Engenes furious after finding explicit fanfics about 16-year-old Ni-ki from Enhypen
Trigger Warning: Mentions of mature themes and pedophilia
K-pop fans are overly protective of their idols but in some cases, it does seem like idols do need all the protection they can get. With a rookie boy group like Enhypen making it big in the K-pop industry globally, fans of the group have taken into account the way some stans are treating the members, especially the underage ones. In a discussion on the online forum, Reddit, one fan shared how Enhypen is one of the Top 15 boy groups that have up to 8% of the total fanfictions written around the globe on its members.
The fanfiction platform Archives of Our Own aka AO3 is a platform that hosts fan-written fictional novels about celebrities. With the rise of K-pop, it does seem like idols from the genre of music have taken over the platform. The issue here is in the fact that the fan-fiction content is more often than not explicit with mature NSFW (not safe for work) themes involving these celebrities. While some way see these "real people" fan fics as a violation of a celebrity's privacy, since they are tagged as 'fictional' content, they fly under the radar. Even fans who avoid such content, generally ignore them instead of criticizing them openly on social media. But NSFW fan fic writers may have crossed a line when it comes to Enhypen's Ni-Ki that Engenes cannot ignore.
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Engenes call out K-pop stans writing explicit fanfics about Ni-Ki
On June 27, one Engenge made a new post on Reddit discussing a shocking detail that states they have found a large number of explicit fanfics written about Enhypen's Ni-Ki (Niki) despite the idol being a minor. In the post, the user shared their concern about there existing a large number of NSFW content on the platform AO3 aka Archives Of Our Own featuring the Enhypen maknae whose international age at present is 16 years only. The user said, "I am not happy about the less than appropriate behavior that some stans have been getting away with, especially towards the youngest member."
In the Reddit post, the user continued, "For those who don't stan the group, Ni-Ki is only 16 (born in 2005). While I still feel a bit eerie about some behaviors towards the other members, since they're all adults now I won't be discussing it." The user continued, "I went on AO3, put in the tags "Explicit" and "Ni-Ki" and clicked search. 226. There are 226 explicit fanfictions involving Ni-Ki, a 16-year-old TEENAGER, on AO3." The user then stated that the comments on the post also did not show any fan calling out the writers of the fan-fiction out for writing explicit content about a minor which is outright concerning, to say the least.
'This is illegal in the real world. Ni-Ki is a MINOR'
Now that the user has brought this to the attention of many fans, Engenes are sharing their disappointment with fans sexualising the idol who still a minor — making these content writers pedophilic authors. One fan said, "Ni-ki’s stans are much much older than him (not all of course, but a majority). Like literally 20+ year olds when he’s only 16. There’s definitely nothing wrong with that if there’s no weird/ill intention don’t take me wrong, but a large portion of his fans behave very creepily towards him in a very subtle like manner despite being way older than him which makes it even more uncomfortable. The lengths they even go through to defend themselves, like do you they not see it’s technically illegal in the real world? ni-ki is a MINOR, it doesn’t matter if he looks ‘mature’ for his age. I made a post about this a month ago but it’s nice to see a new one because comments towards him are getting out of hand. I just feel really upset for ni-ki he really doesn’t deserve this."
Another fan said, "It doesn’t matter if he looks ‘mature’ for his age." One more fan added, "How many years have women had to fight against comments like that? It's an excuse used for years by sexual predators to justify their behaviour and that's exactly what they are doing here." One more fan joined, "Literally. I swear everytime they’re called out they say it’s because ni-ki has a ‘mature aura’ compared to the rest of the members or he looks older than he actually is. It doesn’t matter." Another fan said, "I really wish Belift would speak up about it or do something because it’s not just international fans, majority of them are Japanese and korean as well. the fact that your post and my post and comments got downvoted speaks volumes."
One more fan said, "I’m going to be very honest here and say while this behavior is wrong and unacceptable it will not change. I’ve seen the same thing with groups I stan with idols like wonyoung yuna and others. These idols were oversexualized like crazy by not even just their own fans but the general kpop audience (and especially reactors) to the point that it almost became normalized. It just doesn’t stop the only thing that happens is that they eventually turn 18 and people just stop caring that they’re sexualized. That’s just the unfortunate truth."