Why the separatist agenda is harmful to WayV — an important thread
This is a long one so let’s start off by stating the obvious: WayV is the Chinese subunit of NCT, aka NCT China. Due to Chinese-Korean political relations brought on by THAAD, WayV was not allowed to be explicitly associated with their umbrella/family kpop group, NCT.
However, they were still able to release the Chinese version of 127’s ‘Regular,” which had a subtle hint of “NCT” in the lyrics. In simplified chinese: CT之前N为首; traditional chinese: CT之前N為首. (one character is different - 为/為)
While this was confusing for some cfans at first, they grew to understand the situation and still wanted to support WayV as a single group and as a unit of NCT.
During one of WayV’s first public performances, cfans even brought their neobongs to support WayV because they acknowledged them as a subunit of NCT. Since then, a majority of cfans have been ot21 and supporters of all units.
Fast forward a few months in early 2019 and it was clear most of WayV’s promotions for that year would be done in China as a Mando-pop group. Because of this, WayV’s international social media was not updated as much as their Chinese socials were.
This meant many ifans had to rely on twt fan accounts/fanbases for their information and translations. Many of these ifans were also kpop stans who were unfamiliar with how fandom culture works in mainland China.
This created a lack of communication between cfans and ifans, as well as ifans and SM because WayV wasn’t featured in NCT content. But while cfans still accepted WayV as the NCT China group planned since 2016, some ifans assumed WayV wasn’t connected to NCT at all.
They assumed WayV wasn’t receiving enough stages and promotions and that Label V wasn’t managing them correctly. Many compared their promotions to 127/Dream and said they wouldn’t acknowledge WayV as NCT until they got equal promotions as the other units.
What wasn’t known at the time was that there are limited opportunities for WayV to perform in China. Kun has even said himself that there are no stages and how he wishes there were.
(Original post: https://m.weibo.cn/status/4505238968644322#&video
Credits: Way_to_Victory on Weibo)
It wasn’t him blaming SM for a missed opportunity, but rather disappointment that the opportunity may not exist in their targeted market right now: https://twitter.com/lovekun960101/status/1170170647932047360?s=20
Label V was created to give WayV access to opportunities SM couldn’t as a Korean company. But the extent of promotions for an idol group at WayV’s level are brand sponsorships, endorsements, variety shows, modeling and magazine editorials. And for some events, you need an invite
Throughout 2019, WayV participated in activities to essentially make their name more well-known in a huge market that already prioritizes solo artists.
Yet, ifans with limited knowledge of how the Chinese music market works demanded WayV perform on music shows. And that their lack of stages and other promotions equated to mistreatment.
Them: “just imagine cfans getting so mad rn”
Cfans:
Rather quickly, this created a lot of misunderstandings within the fandom. Instead of demanding answers from SM on where WayV stands as an NCT unit, ifans chose to separate WayV from NCT as a whole and claimed they were their own group apart from NCT.
Things were still tame until ifans began to compare WayV to 127/Dream and blamed ifans who likely weren’t sure how to connect with WayV since they were in a market unfamiliar to them. They seemed to blame a lot they didn’t understand.
What ifans really failed to remember was that WayV is a rookie group starting from scratch, 3 whole years after 127/Dream have already built their joint and individual fandoms. Expecting WayV to gain quick success to somehow catch up and compete with the other units is absurd.
This is exactly what some ifans were pushing for whether they knew it or not. But WayV is in a field of their own as a Chinese subunit of a Korean group and under a Korean company - basically a Mando-pop group managed like a K-pop group.
They don’t promote in the traditional ways of c-artists and ifans shouldn’t compare them to what’s the standard in the Chinese market. This is why WayV has stressed that they are global artists who identify as an asian group, they aren’t bound by a single language or label.
