but Chuu’s Heart Attack is a very Blaine song), and he’d be a huge Once. He listens to them because he's crazy delusional about love. yes or yes is literally his life's motto and if it came out in 2013, it would've been his proposal song to Kurt. and because he'd like to think of Kurt singing their songs to him too.
Why can I see Marley being an army. Like their older stuff might be too hiphop for her, but I think she’d be one of those armys that praises their lyricism and would’ve ate the love yourself concept up.
Since Mike had the guys practice to Fantastic Baby in Thanksgiving, I think he’d appreciate boy group’s choreos.
No one else would like k-pop.
The Fashion
A big reason K-pop is so popular is that these groups come as a full package. It’s more than just the music, it’s also the fashion, the MVs, the promotion, the variety content, and even the relationship between idol and fan. We know from Power of Madonna that Kurt enjoys all the things that go into pop, not just the music, so I think he’d take particular joy in the fashion aspect.
In a time where he was ostracized for the way he dressed, I think Kurt, who in Audition states fashion has no gender, would appreciate the way K-Pop has a much more gender neutral approach to clothing. Even if he’s not a fan of boy groups himself, I think he'd still check out their outfits.
One of the more unique accessory Kurt would wear was the occasional harness, and that has been a staple in k-pop for certain concepts for years, but I remember it exploded in popularity around 2017-2018. So again, something someone might look at Kurt twice and judge him for, he sees represented on stage by artists he’d admire. Kurt you were ahead of your time…rather than taking trends from k-pop (since fashion in k-pop tends to follow trends itself) I think he would predict what the next big styling choices would be and would be excited when groups wear similar things he’d been wearing.
The outfit in the first picture from Michael that Kurt wears is one of my favorite Kurt outfits. I LOVE the furry hat and leather jumpsuit. Imagine my surprise when I saw people calling Kurt and Santana’s furry hats ugly omg…sorry but they’re so cute and fashionable. And had a big moment in k-pop for a while. I think Kurt would love 2ne1’s style a lot. In Asian F, he even wears winged Jeremy Scott shoes, who collabed with 2ne1 in 2011.
Kurt wouldn’t be a fan of BTS but I just think that last picture is very cute <3 I love that when Kurt wears shorts, he pairs them with long socks or boots.
The other aspects of k-pop
As mentioned earlier, I think he’d love the music videos and he’d def play them during gay music video night ♥️ he would also looove concept photos and the hype that surrounds a comeback, and enjoy watching live performances, and would judge anyone not singing live. (But personally I never cared. I would do anything to go back in time and watch the glee cast lip sync in concert…)
I don’t think he’d collect photocards or albums, refer to idols by their real names instead of stage names, watch their variety content, or pay for one of the million messaging apps out there. I don’t see him being a parasocial fan like that, just insanely protective against the trolls and the haters. He’d be in it for the music and the visuals mostly.
Okay honestly! I just remembered the part in The Power of Madonna when he knew Madonna's nickname Madge and Mercedes didn't and it was treated like elite knowledge only a big fan would know about and casuals wouldn't, so now I feel like maybe he'd be a bigger fan than I assumed?! Parasocial k-pop Kurt fan could be so real...he spent real money voting for loona on queendom.
That's it ♡
This post has been sitting in my drafts for forever and if I think of anything else I might go back and add some more, it honestly still feels a bit incomplete, but I’m doneeee looking at it. okay bye xx
One of my editors at National Geographic has moved on to create an organization that funds investigative journalism about wildlife, trafficking, etc, called Wildlife Investigative Reporters and Editors!
Real investigative reporting is very expensive. So far they've funded/produced one story called The Ugly Truth about the Wild Animals of Instagram for Rolling Stone.
