K-Pop Alliance

K-Pop Alliance
Name	K-Pop Alliance
AKA	K-Poppers
Description	A coalition of K-Pop fandoms in r/place 2022
Subcommunities	See members list
Subreddit	r /KPOPplace
Discord	https://discord.gg/x8BjaBz5

The first K-Pop Alliance formed out of necessity directly after the first expansion of r/place 2022. Competition for space in the first quarter of the canvas was extreme and most representation of the K-Pop communities was erased, requiring most fandoms to either coordinate their efforts and maintain a combined presence, or risk losing their projects to larger, non-K-Pop communities.

A post-Whiteout count of pixels directly controlled by K-Pop groups was estimated to be around 43 thousand.

r/place 2022

Beginnings

Only a handful of K-Pop fandoms managed to attain representation for their favorite groups prior to the First Expansion of the Canvas, and fewer would manage to remain.

TWICE, Kep1er, IZ*One, and Enhypen would be erased for building onto the Belgium and German flags, and a small block of groups would be erased approximately 40 hours into r/place. Only Blackpink, BTS, and LOONA would continue standing.

1st Expansion

Immediately after the First Expansion, the TWICERS (the r/place division of TWICE) would develop and create a new TWICE logo underneath the German Flag (1558, 852) and develop an alliance with r/MFDOOM due to being neighbors, the latter eventually becoming an honorary K-Pop group. These two would found the largest group of K-Pop fandoms called Girl Group (GG) Alley. A region dedicated to all female K-Pop groups. Many fandoms would have multiple locations of representation across the canvas, including inside GG Alley.

Three other regions would begin developing simultaneously as GG Alley:

Boy Group (BG) Valley

The male counterpart to GG Alley was founded by TXT (1560, 208) around Scott the Woz and to the direct left of r/mylittlepony. BG Valley would end r/place with 12 members and 15 builds, even after taking collateral damage from multiple voids and The Meteor.

Central Territory

Founded by LOONA (Hyunjin Face) (1315, 596) around Rocket League. Central Territory would end r/place with 4 K-Pop members, an ally's (VUT) Pepe, and a total of 7 builds.

The Outlying Regions

Founded by BTS Balloon (1971, 212), the Outlying Regions is the combined representation of any non-organized K-Pop related builds across the entire canvas (mostly composed of BTS and LOONA). The Outlying Regions ended r/place with over a dozen builds.

2nd Expansion

Two sub-regions to GG Alley would develop as space allowed.

South Block

Located to the Southwest of GG Alley and part of the greater GG Valley area, this sub-region contained representation from 24 individual K-Pop groups, and 10 to 12 allied communities separating GG Valley and South Block. It would receive irreparable damage during the Spanish Streamer Raids, erasing 65% of the K-Pop groups in South Block.

Lower East Side

After reclaiming East GG Alley after the Kobe Void, additional land was claimed for unrepresented groups. Several unaffiliated communities are also located here due to non-aggression pacts.

North Block

While not counted as a region by the K-Pop Alliance due to being incomplete, the inability to recapture the entirety of South Block led Alliance members to seek new locations to relocate destroyed builds. North Block was subject to a territorial conflict and would never become fully realized.

Conflicts

The K-Pop Alliance managed to maintain vast swaths of their territory during r/place, with many close calls. The Alliance was not immune to attack however.

These conflicts are listed in chronological order, though several will not appear on the Atlas due to not being in the final screenshot. Please refer to the canvas history on r/place for any historical reference and progression of these events.

Purple Streamer Void (Mizkif)

Due to an active void actively targeting purple builds (according to Alliance intel), Kep1er, (G)-Idle, and IU in East GG Alley changed their backgrounds from purple to yellow or red in attempts to evade targeting. The backgrounds were changed back to purple several hours later.

GFLClan N-Word Crisis

A West GG Alley ally, GFLClan was a common target for griefing during r/place. These griefings eventually sent several Alliance members on high alert when they discovered attackers were attempting to convert GLFClan to the N-word (hard R).

The attackers were only successful for several minutes before an Allied cleanup could be started.

Pinocchio Nose

Roughly an hour after the N-word crisis, a small group of individuals started trolling nearby communities by extending the nose on a portrait (1725, 899) as far as possible, eventually cutting through Moonmoon territory and making its way North to East GG Alley.

An Allied counter op diverted the nose away and ended the issue.

Gold Border Conflict and K-Pop/Myth joint operation.

Due to a quiet agreement between GG Alley and the streamer Myth, a non-aggression pact was formed and a gold colored border was to be maintained by both groups.

An unknown group of individuals began disrupting the border by changing its color, moving lines, or removing them entirely. Myth would start his stream to find this conflict occurring and nearly sent his chat to attack GG Alley.

Several members of the Alliance would inform Myth of the situation, leading to a quick and effective fixing of the issue and an K-Pop/Myth joint operation to reclaim territory he had lost overnight.

Vaush Border Skirmish

A brief neighbor to GG Alley, a plot representing the controversial streamer Vaush repeatedly encroached into K-Pop territory. A representative of the K-Pop Alliance was sent to negotiate with the Vaush community, ending in a truce.

The truce would not last as the Vaush plot would taken and held by Destiny, another controversial streamer. No issues would occur between Destiny and the Alliance.