. https://twitter.com/APEntertainment/status/1202234854118694912
A mainland cfan explaining how WayV operates in China. She was harassed by separatists for telling the truth, now seldom tweets about WayV. https://twitter.com/sumoeri/status/1219049578680315905?s=20
Instead of allowing new fans to support all units in the way they feel most comfortable and encouraging each other to share WayV in a positive way, fan accounts began to gatekeep. Some of them denied the existence of THAAD and the Hallyu ban
And some of these were the same accounts that ifans relied on for WayV translations and info. So new fans who joined the fandom also received false impressions of WayV's situation in China. These accounts also made it a point to convince new fans that WayV holds zero ties to NCT
Being ot21 and supporting all units was considered wrong and such fans were mocked. From there the separatist agenda grew more and more toxic.
Now that you have the backstory, let’s get into the real issues. In September 2019 WayV announced the official fandom name as WayZenNi. It was the name WayV said they took time to choose themselves because it translates to “WayV will cherish you.”
威神V珍惜你 - read: Wēi Shén V zhēn xī nǐ
meaning: Weishen V cherish you
Nickname cfans gave themselves: 威珍妮
read: wēi zhēn ní
Ot21 cfans loved it, even though they had to use a different fandom name. But some ifans now known as “separatists” hated the name based on the fact that “wayzenni” sounds like “czennie” and they didn’t want WayV linked to NCT.
Prior to this most ifans were going by “weishennie” because they assumed that’s what WayV said in their Jan 2019 live video. But cfans clarified that they didn’t say weishennie at all.
But it was hard to tell because Winwin and Kun spoke at the same time.
Winwin said 就是你 (jiù shì nǐ/It’s you.)
Kun said 威神V (wēi shén V/WayV)
Listen carefully and look at Kun’s mouth.
“Weishennie” doesn’t exist as the official fandom name and WayV never said it. Ten used it once in a lysn post back in October because it was around the time he revealed he was on stan twt, so of course he knew it was the term many ifans were using.
But cfans again pointed out that it was wrong. Ten hasn’t used it since. Of course fans can still use it if they want, just like how NCTzens use czennie, but it should be clear that it’s not the fandom name
And it doesn’t have a proper translation. “weishennie” was still ok until separatists began to use it as a way to not only separate WayV from NCT but to also separate themselves from NCTzens.
They could have chosen a different name and left others alone, but instead they mocked “WayZenNi” and continuously say it has no meaning. They also mock fans who prefer to use it, which is disrespectful given that WayV chose it from a list of names that cfans suggested.
The separatist excuse is that WayZeNi is gendered so that’s why they don’t use it, but this is false. It’s not gendered within the correct context WayV intended.
WayV said “WayZenNi” means "WayV cherish you” - (威神V珍惜你).
The pinyin for this would be: wēi shén V zhēn xī nǐ.
And it is shortened as 威珍你 / wēi zhēn nǐ.
The shortened version (威珍妮 / wēi zhēn ní) is a nickname cfans gave themselves. The last 2 words 珍妮 is often the mandarin translation of the english name “Jenny.” Cfans derived that name from the czennie nickname 西珍妮 (pinyin: xī zhēn ní ; hangul: 시즈니 - sijeuni).
If you want to get literal, the fandom name should have actually been “WeiZhenNi” because it's the correct pinyin. But it was changed to “wei → way” for WayV and “zhen → zen” to match the “zen” in NCTzen.
Once changed this way, it holds a different meaning than the “威珍妮” (wēi zhēn ní) pinyin implies. As explained by WayV, "WayZenNi" means Way(WayV) + Zen(cherish) + Ni (you). And “Ni” is non-gender specific.
So the gendered fandom name excuse is invalid. Saying WayZenNi has no meaning is rude and dismissive to WayV and cfans. And demanding WayV change the fandom name they chose is just ridiculous. Many ifans were uninformed or received the wrong translations.
Either way, a lot of the hate for the name seems to be rooted in its connection to NCT. Further adding to the toxicity in the fandom, separatists didn’t like when WayV’s official fandom color was announced as neon green, the same as NCT’s.
Obviously SM chose this to keep a subtle connection to the other units as much as they could with Hallyu ban limitations. But separatists were convinced the members wanted red, even though they never said that.
