Alternate Universe 05: In Need of Illiteracy

Reaction Videos of Non-Fans

Hi there. Welcome to Active Faults.

I am gloriously burdened by this publication to be chronically online, to always stay updated with the latest shows and to be a know-all in fanquan (I’m still not). However, I’ve recently discovered a burgeoning genre of videos in neiyu focusing on those who know nothing about entertainment, and it can be ridiculously entertaining.

Today, we’re reviewing reaction videos of fanquan illiterates.

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@老板连B站也不刷 literally translates to “My Boss Doesn’t Even Scroll On Bilibili”. This account is owned by an anonymous employee who films her boss (and later her coworkers) reacting to K-pop content. She is a veteran fan. Her boss lives under a rock, is completely oblivious to everything she shows him, gazes upon a bizarre realm with childlike wonder and interprets things afresh with an unexpected twist. It’s comedy gold. Her videos blew up in the past 5 months; today, she has accumulated over 120K followers as well as some 15 million plays.Her first video is quite middle of the road: having her boss guess which K-pop couple is actually dating based on photographs. Although it started out simple, the variety grew to incorporate memes, music videos, scandals, deep K-pop lores, obscure inside jokes, slang and more. The appeal is this: her boss can make the most unhinged comments about celebrities because it’s excusable when you’re ignorant. He doesn’t need to play by the rules because he doesn’t know them. His foreignness sanctions unbridled conjectures, parody and criticism that’s usually unutterable by the insiders within fanquan, the target audience of these videos. You have to be a know-all to enjoy the hot takes of a newbie.