War for South Block

Immediately after the 2nd Expansion, GG Alley found themselves in a position to expand without facing stiff resistance due to extreme proximity to the new space.

Agreements and alliances formed with new and old neighbors allowed for rapid acquisition (baring non-associated or un-established communities) of the South Block sub-region while releasing minimal claims.

First Slime Strike

An unidentified entity attacked the Red Velvet logo in GG Alley with a rapid and organized placement of green pixels in a circular pattern. The attack was quickly repelled and cleaned up.

Kobe Void

A combined effort between Mizkif and xQc to create a Kobe Bryant tribute was initialized with a large, defined black void to form a blank canvas. Dozens of builds were erased, including several in East GG Alley. The damage may have been much more severe, but was mitigated due to the K-Pop Alliance's association to Myth and Zoil; both friends of Mizkif and xQc.

After the completion of the Kobe Memorial, communities quickly staked new claims, including the Alliance.

East GG Alley was reclaimed and expanded and a small sub-region called the Lower East Side was created, housing several K-Pop groups and third parties with non-aggression pacts.

The Meteor

Post-Kobe Void, XQC and Mizkif were still actively griefing the entire canvas. A final act in their campaign was a "meteor" targeting r/mylittlepony (1650, 251), originating from the top of the canvas (1441, 32), destroying 70% of BG Valley and several allies due to being in the direct path of The Meteor.

Ludwig would assist in the repairs, but due to the reference image being an outdated screenshot, an Alliance Representative would be dispatched to the Scott the Woz community to ensure a conflict would not occur by rebuilding on the accidentally redistributed territory.

2nd Slime Strike (xQc)

An un-targeted slime attack by xQc struck West GG Alley, temporarily damaging Alliance and allied builds. xQc departed quickly due to becoming bored.

Spanish Streamer Raids

Battle for Blackpink

16 hours prior to the Whiteout, a Spanish streamer attempted to repurpose the Blackpink logo (one of few K-Pop builds remaining on the first canvas) into one with their name.

An angered Alliance countered with a protracted defense, successfully entering a battle of attrition and stalling out the efforts of the attacking streamer.

Raids on South Block

In the closing hours of r/place, multiple Spanish streamers targeted South Block as a location to immortalize themselves. Attempts by the Alliance to re-capture the area failed due to a combination of high viewership between the streamers, estimated to be over 30k, extreme vigilance from viewers to maintain the area, and alleged botting.

65% of K-Pop groups in South Block would be erased, and approximately 1/3 of South Block was captured.

Final Conflict

Unfinished War for North Block

As a final effort to recover from the loss of South Block, an agreement between Good Mythical Morning (GMM) and the K-Pop Alliance saw GMM release claims on an unused part of their territory (1296, 368) for Alliance use, naming the region North Block in memorial of South Block.

One of GMM's neighbors, Lovejoy, entered into an alliance with the K-Pop Alliance to split the area between the two. During negotiations, Ottawa Senators (having lost representation elsewhere) swept in to claim the area for themselves, forcing Lovejoy and the Alliance into a joint war against Ottawa.

r/place 2022 would conclude before the war's resolution.

Some Art

Main article: Some Art

Some Art was a piece of artwork that some community made depicting a thing.

Alliances

The Kpop alliance made many alliances with its neighbors in all territories, providing extra protection to itself from invaders.

Girl Group Alley + Lower East Side

• r/MFDOOM
• EiE
• r/furry
• Myth
• Zoil
• New Mexico
• Mapeadores/GFLclan
• r/bangdream
• Germant

Boy Group Valley

• r/mylittlepony
• r/scottthewoz
• r/cookieclicker
• r/geocaching
• Cell Lattice

Central Territory

• r/rocketleague
• VUT
• r/ph
• Brazil

South Block

• r/Nepal
• Hololive
• r/lostpause
• r/vtubers

Outlying Regions + North Block

• r/philippines
• r/bangtan
• Lovejoy
• r/goodmythicalmorning

Fun Facts

Myth semi-affectionately calls members of the K-Pop Alliance, "kpoppers".

There is an intense dislike for Spanish streamers harbored by many K-Pop Place members.

• Post-Whiteout analysis of the streamers' chats around the time of the raids identified express aggression towards K-Pop by some viewers, possibly influencing the streamers final decision to target South Block.
• The K-Pop Alliance will not disclose the identities of the offending Spanish streamers. The KPOPPlace community are not Twitter Stans.

The alliance between K-Pop and MFDOOM was a surprise to both parties and any observers.

• /u/wow_a_great_name: MF Doom and KPop: another unexpected alliance I didn't know I needed til now

The pink fairy creature (1711, 1105), built by the TWICERS in the hours before the Whiteout, was meant to be a lifeboat should GG Alley and TWICE logo be lost.

• The fairy's (officially called a Lovley) name is Laburi.

• Its two friends, Duck and Pot of Greed, were not intended additions but were allowed to remain because they're cute.

Because of the difficulty and knowledge required to find every K-Pop related location on the r/place 2022 canvas, K-Pop controlled pixels could not be counted for the Top 30 Communities with the most pixels.

• Based on community estimates of pixel count using the Atlas and this chart, K-Pop as a whole would place in the Top 15 with roughly 43k pixels.