What actually happened: In July 2019 WayV's variety weibo (not WayV themselves) asked fans attending the Tianjin fanmeeting to bring WayV's "lucky color." They didn’t define which color, but they did attach a poster image of WayV’s red silhouettes from Take Off/Dream Plan.
Because the post was open to interpretation, some cfans argued that WayV’s color couldn’t be red since they are NCT. The arguing eventually led to the account deleting the post. But for the most part, a lot of these cfans agreed on green since they showed up in neon green attire.
And at several fanmeetings, WayV members mentioned how much they loved to see a sea of green.
But when the wayv variety post hit twt, ifans were confused about what “lucky color” meant. Separatists were quick to side with red even though they were told the top comments on weibo were saying the color is green. Some also assumed red because it’s China’s lucky color
Cfans on twt replied and told them yet again that the color was green. Separatists didn’t listen to them.
More fuel was added to the fire when an SM_NCT translator referenced “Tales of Red Cliff” for the weibo post translations.
Yes, the last line was derived from that song, but most people wouldn't even think that far when they see the phrase because it's used so often on weibo, like the doge emoji (usually expresses doubt or sarcasm with a little playfulness).
This is just one example of how misleading translations caused ifans to believe the wrong thing. Do you remember the last thread? I’m sure you do. https://twitter.com/Ot21receipts/status/1289775017656324097?s=20
In September 2019 WayV announced the fandom color as green. The lightstick? Also green, and a close replica of the neobong, it’s just shaped like a V. Instead of respecting the color WayV/SM chose, separatists have continued with their red agenda for a year.
And every time WayV releases content with red in it, they act like it’s a confirmation of a fandom color change, or that WayV is sending them some subliminal message that they want red.
Clearly, separatists can’t tell the difference between a concept color and a fandom color. If teasers/MVs were the basis for fandom colors, The 7th Sense and Fire Truck would have made NCT’s fandom color red 4 years ago.
Even worse: When TVXQ! fans spoke out about WayV using their fandom color for an agenda, separatists ignored what was said, undermined Cassies who were angry, and made a joke out of the whole thing.
A fandom color represents unity. If WayV’s color has been announced as green, then it’s definitely green. No amount of denial can change that. Going against the color not only offends a senior fandom, but it can create unnecessary fanwars.
So if you’re wondering how #redforwayv started - it’s just one ongoing, disrespectful misunderstanding that has no actual meaning. Separatists should know “weishennie” is not ok to use if they’re going to bully other ifans for using WayZenNi.
And the red agenda is just never okay, end of story. Separatists are trying to divide WayV and NCT with no knowledge of if that’s what WayV wants. Considering how happy they are to talk about 127/Dream and to see green seas, it’s not.
If separatists truly support WayV, they’d be mindful of their wishes. And WayV has never said they want to be split from NCT.
Another issue to be addressed about separatists is their selective translations. Not to be confused with mistranslations. Some chinese-speaking separatists have exaggerated translations from weibo and have omitted relevant info to manipulate ifans who don’t speak the language.
They do this to also make ot21zens look bad and to hide how often WayV’s cfans talk about NCT. To explain, let’s look at recent events. On June 28, a cfan won a video call with Kun and the fan said that they asked him: “18年的时候不是nct2018吗 21年会有合体吗”
Which translates to “Didn't nct 2018 happened in 2018? Will (everyone) come together again in 2021?”
Kun answered (english trans): “This is arranged by the company. I'm not sure as well.🤔
This cfan also asked other things during the call
But fanbases and accounts like Hourly Kun and qiansceo chose to only translate the part asking about all members and didn’t translate the rest.
another cfan had translated it better
The fan didn’t say NCT 2020 (a musical project like NCT 2018). They just asked about possible 2021 promotions with 21 members. Hourly Kun/qiansceo did this because they’re likely separatists themselves, and because they knew other separatists would get upset like they were.
Even how they were written seems accusatory. And of course separatists blamed ot21 ifans on twt for an innocent question a cfan asked, just because they didn’t like it. It made others believe that the cfan was impolite toward Kun for not asking other questions.
All this because fanbases didn’t fully translate one conversation.
Separatists also claimed Kun had previously asked fans “multiple times” not to ask about NCT 2020 anymore, but that’s an out of context exaggeration. They’re referring to Kun’s April 19 yizhibo live where ot21 cfans kept writing NCT 2020 in the comments because they were curious
about it and wanted spoilers. Kun read them and said: 2020? 这个我还- 我真不知道, 这个我真不知道。对,所以大家,没关系,别问了.
In english: “2020? This one I'm still- I really don't know. This one I really don't know. Ya, so everyone, never mind, don't ask anymore.”
He said this with a smile and then went about the rest of the live talking to cfans normally. Chinese-speaking translators on Youtube translated this as something he said in a lighthearted way.
It was also translated by one of Kun’s French fanbases, without bias.
The translation in this thread is direct to avoid any confusion but the 2 subbers opted for the more "conversational" style. Their job is to get the main point across to their viewers. Not psychoanalyze someone’s feelings
Separatists made it seem like Kun was annoyed by the idea, when really it was a lot of fans asking for a spoiler and he wanted to talk about something else because he didn’t have an answer. It was as simple as that.
Some separatists argued that “别问了” (don’t ask anymore) is often used by chinese-speakers when they’re annoyed, but within this context he didn’t seem annoyed - who is annoyed with a smile and a playful tone?
So when the cfan had the video call with Kun, separatists were misguided by selective translations. Kun told cfans in the Yizhibo live to stop asking right then because he didn’t know, but that didn’t extend to a private conversation with a fan who didn’t even mention NCT 2020.
And there’s no way to tell if that cfan watched the yizhibo livestream at all. The two occasions don’t cross paths, yet separatists started arguments on twt with ot21 ifans who didn’t have access to yizhibo live streams, then accused the cfan of only caring about NCT 2020/ot21
It should be made clear that being a Chinese-speaking ifan doesn’t exempt you from holding a toxic agenda. Because the same separatists who were upset about the NCT 2020 comments in Kun’s yizhibo live are probably the same ones who have commented “red for wayv'' in WayV’s vlives
Which confused/upset several cfans. This has happened several times, even during the WayV
ZONE vlive a few days ago. Yet, none of the separatists complain about how that’s disrespecting WayV and cfans’ choice.
So it seems like separatists were just looking for a way to force ot21 fans to keep quiet about NCT 2020, as was the case for a thai fan recently. And clearly separatsists have been using an overanalyzed video of Kun to back them up.
comments on wayv’s vlive wayv zone
After a year of all of this, separatists have transitioned into gatekeeping WayV as much as possible by harassing fans who talk about NCT 2020 projects and claiming a “WayV only has weishennie” mentality
Ot21 ifan support for WayV is considered as them being “fake fans” unless they are streaming on qq music. Separatists also continue to say that other streaming sites like Youtube and Spotify do nothing to help WayV.
This goes back to the idea that WayV must become big artists in China first to succeed. With WayV aiming to be global artists with roots in China, that idea is a misconception. When WayV debuted, several sources including SMTown said WayV would promote in both the Chinese market
and global market, then later with NCT. Meaning they would be in both markets simultaneously, given the members are so diverse and speak several languages. If global streaming apps like YT and Spotify isn’t a priority for WayV, why has SM listed their music there?
Why are cfans excited at the prospect of WayV being global artists? Why has WayV released 2 songs in English and 1 in Korean?
Ifans streaming on QQ music is great and does benefit WayV, but it’s not the only way to support them. And because WayV are global artists, they can succeed in any market first, “that’s what makes them neo” as cfans say.
What’s really puzzling is that half of separatists say no other streaming apps but QQ matter, but then the other half is complaining about WayV’s youtube streams. Their agenda isn’t even organized, so which struggle is it?
Separatists push away new fans with their agenda, assuming that because most popular c-artists don’t have the opportunity to list their music globally, that’s somehow the standard for WayV.
WayV has been asking for stages since debut, and as soon as they get them in Korea, separatists still aren’t satisfied. It’s as if they don’t care about WayV’s promotional success if it’s not affiliated with China/c-pop and they use that angle to seem “different” from kpop stans
But WayV being under a Korean label has given them access to more markets. They’re a multilingual Mando-pop group that can release songs in other languages, like 127.
Regardless of them being an NCT subunit, this should be celebrated. Instead, separatists have repeatedly called WayV “fl0ps.” Which is insensitive given they are only a 1-year group
and China’s market is hard for any new group to break into. Separatists have done things like complain when Yangyang’s choreographer said “NCT,” making him delete the story from his ig.
But Yangyang and his choreographer are likely close in some way and he knew him as a member of NCT China. Strangers online mass-bothering someone who actually knows and talks to Yangyang crosses so many boundaries.
Them: “he has never been introduced as an NCT member”
SM:
The choreographer didn’t say NCT 127 or NCT Dream. He said NCT, and WayV is a subunit of NCT. Yangyang. Is. NCT. Ok now moving on.
Separatists have also emailed Spotify to complain about WayV’s songs listed in the “This is NCT” playlist back in April, which was a new addition. They requested that WayV be removed from the NCT playlist and put in their own.
This playlist was created by Spotify with permission by the “artist” aka SM Entertainment. Which is why Spotify responded so dismissively and suggested contacting them. Supposedly separatists still continued the emails.
WayV was likely added to the NCT playlist this year because SM has been moving them back into the NCT brand now that China-Korea relations are starting to settle. It’s ok to request a playlist for WayV as well, but they also demanded they be removed from the NCT playlist
The goal here seems skewered. Why so much energy for an app that’s useless for WayV, according to them? In June a “This is WayV” playlist popped up and separatists took the credit for it and said their emails/community board message worked, but that’s untrue. And here’s why:
Listeners don’t have an influence over these sort of playlists. They’re curated by Spotify in connection with the music artist. So the only way you can influence how these playlists are made is if you’re the artist in question. The WayV playlist was also likely SM’s doing.
127, U, and Dream have had their own playlists apart from the NCT one for quite some time. And now that WayV is a part of the NCT one too, naturally SM is going to give WayV their own playlist as well. And the WayV radio includes NCT music. It's easy deducing.
Separatists have mass emailed Space Oddity to include “leader” in Kun’s Blip profile, which was important, but in the same breath asked for the removal of NCT from XiaoHenYang’s profile
without knowing how that would actually make the members feel. And on top of that, when World Music Awards congratulated WayV for their album sales, separatists demanded they delete the tweet because it said NCT.
And then just a few days ago SM announced a birthday necklace merch for Xiaojun’s birthday and the replies weren’t welcoming at all. The complaints were that SM is “claiming” WayV too late and that the other WayV members didn’t get one this year.
In 2019 only previous NCT + SM artists members got bracelets. These things aren’t made quickly at mass quantities, so they were probably made since 2018 when LuTenKunWin were still promoted as NCT. SM just decided to release them for the fans since they had them already made.
And they likely didn’t do bracelets for the other members of WayV because they were newly added members and bracelet production in 2018 had already been scheduled for the 18 members of NCT (Empathy era). Also keep in mind that birthday merch was created for SM artists
and at the time WayV couldn’t be formally acknowledged on SM’s socials. It was only Label V. But WayV were recently added to the SM store as a part of them moving WayV into the NCT brand. This probably began pre-ATW in April when WayV were added to the NCT playlist.
Which means Xiaojun is the first member of WayV whose birthday falls after April and can be acknowledged like NCT members would. And since NCT members have been getting necklaces this year, Xiaojun did too. And the rest of the WayV members will probably get one moving forward
When you really look at it, the separatist agenda is just misplaced anger toward NCT and ot21 fans. Both new fans and old fans can see it, and if separatists keep this obsession up so will a lot of companies who could potentially work with WayV to bring the fandom great content.
Being marked as a bad fandom that can’t accept their color/name reflects poorly on WayV. The first years of a group’s career depends on its fandom unity. If cfans and ifans are tired of the selectivity when it comes to sharing information about WayV…
...and if even other weishennies are tired of the agenda: it’s about time for separatists to take their anger and go.
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